1. Is the Pre-Proposal Meeting mandatory or Optional to attend?

Attendance is optional for the Pre-Proposal Meeting, but is encouraged to provide potential applicants with valuable information on the application, grant goals, and expectations. The Pre-Proposal meeting has been recorded and is now available.

2. Is this a competitive grant process?

Yes. Applications will be scored by a committee of experts using the scoresheets included in the RFGA.

3. I need accomodations or translation services in accessing this grant opportunity. How do I get support?

The Department of Workforce Services is an Equal Opportunity Program.  Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities by calling (801) 526-9240. Individuals with speech and/or hearing impairments may call the Relay Utah by dialing 711. Spanish Relay Utah: 1-888-346-3162. 

4. I've been having problems logging in to an existing WebGrants account. I tried recovering my password and wasn't able to get that to work. What should I do?

If you haven't been able to successfully use the recovery tool at login, please email webgrantshelp@utah.gov and cc caitlinrangel@utah.gov we'll make sure that you're able to get into your account.

5. Since many of the application questions are multi-part, can we direct readers to look over an earlier answer or should we spell it out again?

It's probably best practice to at least summarize a point you already included in an earlier answer, even if you cite that it was addressed in more detail in a prior question. Because our evaluation committee will be reviewing multiple applications within limited time, it is in an applicant's best interest to not have readers hunt for information when it can be answered with each question as asked.

6. When entering Category II expenses, should we explain or reference how that relates to the attached cost allocation plan?

That will be extremely helpful to provide that explanation in your category justification as the evaluation committee members read applications. Not all of our reviewers have a finance background, so providing context can be very helpful in evaluating if a budget makes sense and ties to your application answers.

7. I am concerned about applicants inflating the budget requests they're making to get a funding level closer to what they want. Since this funding is so limited, how to do we handle that issue?

DWS would advise all applicants to ask for what you actually need and can fully expend in the grant period. In addition to ensuring you're being conscientious of the other applicants in a competitive grant, it will also look more reasonable to the evaluation committee. Before our committee starts reviewing applications, they are also given a rundown of the grant and what we have available. When reading applications and reviewing budgets, especially one with such limited funding source, our committee members are asking, "Does the budget make sense, if we have an organization that's coming in at triple their ask from a previous year or this huge budget in one part of the state?" So the proportionality and trend in funding request is something that the panel is going to take into consideration as well.

8. Do you have any guidance about giving consideration using terms that might raise red flags given the current crackdown on DEI related funding? because in other state grants that we're writing we're actually being told not to name specific ethnic groups, not to say anything about undocumented folks, stuff like that.

Should your organization be awarded and when we are building scope of work and outcomes together, we can have a conversation to make sure that our scope of work outcomes and targets are in line with all applicable rules and laws in place. The guidance we've been given for discriminatory practices working with our legal department is that so long as programs are open to anyone regardless of background, and you don't discriminate in how you provide and determine services then there should not be a concern. Low-income status is the qualifying factor for EFA and it is explicitly not an issue with these rules. It is not unreasonable to know where you have vulnerable communities in your area so long as you are open to everyone.

9. How can we get copies of our previous year application reviews?

You can request the final scoresheets from the evaluating committee under Utah's open records law, GRAMA. You can find instructions on how to submit a request and a link to the open records portal here: https://archives.utah.gov/transparency-services/government-records-access/.

9. do you know the percentage of EFA funding in fiscal year 2024 was not used?

Off the top of my head, I don't know. Something I can look into though for you.

10. What is the highest percentage we can ask for in admin costs?

With this funding source and in EFA policy, we do not have a formal cap. But because this is such limited funding in a competitive area, our evaluation panels have historically been very skeptical of high indirect costs. I would suspect that there would be a lot of questions raised if you ever went above 20% which is a very high percentage. I think that what's reasonable and in the context of other grants within the Department, to avoid a lot of suspicion during the grant evaluation you're looking more like at 15 or below.

11. Our organization will be partnering with another entity with our application for the efa grant. Our organizations have different indirect cost rates, but since we are submitting a single application, we cannot list the different indirect cost rates. Do you have a policy or preference that would guide us in the lead division for the FY26 application? And if we change the lead division to the other entity, would you like us to address this change in the application?

We do not have an EFA policy regarding lead divisions and application submission. 

It would be helpful, if lead division changes, to indicate the program's history with the grant and to provide responses requested of returning grantees.

12. On the form "Appendix I - State Funding Received by Agency" should we include only state funding, or should federal pass-through funding awarded by the state also be included (ie. CSBG)?

State law requires the disclosure of state money that overlaps with the upcoming grant period July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026. "State money" is defined in Utah Code Section 63G-6b-101(11) as meaning "money that is derived from state fees or state tax revenue." Federal pass-through funding does not apply.

13. Is there a Letter of Intent Deadline?

DWS is not requiring a Letter of Intent with this RFGA.

14. Which organizations/entities need to register with the Lt. Governor's Office? We are registered with the Commerce Department already, is this a different requirement? Also, the state does not require nonprofits to have a charitable solicitation license as of January 2025.

Registration with the Utah Lieutenant Governor is different from business entity registration with the Department of Commerce. A full list of entities required to register are defined in Utah Code Section 67-1A-15(1)(b). Applicants can access the registration portal here.

You are correct about the charitable permit. Beginning last year after the 2024 Utah Legislative session, DWS removed the requirement to submit a charitable solicitations permit.

15. How many low-income families and areas in Salt Lake County we are expected to serve through this funding?

Your organization is responsible to propose the number of non-duplicated households or individuals you can serve through your existing emergency food program during the grant period. DWS has historically received highly variable proposals due to the demographics and regions each grantee serves in the state.

16. How will we receive the food packages for distribution, and how often are we expected to distribute them each month? Can we distribute food from our office, or do we have drive to different locations?

The Emergency Food Assistance grant is not a food distribution program with food provided by DWS. DWS grants funds to organizations with a primary mission is to meet the emergency food needs of low-income Utahns in approaches suited to the needs of grantee's clients and regions. Your organization would be required to provide a specific plan for emergency food services in your grant application, which can include: warehousing food and food ingredients; distributing food and food ingredients to other agencies and organizations; providing food and food ingredients to low-income persons; or providing food and food ingredients directly to low-income persons. This grant is not a start-up initiative for food pantries or a commodity distribution program. Please review the eligibility criteria in the published RFGA to verify if your organization is eligible and can perform the grant expectations.

17. There is no budget sheet in the application, can they email one?

The budget form is built into the the application components in the WebGrants system through which applicants submit proposals. There are detailed submission instructions in the RFGA, and we would encourage you to watch the recording of the Pre-Proposal meeting published on the grants page and EFA Q&A page for a step by step review of the grant and application process.

18. Is this funding intended to support administrative costs, or if it is specifically designated for the purchase and distribution of food?

This is a very competitive grant to meet the emergency food needs of low-income Utahns. Applicant budgets include three categories, which are explained in Attachment D Budget Instructions and explained in detail during the recorded Pre-Proposal Meeting.

19. If you could provide some clarification regarding what is meaning by "duplicated households" in the context of this application.

DWS is required to collect and report the unduplicated households served through this grant. An unduplicated count means each person/household served is only counted ONE time, regardless of the number of services provided during the grant. The count is specific to this grant, regardless of how your organization uses funding from other sources; if this funding would add to a pool of funding supporting food services, we need to know the counts as determined proportional to the specific EFA funding during the grant period. Counts do not include the agency totals or counts not related to emergency food. This was also explained during the Pre-Proposal Meeting.

20. What do they mean by providing mobile outreach?

Not all emergency food services are provided at a fixed location such as a food pantry building or soup kitchen. EFA serves programs that distribute food or operate mobile pantries, for example.

21. The primary purpose of our organization is not Food Distribution, but we have distributed food in Utah, California and Afghanistan. Shall we mark yes or no?

Please review the eligibility criteria in the published RFGA to verify if your organziation is eligilble and can perform the grant expectations. DWS does not have enough knowledge of all charitable efforts in the state to provide individualized guidance on how to complete grant application questions.