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The Fund Finder News
Public Safety Grants Consulting

$116,708 in AFGP grant funds have been awarded to members of the ACJFD. They'll use the money for new SCBAs to "replace our current, outdated, and worn units," said Chief Bruce Moritz.
The Fund Finder News
A Bi-Weekly Grants News and Information Update By Kurt Bradley
Issue 7, July 30, 2004

"Congratulations, Your Grant Is Approved"

The above five words are "manna from heaven" when delivered in a phone call from your local Congressional representative. During the funding rounds of the 2004 AFGP program, 8500 departments across the country will receive a similar phone call over the next eight months.

He Got the Call
Chief Bruce Moritz of the Allen-Clay Joint Fire District in Ohio got that call recently and learned that his department will receive $116,708 in the coming months.

In a letter to CHIEF Grants, Chief Moritz said –

"On behalf of the members of the Allen-Clay Joint Fire District, I wish to extend a very big "Thank-you" to Kurt T. Bradley of CHIEF Grants for his assistance in preparing our grant application. Mr. Bradley's professionalism and expertise in preparing the grant is clearly credited with its success. The ACJFD plans to purchase 40 Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) and masks with the grant funds. The new SCBAs will be distributed throughout our four stations, thus outfitting ALL of our personnel with one, uniform piece of equipment. The new SCBAs purchased will replace our current, outdated, and worn units, thus bringing our level of firefighter safety (our number one issue) up to (and above) current industry standards."

CHIEF extends our heartiest congratulations as well. We are proud that we were able to offer substantial assistance to this department in obtaining needed Personal Protection Equipment to keep their first responders safe.

Many of you reading this article may also receive a similar type call in the coming months and may ask yourselves, "Great, what do we do now?"

Don't Stumble and Fall
The answer to that is simple; you follow what you said you were going to do in the grant application that you filed. If you recall, in that application you stated what you were going to do with the money, when you were going to do it and what the results would be.

When you receive notice that the funds have been deposited into your account, start following your local purchasing policies and obtain the bids for the equipment. As you begin this process you are starting into the phase of grant strategy known as "grant administration and management". This is where a large number of departments stumble and fall.

Document, Document, Document
You must keep proper documentation of every dime that you spend and establish and maintain that ever important "paper trail". If you have ever looked at OMB Circular A-133 you should clearly understand that any recipient of federal funding may be required or subject to a Federal audit of the entire grant program.

What that means is that they can examine and scrutinize every aspect of your grant program. This includes checking the numbers that you put in the grant application, making sure you followed proper purchasing procedures, accepted the right bids, tracked and maintained the bank records and achieved the goals and objectives that you stated in your grant application.

I have said it before and I will say it again, "document, document, document." Document everything that you do with Federal grant funds. You do not want a Federal auditor to file a report with "findings" against how you handled their money. You will cripple your future chances at obtaining additional grants if you allow that to occur. Remember, if you didn't document it, it never happened.

Dates and Details
Be sure to stay in close contact with your local USFA contact and grant manager at FEMA. Periodic reports will be required of you and these reports should never be late or incomplete. Mark your calendars with these dates and allow ample time to compile statistical data or other relevant information that the reports may require of you and get the reports filed on time.

Don't forget that little detail about the "matching funds" either. Make sure that your budget has this money set aside. Again document every dime of the money you, or your agency, contributes to purchasing the equipment. If the money is not there now, remember that you have until the grant period ends (12 months from the date of award) to show that your portion of the grant was in fact budgeted and spent towards that equipment.

Good PR
Bask in the glow of receiving your award for a little while. Let the local public know what you did and how you are saving them tax-dollars. This is good public relations and gives your department a chance to share in "good" press. Try to arrange a "photo op" with your local Congressional representative presenting you with a large facsimile check. This is great press and we all know how much politicians like to get their pictures into the papers, don't we?

To the members of Allen-Clay Joint Fire District and the citizens they protect, congratulations. To those of you who may also be future recipients of an AFGP award, we hope we were of service to you and we appreciate your business.

The services of CHIEF Grants are for you, our customers. It is our way of helping you to help the U.S.!

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