Durham County Youth Services Grant Application

In this section, please provide the below organizational information and provide requested supporting documentation to verify eligibility as a grant recipient.

1.1. Basic Information.

1.2. Eligibility.

1.3. Project Name and Project Category Designation. Respondents will provide a project name and select the RFP category (listed in General Information above) under which they are applying.

In this section, please answer the below questions to describe your proposed grant project, the process and evidence used to design the project, and the intended outcomes of the project.

2.1. Community Need. Please provide the following information regarding the community need that the project is intended to meet:

2.2. Project Description. Please provide a detailed description of the proposed project, including the following:

2.3. Partnerships and Community Engagement. Please identify any partnerships that have been or will be important to the design and/or delivery of the program, and the extent to which your organization engaged youth or incorporated youth voices in the planning and design of the program. Note: Projects are not required to include partnerships, but information as to planned partnerships should be provided within this section.

In this section, please include information about your organization's prior experience working with youth in Durham County providing programs or services similar to those described in Section 2 – Project Description, and your organization’s overall readiness to manage a grant awarded by Durham County.

3.1. Current Programming. Please provide information regarding your organization’s current programming focused on youth in Durham County. Specifically, please address the following:

3.2. Project Experience. Please provide the below information outlining your organization’s experience with the specific activities outlined in the project description. 

3.3. Project Readiness. Given the 12-month period of performance for the grant, it will be important for a recipient to be ready to quickly implement their proposed project. As such, please provide the following information: 

3.4. Grant Experience. Your organization does not need to be a previous recipient of a Durham County grant (or a governmental grant more generally) to be selected as a recipient through this RFP (click here to view the RFP document). However, please provide information as to your organization's grant management experience and preparedness for managing a Durham County grant in compliance with applicable requirements. 

This section will require information on your organization’s plan to measure performance of the grant-funded project. This includes information on the targeted program outcomes, any performance metrics identified, data collection plans, and reporting frequency. The information provided in this section will be used to develop a performance evaluation plan as part of the Scope of Work within the grant award contract.

4.1. Program Outcomes. Please provide the following information regarding the anticipated program outcomes of the proposed grant program:

4.2. Performance Metrics and Data Collection Strategy. Please provide the following information regarding potential performance metrics for the proposed program:

In this section, your organization must submit a proposed budget for the project and provide a written budget narrative for each category of planned expenditures. Please review the guidelines below before responding to this section. 

Grant recipient may only utilize County funds for expenditures that are reasonable and necessary for implementation of the grant project, aligned with approved program budgets, and which can be sufficiently documented. The following provides important information related to specific potential uses of grant funds to support your organization in developing your proposed budget:

Overhead Expenditures. Recipients cannot budget or expend more than 15% of the awarded grant funds on overhead expenses (e.g., utilities, rent, etc.). Any facility costs in excess of the 15% maximum must be budgeted individually and a written justification provided as part of the budget narrative. Proposed facility costs that exceed the 15% limit may not be approved as part of the grant award at the discretion of the County if found to be unreasonable or unnecessary for execution of the grant project.

Salary Expenditures. All salary expenditures must be reasonable and necessary for the execution of the proposed project. While this grant program does not establish a limitation on the amount or percentage of funds that can be used for salary expenditures, the overall percentage of proposed fund usage to support salaries will be considered as part of the sustainability criteria during the review process, as outlined in Section IV.2 of the RFP document.

Grant funds may not be used to support salary increases unless a clearly defined change or increase in job responsibilities for an individual will occur as a result of the project supported through the grant award. Respondents must clearly note where a budget contains a proposed salary increase and provide a written justification for the increase in the budget narrative.

Participant Support Costs. Grant funds where appropriate may be used for expenses needed to facilitate or encourage participation in the program by the targeted population (e.g., transportation expenses and similar costs). However, these expenses must be reasonable and necessary for execution of the project (i.e., clearly connected to the removal of a barrier to participation). Recipients should provide written justification for the need connected to individual types of participant support costs in the budget narrative within a grant application, and all expenses in this category will be reviewed for allowability and reasonableness during the grant period.

Unallowable Expenditures. Without exception, grant funds may not be used for the following types of expenditures:

• Corporate debts/Mortgage payments
• Contingencies
• Contributions and donations
• Entertainment costs
• Fines and penalties
• Interest and other financial costs
• Legislative expenses

Budget Category Descriptions

Please review the below descriptions of each allowable budget category included in the budget worksheet below. 

                                                                 

• Personnel. This category includes salaries, wages, and fringe benefits of employees of the applicant organization that will be working directly on the project. Fringe benefits are allowances and services provided by employers to their employees as compensation in addition to regular salaries and wages. Fringe benefits include, but are not limited to, the costs of leave (vacation, family‐related, sick or military), employee insurance, pensions, and unemployment benefit plans. Fringe costs should also include employer contributions required by law such as payroll taxes such as FICA, unemployment, and workers compensation. Fringe does not include federal income taxes, employee portion FICA, or other such costs. 
• Technology. This category includes technology-related costs necessary to support completion of the project's objectives. Examples include phone data plans, Wi-Fi or hotspots, tablets, software, and other digital tools or services.
• Materials & Supplies. This category non-technology materials or supplies needed to support completion of the project’s objectives. Examples include signage, educational materials, or other tangible items not involving digital or electronic components.
• Contractual Services. If the project involves sub-awards to external project partners, the amount they will receive is listed here as a contractual agreement amount. For each subrecipient, enter the subrecipient entity name, if known. 
• Participant Support Costs. Supports that help participants join or engage in the program (transportation, interpretation, participation related tech like hotspots). 
• Overhead Costs. This category includes shared operational expenses that support an entire organization (e.g., utilities, rent, etc.) rather than a single specific project. Recipients cannot budget or expend more than 15% of the awarded grant funds on overhead expenses Any facility costs in excess of the 15% maximum must be budgeted individually and a written justification provided as part of the budget narrative. 
• Other Costs. This category includes any allowable expenses that the applicant feels are not able to be included in one of the defined categories. In the narrative section, please provide a specific description for each item(s), and explain how the item(s) supports the project goals and objectives outlined in your application.  

5.1. Budget and Budget Narrative. In this section, you are required to complete the below budget worksheet to outline anticipated program costs by category (e.g., salary, fringe, service contracts, equipment, etc.), provide the cost basis for each anticipated expenditure, and provide a brief narrative explaining the justification for the cost/relation of the cost to the program. All budgeted expenses must be in compliance with the requirements outlined in the Use of Funds information above.

5.1.a. Budget Worksheet Instructions: 

1. In the table below, please complete each budget category with the funding amount you are requesting for your project. Please reference the "Budget Category Descriptions" above for definitions of each budget category.
2. Your total budget should be between $40,000-$50,000. The online form will automatically calculate the total by adding each budget category.  
3. Round the requested amount to the nearest dollar. 
4. You do not need to complete every category, only include the ones that are relevant to your project. Put "0" if there is no amount requested. 
5. Please reference the guidelines above to ensure understanding of allowable and unallowable costs.
   

5.1.b. Budget Narrative. For each budget category, please provide a specific description for each item, explain how the item supports the project goals and objectives, and describe how the proposed cost amount was calculated. Please limit each justification to a maximum of 150 words per budget category. You do not need to complete every category, only include the ones that are relevant to your proposed project. Please write "N/A" for categories for which you are not requesting funds.

5.2. Sustainability. Grant funding will only be provided for up to 12 months to support the proposed projects; there will be no continuation funding provided. Accordingly, please address the following:

There will be virtual information sessions held on Wednesday November 4, 2026, at 2p.m. (please register at https://tinyurl.com/bdvb3wxt) and Thursday November 5, 2026, at 7p.m. (please register at https://tinyurl.com/jzjretnf) to review the application process, outline program requirements, and address questions from potential applicants.

Please register for one of the sessions; both sessions will address the same information so attendance at both is not required or recommended. Attendance at the information session will not impact consideration or scoring of a submitted proposal.