2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
Background Document
Introduction
United Way is working to ensure that the dollars invested by our donors strategically address
critical community needs. As an organization, we have made changes to accomplish this. The
identification of the current priority needs and community outcomes for Children and Youth was
guided by a team of community stakeholders and informed by research conducted by the
University of Pittsburgh’s Office of Child Development. This work resulted in a Needs
Assessment Report and Action Plan (the full report is available on the website at
http://www.unitedwaypittsburgh.org/index.php/agencies).
The United Way Impact Fund has transitioned from providing annual support for a select group
of partner agencies to an open application and request for proposal (RFP) process focused on
addressing critical community needs. This RFP process is open to all current United Way partner
agencies and other providers who meet the eligibility criteria outlined below. Providers
interested in funding from United Way must demonstrate that they are willing to collaborate and
partner with other organizations and that their proposed projects achieve measurable impact in
addressing critical community needs. They also must show evidence that their agencies are
financially sound, well-managed and governed by a voluntary board that utilizes best
management practices.
Request for Proposals:
By investing in programs and projects that prepare children to succeed in school and life, United
Way is seeking to meet a vital community need through the following pathways to success:
1) Building foundations for academic success (pre K-5th grade)
2) Enhancing education and career readiness for youth and young adults (grades
6-12 and beyond)
To measure progress toward these pathways, agency projects and programs should be directed
toward the following community outcomes:
 young children who are at-risk for academic failure enter school ready to be successful
and acquire the skills and habits that contribute to academic success
 school-age youth achieve reading and math proficiency and graduate from high school on
time and prepared for post-secondary schooling/training and/or careers
The United Way is seeking nonprofit health and human service organizations that have the
capacity to collaborate and partner with other organizations in providing high-quality programs
that address these outcomes and achieve community impact.
While agencies are not limited in the amount of support they may request from United Way for
the proposed project, the total expected to be available to invest in this RFP will be
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2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
Background Document
approximately $3,000,000. United Way will use the average agency allocation of $150,000 as its
benchmark when making awards.
Funding awards will be announced in June 2013, to be effective for the three-year period of July
1, 2013 through June 30, 2016 contingent upon annual performance and sufficient availability of
funds from the annual campaigns.
Agency Eligibility
Applications may be submitted by a single agency, but partnerships and collaborations of
multiple agencies are encouraged and will be given first priority in the selection process—the
agency/lead agency that will serve as the fiscal and reporting agent must meet the following
criteria:
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501(c)(3) organization located and providing a health or human service in Allegheny
County (NOTE: arts, cultural, religious, recreational, political programs, government
agencies and institutions providing formal education are not eligible)
In full compliance with all federal, state, county and local requirements and laws
pertaining to non-profits, including the USA Patriot Act and other counterterrorism laws
Meets the requirements of the Solicitation of Funds for Charitable Purposes Act passed
by the Pennsylvania General Assembly in December, 1990
Provides all documentation requested as noted in Step 1 and Step 2
Works to fulfill United Way’s children and youth priority impact areas
The following additional criteria may also apply:
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If an applicant agency provides afterschool/out-of-school time services, that agency will
provide proof of successfully completing APOST’s Quality Self-Assessment, or will
commit to participating and completing the process (prior to funding decisions being
made)
If an applicant agency serves young children from newborn to preteen, that agency will
agree to be a partner in the FitUnited effort - http://www.uwacfitunited.org/
If an applicant agency provides meaningful volunteer experiences, that agency will agree
to be a partner in Be 1 In a Million
Proposal Process – How to Apply
United Way uses an RFP process which has three distinct steps or stages and is designed to
collect additional information at each stage which is vital to the selection process. While all
applicants submit in Step 1, only selected agencies will be invited to submit proposals in Step 2
and participate in Site visits during Step 3.
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2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
Background Document
In order to apply, visit our website for instructions regarding the on-line application and
supporting information required (www.unitedwaypittsburgh.org)
STEP 1: Due February 4, 5 pm
Applicants will complete and provide preliminary documentation including:
Agency Information:
a. Agency Cover Sheet
b. Agency Budget Sheet
c. Organizational Eligibility Tool
d. Supporting documentation – IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter
Program Information:
e. Proposal Summary Form (cover sheet and narrative questions)
f. Community Outcome Logic Model Form for the project / service for which funding is
requested
STEP 2: Due March 18, by 5 pm - By Invitation Only
Applicants selected through Step 1 will be invited to complete a Full Proposal, including:
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Detailed program description
Program Logic Model with outcome projections (if applicable)
Agency Budget Form
Agency Self Assessment of Capacity
Supporting documentation including:
- audit(s) covering two years for agencies with contributions/revenues greater than
$300,000; for those at or below $300,000, year-to-date Statement of Financial Position
(Balance Sheet) and Statement of Activities (Income Statement) are required for FY
2011-12 or FY 2012.
- most recent IRS Form 990;
- Board list with term dates
STEP 3: Site Visit target Dates – April 29 - May 9, 2013 - By Invitation Only
Finalists in the selection process will participate in a site visit. The site visit, conducted by a
multidisciplinary review team including community and corporate volunteers and United Way
staff, will focus both on the proposed service for which funding is requested, and a more in-depth
exploration of the lead agency’s capacity to implement the service/ lead the effort.
Applicants who are awarded funding will make a commitment to participate in capacity building
and training as a condition of the grant.
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2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
Background Document
Timeframe for Applicants
2012
12/14
RFP forms and information available on United Way web site
2013
1/7-1/16
Proposal Feedback Sessions by appointment (call 412-456-6781 to schedule)
1/22
Logic Model and e-CImpact Training for Agency Applicants
2/4
Step 1: Proposal Summary and related documents due by 5 p.m.
2/28
Invitations to submit full proposals issued
3 8-3/13
Step 2: Proposal Feedback for Applicant Agencies (call to schedule)
3/18
Step 2: Full proposals and related documents due by 5 p.m
4/24
Candidates for Step 3 site visits notified
4/29-–5/9
Step 3: Site visits
5/20
Funding recommendations presented to Impact Cabinet
6/11
Funding approved by Board
6/15
Agencies notified of funding decisions
7/1
First year funding available
Statement of Need
In Allegheny County, nearly one quarter of a million residents are children and teens (18 years
old and younger).i This segment of our population is more likely than their older counterparts to
live in poverty and experience food insecurity and homelessness.ii Children being the most low
income members of our community is troubling in itself, but when combined with the increased
likelihood that children who live in poverty will experience academic challenges, are less likely
to graduate from high school, and are more likely to become involved in the juvenile justice
system than their middle income counterparts, the cycle of poverty seems intractable.
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2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
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Education is one of the most direct and effective vehicles out of poverty. Adults with advanced
degrees earn four times the income of those without a high school diploma, are less likely to be
unemployed or incarcerated and enjoy greater housing and food security and better health
outcomes.iii
There are many factors that impact successful academic achievement–high motivation in
students is linked to reduced dropout rates and increased levels of student success. Research
suggests that students’ positive attitudes toward school, appropriate behavior and confidence in
their academic abilities have significant impact on whether students will succeed academically.
Motivation, positive attitude and confidence are intrinsic in many high performing students who
have had positive school experiences. However, these characteristics can be fostered in children
who do not possess them intrinsically and whose schooling experiences have not always been
positive. The outcomes of fostering better attitudes toward school and learning last a lifetime.
This social/academic support is most effective if children experience it from a young age.
Research has shown that children who are supported academically from a young age are more
likely to be proficient readers by third grade, and therefore, more likely to succeed in later years
and to graduate from high school.iv The ability to read with proficiency by the third grade
depends as much upon high quality early childhood education, Kindergarten readiness,
attendance and good health as it does upon first through third grade reading instruction.
Many children, especially those from low-income families, enter Kindergarten with underdeveloped language skills and higher instances of health, social and emotional issues that
interfere with their learning. High quality early childhood education helps to mitigate these
factors so that children enter school ready to be successful and experience school success, which
helps to cultivate positive attitudes toward school and higher motivation.v
Gains for children can and should be made in the pre-school and elementary school years, and
for children still experiencing challenges, evidence suggests that the middle school years are
paramount. For students who are exhibiting behaviors that place them at high risk for dropping
out of school, intense intervention in the middle school years (especially the 6th grade) can be
highly effective to keep them engaged and motivated. It is important that efforts aimed at middle
grade students – especially 6th graders – be targeted and contribute positively to those students’
likelihood of graduating from high school.
High school graduation, a goal in itself, is important in that it equips young people with aptitude
to further their education and/or begin working and earning salaries needed to support
themselves and their families. The nature of work has changed significantly in the past decades.
Longitudinal studies suggest that adults change careers many times during their work lives and
depend increasingly on their abilities to adjust, innovate and develop, and less on their abilities to
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2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
Background Document
perform a specific skill. As we consider how young people are prepared for a world of work that
is dramatically different from today, it is imperative that we endeavor to equip them with
aptitude and habits of mind that will allow them to be successful throughout their work lives.
Funding Priorities
United Way’s goal in addressing such serious community needs is to invest funds strategically,
focusing on efforts that can mobilize the community and motivate kids to succeed through:
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Building foundations for academic success (pre K – 5th grade)
Enhancing education and career readiness for youth and young adults (grades 6 – 12 and
beyond)
Through the 2013-16 RFP process, we are looking for nonprofit partners that can remove
systemic barriers to success for youth and young children in the areas of academic achievement
and employment. They must present plans that propose change through collaborations and
partnerships, in policy and/or systems, or results-oriented models that can be widely replicated.
We are looking for nonprofit partners that can:
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Propose activities that identify and begin to address the systemic issues that perpetuate
risk factors in the lives of youth.
Reduce the negative impact of risk factors for children and youth by focusing on their
overall well-being and development of academic and problem solving skills.
Motivate kids to succeed in school (e.g. intervention fosters better attendance, more
engagement in school, better attitude towards school, etc.).
Long-term Outcomes
Proposals chosen for funding will focus on achieving and providing a comprehensive plan for
measuring at least one of the following long-term community level outcomes for children and
youth:
1) Building Foundations for Academic Success (pre K – 5th grade):
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Increase the number of children who enter school ready to learn
Increase the number of children who advance in grade level and are proficient according
to standardized tests at the 3rd/4th grades
Increase the number of children who gain skills that contribute to their academic success
and overall well being
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2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
Background Document
Strategies include but are not limited to:
 Connecting young children and their families to resources that prepare them to enter
school on time and ready to learn
 Increasing access to high quality out-of-school time programs that work closely with
schools and use curriculum so that children achieve improved academic outcomes
 Implementing best practices and models that reach scale (large numbers of children),
can be replicated and ensure that caring relationships between children and adults foster
life success (e.g. mentoring, parent encouragement, early literacy)
 Supporting early literacy and family literacy efforts that foster grade level reading
2) Enhancing Education and Career readiness for youth and young adults (grades 6 – 12
and beyond):
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Increase the number of youth who are engaged in school during the elementary and
middle school grades (e.g. have regular school attendance, are working hard, etc.)
Increase the number of youth who graduate from high school on time
Increase the number of youth who graduate with a career plan
Strategies include but are not limited to:
 Supporting and illuminating effective efforts to increase school attendance and
engagement for youth
 Increasing access to high quality out-of-school time programs that work closely with
schools and use curriculum so that youth achieve improved academic outcomes
 Training and mentoring programs that collaborate, teach and reinforce workforce
readiness, leadership and development of soft skills
 Use of models and best practices to ensure that caring relationships between youth and
adults result in life success (e.g. mentoring)
Target Populations - Proposed programs must serve one or more of the following target
populations:
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Youth or children with poor school attendance or other risk factors for academic failure
Youth or children with low grade point averages and low scores on standardized
measures of academic proficiency
Youth or children in areas of the county with low rates of high school graduation or low
literacy skills for young children
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2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
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Community Outcomes Strategies
Proposals should be designed to achieve community level impact through bold, transformative
collaborations that push to be as impactful as possible—they should employ at least one of the
following community outcome strategies (or an equally effective, vetted strategy):
1) Build on the documented success of United Way partner agencies to demonstrate
effectiveness, efficiency, innovation and collaboration.
2) Connect volunteers (on a large scale) with children in consistent, meaningful mentoring,
tutoring and early grade reading experiences that lead to improved outcomes for children.
3) Engage the business and labor community as leaders and partners in efforts that improve
outcomes for youth.
4) Strengthen advocacy efforts for effective and efficient publicly funded youth services,
significant policy changes and/or meaningful systems changes
5) Inform the community about and create urgency around challenges facing children and youth
and propose the ways United Way and community members can and should work toward
facing those challenges.
6) Engage and foster lasting partnerships with county-wide initiatives such as fitUnited
Pittsburgh, Be 1 In a Million, and Allegheny Partners for Out of School Time (APOST)
7) Explore how the community and schools can effectively collaborate in efforts to achieve
measurable goals (e.g. timely kindergarten enrollment, improved school attendance, etc.) and
orchestrate that collaboration.
Scoring Criteria:
The following four criteria are applied by United Way staff and teams of trained review
volunteers (the majority of which are United Way donors) to rank proposals. The questions that
follow each are used in this process to elicit if the criteria are met.
The Project Serves a Population with Great Needs:
 Does the proposal engage one or more of the target populations?
 Are geographic areas with high concentrations of the target population being served, and
what is the agency’s record of service within those areas?
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2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
Background Document
The Project Utilizes A Sound Approach:
 Is there a clear and compelling rationale for United Way’s investment in this effort?
 Are the necessary collaborations/partnerships in place to effectively carry out the aims of
the proposal and reach the target population?
 Is there a realistic plan for sustainability?
The Project Achieves Measurable Results:
 Is there clear evidence that this approach will achieve the desired outcomes?
 Is there a reliable data system which is part of a process for continuous improvement?
The Project Achieves or Leads to Community Outcomes:
 How does the project align with the United Way’s long-term outcomes and strategies?
 Beyond the project’s benefits to participants and their families, how will this effort have
an impact on the broader community and make Allegheny County a better place to live
and work?
 How will this effort implement preventive strategies, mobilize volunteers and corporate
community leaders and employees (United Way donors), provide a better model of
services that will be replicated or significantly expanded during the time period of this
grant, and/or lead to a systems or policy change?
 Are the services effective in preventing serious problems for individuals & the
community?
 What indicates this project is the best investment by United Way of the community’s
donor dollars?
Proposal Questions (to be answered online: Program Section – Step 1a)
Please note: These questions will be answered online and are provided here only for your
review. The online answer box for each question is limited by a certain number of characters as
noted below. If you choose to work first in a WORD document, use tools-word count to track the
total characters used per each question. You may then copy and paste into the online answer
boxes when completing the online application.
1.
Purpose Statement
a. Provide a brief description of the project. Include in the description a definition of the
problem the effort is designed to address. (1000 character limit)
b. Choose which United Way long-term outcome this effort is designed to achieve (from the
Background Document).
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2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
Background Document
2.
Select the category of service for this proposal:
 New project
 Expansion of an existing project
 Enhancement of an existing project
3.
Describe the target population(s) that will benefit from this effort and the record of
effectiveness in working with them. (1500 character limit)
4.
Choose the geographic area/s that this effort will serve. (There will be a drop down box
in the on-line form.) Explain why these areas were selected, and describe the record of
service within these areas.
(1000 character limit)
5.
Provide information about how this project is a collaborative/partnership effort.
a. List the collaborative partners who will be receiving funding through this project.
Explain how the collaboration accomplishes what would not otherwise be possible. Give
a brief history of the partners working together and why they were selected. (1500
character limit)
b. List the partners who are essential to the project’s success but will not receive funds.
Explain how the partnership accomplishes what would not otherwise be possible. Give a
brief history of the partners working together and why they were selected. (1500
character limit)
6.
Select which community outcomes strategy(ies) this effort will employ:
 Building on the documented success of United Way partner agencies
 Connecting corporate/business volunteers with youth on a large scale
 Engaging the business community as leaders and advocates
 Advocacy efforts for effective/efficient services, significant policy changes or
meaningful systems change
 Educating the community/creating urgency about challenges facing youth
 Engaging and fostering lasting partnerships with countywide United Way initiatives
 Exploring ways to unite the community and schools to effectively collaborate,
achieving measurable results
Describe how the selected strategies align with the purpose of the project. (1000 character
limit)
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2013-16 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
PREPARING CHILDREN AND YOUTH TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL AND LIFE
Background Document
7.
Describe the community level changes that will occur as a result of this effort, detailing
the positive impact these changes will have on the community. (1500 character limit)
8.
Discuss the barriers (beyond monetary) that may impede the project’s success in
achieving community outcomes and describe the plan for addressing them. (1000
character limit)
i
U.S. Census - http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/42/42003.html
Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. “Hunger Profile: Allegheny County.” 2011
iii
U.S. Census. “The Big Payoff: Educational Attainment and Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings.” 2002
iv
Hernandez, Donald. “Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School
Graduation.” 2012
v
Isaacs, Julia. Brookings Institution and Magnuson, Katherine. University of Wisconsin – Madison. “Income and
Education as Predictors of Children’s School Readiness.” 2011
ii
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