ARKANSAS COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY
GRANT APPLICATION PACKAGE
2015
Arkansas Community Development Society
Grant Program Guidelines
The Arkansas Community Development Society grant program was established in 2008 to promote the
community development process in Arkansas. Up to $5,000 will be available for award to a single
applicant in 2015.
ACDS again has the opportunity for a second year for conference participants to engage in the grant
decision-making process through crowd-sourcing. ACDS will be holding its fall conference on October
22, 2015 at the University of Central Arkansas at which finalists will present a seven-minute presentation
of their proposal for an innovative community development project. These presentations are limited to
7 minutes (they are known as “ignite” sessions) and will be monitored by a time keeper. PowerPoint
and video may be included as part of the presentation. We strongly encourage each finalist to have
their presentation adequately rehearsed to fit within this time frame.
Eligible Recipients
Eligible recipients are all Arkansas cities, counties, or regional and local nonprofit organizations that
have as their purpose the promotion of community development activities that are in line with the
“Principles of Good Practice” as published by the Community Development Society (CDS). Those
principles are summarized below. Nonprofit organizations must quality as a 501(c)(3) and must have
received their tax exempt determination letter from the IRS at the time of application to be eligible to
apply.
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Promote active and representative participation toward enabling all community members to
meaningfully influence the decisions that affect their lives.
Engage community members in learning about and understanding community issues, and the
economic, social, environmental, political, psychological, and other impacts associated with
alternative courses of action.
Incorporate the diverse interests and cultures of the community in the community development
process; and disengage from support of any effort that is likely to adversely affect the
disadvantaged members of a community.
Work actively to enhance the leadership capacity of community members, leaders, and groups
within the community.
Be open to using the full range of action strategies to work toward the long-term sustainability
and well-being of the community.
Eligible Activities
Eligible activities include activities that promote community leadership, community involvement and the
expansion of community activities to include broader segments of society. Special consideration will be
given to projects that can be shown to have a major impact on the community.
Application Process
Applications must be received by ACDS either via mail or email no later than midnight, Friday,
September 11, 2015. Electronic submission by email is preferred. The review committee will choose
finalists to present their project in competition with other finalists at the ACDS Annual Conference on
October 22.
Grant applications should be submitted to:
Pam Alexander
ACDS Grants Committee Chair
c/o HarnessPoint Community Solutions
4501 Mt. Carmel Road
Jonesboro, AR 72404
Tel: 917 545 6047
Email: pam@harnesspoint.com
For more information or for grant applications, visit the website of the Arkansas Community
Development Society: http://arcds.org/
Scoring Criteria
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A clear project narrative that succinctly describes the need for the project and how it will foster
community development in your area. The narrative should also stress any elements of the project
that are particularly innovative or that easily lend themselves to replication and sustainability, as
well as the readiness of the applicant to proceed with the described activities as soon as the grant
funds are received. Include also a list of persons who have a leadership or project evaluation role.
The extent to which the proposed activities match the CDS Principles of Good Practice.
The number of persons who will directly or indirectly benefit from the activities proposed by the
application and how they will benefit.
The extent to which the grant makes use of other cash and in-kind contributions to leverage the
grant funds.
Broad community support, including representation of both local governing officials AND citizens,
and/or regional partnerships
A project milestone with accurate dates for the completion of each phase of the project.
Finalists selected to make presentations at the conference will be chosen by the ACDS Grants
Committee. The grant recipient will be determined by a vote of participants at the 2015 ACDS
Conference on October 22.
The grant recipient will be required to present their winning presentation and project successes since
the award at the 2016 Arkansas Community Development Conference to be held in the fall of 2016.
ARKANSAS COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SOCIETY
GRANT APPLICATION
Name of Applicant
Address
City
Contact Person
State
ZIP
E-Mail
1. Describe the need for the project and how it will foster community development in your area. The
narrative should stress any elements of the project that are particularly innovative or that easily
lend themselves to replication and sustainability, as well as the readiness of the applicant to
proceed with the described activities as soon as the grant funds are received. Include also a list of
persons who have a leadership or project evaluation role.
2. Describe how the proposal will further the “Principles of Good Practice” of the Community
Development Society.
3. Explain how many persons will benefit directly or indirectly from the proposed project and how they
will benefit.
4. To what extent will the requested grant funds be leveraged with other contributions from cash or inkind services?
Source
Cash Amount of In-Kind Services
5. Provide a brief milestone schedule for the completion of the project, demonstrating your readiness
to proceed after the award of grant funds.
Activity
Expected Completion Date
(Replace suggested activities with actual project milestones.)
Application Submission
Grant Award
Preparation of Detailed Plans
Start of Project
Completion of Project
6. Is there anything else you would like us to know about your project? Please limit information to one
additional page; list below all attachments included with this application:
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PowerPoint Presentation (for example):
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IRS 501(c)(3) Determination Letter (if applicant is a nonprofit organization)
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Yes
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Yes □
No