Subrecipient FAQs

The only required FY 2026 RFP components are the anticipated programming form, budget, and proposal narrative. If you include an indirect rate in your proposed budget, submit the aligned supporting documentation with your proposal package.

If your organization is taking the De Minimis, MFF provides a De Minimis form on the documents tab under ‘other resources’. For more information on indirect rates, see the Budget Instructions.

Direct Education is an evidence-based, behavior-focused nutrition education or physical activity intervention conducted at the individual and interpersonal levels with an intensity and duration that supports behavior change and allows for active engagement in-person, in a live online format, or through interactive media.

Community-based strategies are initiatives that have the potential to improve access to nutritious food and safe places for physical activity, making healthy choices more accessible and convenient. In the FY25 Programming and Operations Manual, this topic will be referenced as Policy, Systems, and Environmental changes (PSE).

For more information on how these components interact, see the FY25 Program and Operations Manual on the documents tab under ‘other resources’.

Multisector partnerships or coalitions are collaborative groups that have at least five sectors (list of sectors included in the Anticipated Programming Form), are active, and could plan and achieve changes in nutrition, physical activity, food security, and/or obesity prevention supports.

If you are currently using a community-based strategy assessment/tool/approach in your FY25 programming and proposing to use it in FY26, you can consider it ‘continuing to use’ in FY26.

If your organization has never received a negotiated indirect cost rate from the federal government or your cognizant State agency, you may elect to use the de minimis rate in your proposed FY26 budget. (See Budget Instructions page 2).

If your organization meets the criterion to elect to use the de minimis rate, the rate is up to 15% for FY26. If you include the de minimis in your proposed FY26 budget, include a signed copy of the De Minimis Certification form in your proposal package (see the documents tab).

Yes. If you have a federally negotiated indirect cost rate or an indirect rate certified by a cognizant agency (e.g., Michigan Department of Education), you can include up to that rate in your proposed budget.

If your negotiated indirect rate is applied to your Modified Total Direct Costs, enter your negotiated indirect rate on the ‘Budget Summary’ tab. You should also submit a copy of your Negotiated Indirect Rate Agreement with your proposal package.

If your negotiated indirect cost rate is applied only to certain portion of your budget (e.g., % applied only to salary and fringe), enter the amount (in dollars) and a description of the calculation in the ‘Budget Summary’ tab AND submit the justification for that calculation with your proposal package.

If your organization meets the Uniform Guidance criteria to be a subrecipient and the proposal requirements your organization is welcome to submit a proposal package.

The SNAP-Ed at Michigan Fitness Foundation Funding Opportunities Overview video/slides are available on the How to Apply page to introduce the two SNAP-Ed implementation funding opportunities.

To estimate how many people will likely come into contact with improved community supports for healthy eating and physical activity through community-based strategies, we recommend the following:

• Start by estimating the total number of individuals who would be directly impacted by the change.
• If the change impacts more than those who qualify for SNAP, you must apply a proportion aligned with those who qualify for SNAP to the total reach number. You might apply local data (e.g., percentage of how many residents qualify for SNAP) or the population of an eligible census tract where a change at a park took place.

  For example, if you support a policy change at the city level, do not count the entire city population. You would estimate the number of people who you can be reasonably confident will come into contact with that change and then apply the percentage of the city population who qualify for SNAP to that estimated number.

At this time, continue to refer to the program as Fork & the Road. Fork & the Road is listed in the Anticipated Programming Form under direct education interventions. If provisionally funded, MFF will provide guidance for how to name this direct education intervention for program summary documents.

SNAP-Ed funding is limited and is expected to become increasingly limited. It is essential that Michigan SNAP-Ed continue to be good stewards of public funds and ensure SNAP-Ed resources are invested in places where there is no other nutrition and physical activity programming occurring.

Do not include program strategies or sites in your SNAP-Ed proposal that are funded through other sources. Either conduct SNAP-Ed programming in places that are not receiving services (e.g., programming related to nutrition, food access, hunger, gardening, physical activity promotion and/or active living, etc.) or reduce your grant amount to reflect the reduction in SNAP-Ed programming being provided.

Partnerships and collaboration, however, are essential in SNAP-Ed, no one entity can do it all; therefore, if there are other funding sources supporting programming similar to SNAP-Ed in the places you plan to serve in FY 2026, part of your work with SNAP-Ed can be partnering with that other effort to optimize resources and enhance efforts.

No FY25 survey results are not available at this time. MFF begins to analyze school-based FY25 program data at the end of the school year, typically in June. Please reference your FY24 data during your FY26 RFP writing.

The organization information and contact information get entered directly into the form on the Submit Proposal Package Tab. All cells you see in the Program Narrative Instructions (page 1) get populated within the form where you will upload your RFP files and not the program narrative file.

No, however, budgets should be reflective of the proposed programming (e.g., scope and reach).

Other opportunities to do SNAP-Ed work at MFF are available after the FY26 RFP has closed. All funding is contingent on availability and any needed approvals by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). All awards are provisional pending Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and FNS approvals.

No, reviewers are not familiar with your program.

Reach for community-based strategy work should include all individuals who will be directly interacting with the implemented change. FNS has evolved their recommendations for indirect reach reporting for community-based strategies to only include those who directly interact with the change. It is unlikely that a change would have indirect reach since most people would be directly interacting with the implemented change.

Currently there are no changes in costs. However, this FAQ page will be updated if changes develop.

AI could provide suggestions, but it’s not recommended to use AI suggestions verbatim when writing reports or proposals.

Whomever will share a story about SNAP-Ed’s positive impact in the community.

There will be no conversation component for RFP applicants this year. Instead the community partner stories (Program Narrative Question 6) will take the place of the conversation component.

There are several resources online however, we recommend that you follow your organization’s instruction on how to address language. More definitive links are just now evolving and will be linked later. 

How you address language changes to follow the executive order is up to your organization. We understand that there may be a phased approach when dealing with language changes.

There are no other word count limitations for the program narrative questions, aside from Question #2. Proposed programs vary in scopes drastically so we do not recommend response lengths. We recommend that your responses address all elements of the question(s) adequately to the proposed programming size.

When writing about the populations you are proposing to reach make sure the language used aligns with the executive order. For example: legally residing refugees and immigrants.

Federal regulations outline criteria to delineate between subrecipient grantees and service providers as contractors. All currently funded organizations in FY25 (subrecipient and community impact project) and new organizations that meet the eligibility criteria to be a subrecipient and can demonstrate capacity to independently design, deliver, and monitor a federal grant, like SNAP-Ed, need to submit to be a subrecipient in FY26. Furthermore, a currently funded organization’s record of program performance and grant compliance will be considered; those with a successful record need to pursue being a subrecipient in FY26.

Questions about the FY 2026 RFP must come in through the FAQs or in the technical assistance session to be answered and posted so that everyone can benefit from the information. While there is not an opportunity to talk to MFF staff about proposed programming details before submitting a proposal package, keep in mind that what you anticipate and include in a proposal can evolve over time. If funded, there will be opportunity for conversations with an MFF Program Manager to finalize your programming for the upcoming year.

Currently, funding is for one program year.

SNAP-Ed funded organizations delivering nutrition education as part of a whole-school, whole community, whole child approach can include EPEC PLAY subscriptions for physical educators in their proposed budgets for FY 2026. EPEC PLAY can be seamlessly integrated into your nutrition education programming, offering a holistic approach to physical and nutrition education. When used as part of a comprehensive nutrition education program, EPEC PLAY enhances outcomes by promoting lifelong physical activity and healthy habits. 

EPEC PLAY is available for purchase as a single-user subscription, so each user will need their own subscription. Subscription packages are organized by grade span: K-2, 3-5, or K-5 and broken out by: foundational units, seasonal adventure units, and specialized movement units. The foundational units start at $215 per educator, per year for one grade span (K-2 or 3-5), or $375 per educator per year for K-5. To learn more about the additional packages, please visit: EPEC PLAY Subscriptions. 

No.

We strongly recommend you comply with Executive Order 14173. Review the Executive Order and follow the guidance your organization has provided regarding language use. As part of the RFP review process, proposals are shared with the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and, if requested, will be shared with USDA Food and Nutrition Service.