Subrecipient FAQs

Please refer to the RFP Conversation Overview PDF emailed on April 25, 2023 for guidance on who should attend. A limit on the number of people participating in the conversation is to ensure that everyone is able to actively participate in the time-limited conversation time. Consider the conversation prompts when thinking about who you want to participate; who is best suited to address the outlined questions?

Conversations are an opportunity to reframe your narrative to highlight lived experiences through a storytelling frame. You can refer to the written examples quickly and take the opportunity to expand by providing additional details and nuance. Storytelling allows you to share learnings, how changes were made, the relationships built, and programmatic adaptations. Shift the narrative from ‘what’ to the ‘how’ and ‘why.’

The external reviewers who participate in the conversation have also read your written proposal. Based on that experience, they have a high-level understanding of your organization, such as: number of years with SNAP-Ed, typical populations you serve, and general program approach.

Consider the conversation prompts when thinking about who you want to participate. You may invite a maximum of two community members/partners. Think about the diversity of community members who interact with your programming. Please ask them to speak about their experiences and uplift their voices in the conversation.

The conversation is 50 minutes and, on average, 8 minutes per topic.

Plan out your approach with your conversation team ahead of time and be mindful of the approximate time we have for each question. There is no requirement that every conversation team member answers each question.

Organizations must have at least one community representative actively participate in the conversation. You may also include a second community representative.

If you want to further lift up community voice, you can have a short video or collection of photos, etc., maximum of 2 minutes, where community members share their experiences aligned with the conversation question themes.

Take a look at the conversation questions and prompts and where the community voice can help build out a fuller perspective. You might include how community members have been integrated into the programming cycle or impact of programming on the community.

While the proposal period is open, all questions related to your proposed FY24 programming must be submitted as an FAQ.

• Submit your question on the right of this page.
• Email your question to: SNAP-EdAtMFF-RFP@michiganfitness.org.

Yes, it makes sense to include a proposed new program lead in the conversation. Keep in mind the time constraint and keeping the number of people limited so that all conversation participants can actively engage.

The review of your written application materials and the conversation component will determine if your organization fully meets the subrecipient eligibility criteria to be funded as a subrecipient grantee in FY24.

At the start of the conversation, we might offer participants a chance to respond to a question in the chat while everyone is introducing themselves.

Yes.

Yes, reporting both under PSE strategies at food pantries is okay. If awarded funding, site eligibility and how PSE work will be approached at the two settings will be reviewed.

When reporting your sectors represented in a multisector partnership/coalition, childcare and early childhood education programs would be reported as the same sector, childcare.

Yes, as long as the local data maps align with and illustrate the narrative provided.

Define the number of sites at the school level. For example, if you propose to deliver programming at 20 schools, you would report 20 sites.

For any planned direct education series where you anticipate participants will be attending virtually, from their homes, provide the estimated number of individuals as the number of sites for individual homes. For example, if you estimate you will have 15 participants attend a Fresh Conversation series virtually, you would report 15 as the planned number of sites for individual homes.

You have to submit the Anticipated Programming Form to be able to view your full submission in one document. Once you submit, you will receive an email confirmation with your full submission in the body of the email. The email confirmation will also include a hyperlink to a URL containing the contents of what was submitted.

If you find your program description has more characters than the Anticipated Programming Form allows, you should follow the steps below:

1. In the Anticipated Programming Form program description text box type ‘Submitting via the secondary link.’
2. Copy and paste your 500 word program description into this secondary submission link: https://mff.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_etwYMJIIC5ADv7M.

We are planning to include a new PSE strategy in our proposal, but need to spend more time gathering community feedback to determine which one would be the best fit. How should this be written into our narrative and anticipated programming form?

PSE strategies are collaborative initiatives that address community needs to create conditions where the healthy choice becomes the easy and preferred choice where people live, learn, work, shop, and play (e.g., PSE strategies at food pantries, PSE strategies for parks and open spaces, etc.). These strategies should be determined through assessment and community engagement. You should select the strategy that is closest to what/where you will be programming.

If you have the PSE strategy selected, but aren’t certain of the specific PSE tool/assessment/approach that will support the it, that is okay. You can select ‘Community PSE Exploration’ from the Anticipated Programming Form’s primary assessment(s) or tool(s) list to indicate that community exploration will be used to identify the PSE tool/assessment/approach that will support the selected PSE strategy.

If a position is open, enter “TBD” along with the position title in the ‘Name’ column (e.g., TBD-Nutrition Educator).

Yes, if you copy and paste text into the Anticipated Programming Form it will keep formatting the same (bullets, number lists, etc.).

The Map to Healthy Living search functions allow anyone to search for programming by organization, region, or intervention. To begin your search:

• Select: 1 What to Look For, on the right of the screen
• Select: Snap-Ed Programs
• Select the search category you’d like to explore. For a specific intervention you would select Intervention, then select the intervention you are interested in.
• Select: 3 Go

The map will then generate a list of all the locations using that intervention. Program lead contact information is listed there.

At minimum, include key SNAP-Ed staff: Local Program Lead, PSE Lead, and Finance Lead in your organization. If your proposed program includes a Lead Nutrition educator, they should be included as well.

Staffing should be aligned with the programming proposed and be reasonable and necessary.

The LOIs are accepted on a rolling basis until the deadline on Monday, March 20 at 4:30 p.m. EST. Feedback will be provided within three (3) working days of your LOI submission.

The LOI should provide a snapshot of anticipated programming, including high level information about the communities you will serve.

All LOI components from the provided template must be on your organization letterhead. You will submit one file for the LOI.

Much of the information captured in the Anticipated Programming Form aligns with content included in a program summary, which is developed after notification of provisional funding and is included with your contract.

There is no save button; however, the form will ‘remember’ your progress as long as you use the same computer browser and do not clear your cookies. You do not have to keep the browser open.

You want to include all of your PSE strategies.

Include any assessments/tools/approaches you plan to newly complete as well as existing assessments/tools/approaches you will reference for information.

Include all core direct education interventions regardless of whether they are offered on a limited basis (e.g., small number of series or only to a specific population).

In your response, lift up any policies/procedures your organization has about equitable pay.

SNAP-Ed U is the annual compliance training that typically does not have a registration cost. You should build in travel costs for SNAP-Ed U into your proposed budget. Hotel rooms are master billed to Michigan Fitness Foundation with no cost to you.

Typically, the third (3rd) or fourth (4th) week in August. Official dates will be communicated soon.

Yes, the cost is $150 per person delivering lessons. There will be additional guidance on print permissions, etc.

There is guidance in the budget instructions related to Choices and what costs to plan for.

Build your budget to align with the programming you are proposing. This includes staff time and effort, supplies, etc. You should also consider efficiency with administrative costs.

No. DE and PSE should work in tandem, but you do not need to have both approaches at all the same sites. For example, if you are providing DE in a school, you can advance PSE in places where families access food.

The program you are proposing needs to align with community need. The split between DE and PSE (you should be doing both) should reflect the programming selected to address community needs.

Yes, this is publicly available data that MFF packaged for specific use for the RFP process.

When you get the questions, have a conversation about who makes the most sense to be a part of your community team.

There is not a specific type of community partner that needs to participate in the conversation. Questions will be provided in advance. When you get the questions, have a conversation about who makes the most sense to be a part of your community conversation team.

We block certain days and time windows and offer you and your community teams options.

Yes, the information session will be recorded. The recording will be posted on the technical assistance tab within 48 hours of the live session.

For proposal purposes, include sites that are currently eligible and that you want to deliver programming in FY 2024. If funded, all sites will need to be confirmed as eligible before programming begins.

See the response below under General Questions, “My organization is currently funded by SNAP-Ed at MFF in FY23. Which funding option (to be a subrecipient or a community impact project in FY24) should I consider?”

No, contracting staff whose work or deliverables you will oversee, such as Nutrition Educators, is allowable; however, outsourcing or subcontracting to entities or individuals to administer and/or manage a part or the entirety of your SNAP-Ed program is not permitted.

Federal regulations outline criteria to delineate between subrecipient grantees and service providers as contractors. All currently funded organizations in FY23 (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 FY24. 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 FY24.

If you are unsure whether your organization should submit a proposal package to be a subrecipient in FY24, we recommend you submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the RFP. When MFF reviews your LOI, we will look to ensure you meet adequate standards to be a subrecipient and provide feedback on whether you should continue with the RFP process or consider other potential funding opportunities.

If you plan to apply as a Community Impact Project in FY24, the Request for Application process will open April 24, 2023.

Questions about the FY 2024 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.

No, there is no word or page limit; however, we encourage you to be thoughtful and intentional about what and how much information is included to clearly describe your programming.