2011 Request for Proposals
Rationale: The North Carolina Horse Councils’ mission is to serve as the collective voice of the North Carolina horse community through education, communication and representation. Our strategic goals are to develop and implement a comprehensive marketing and promotion program, expand and strengthen the industry’s legislative presence, increase the involvement of horse owners throughout the state, enhance educational and research programs, improve the business and regulatory environment, and manage and maintain a statewide program to promote trail riding and trail access. Our charge is to solicit and fund strong horse industry proposals which enhance our mission and support our organizational goals and strategic plan.
What is this RFP for Funding Horse Council Related Programs for 2011?
The NCHC Horse Industry Grant Program is charged to solicit and fund strong horse industry proposals which enhance our mission and support our organizational goals and strategic plan. In order to better accomplish these goals this new grant structure has been adopted.
Special Considerations for All Grant Categories:
All requests should meet one or more of the following criteria:
- Unifies the NC Horse Community
- Makes a lasting difference (systemic changes to NC Horse Environment)
- Directly affects at least 50 people over the course of the year
- Allows NCHC to develop and/or provide expertise and information on equine issues and facts
- Increases awareness of NCHC
- Identifies revenue sources for NCHC
Funding will be accessible to all NC horse owners regardless of membership within the NCHC.
Grant Categories
Gelding Voucher Program
This program has been developed to help address equine welfare with hopes of assisting the average horse owner in need. In addition, it helps us to address the serious issue of the unwanted horse. This grant program will be available all year and applications will be considered on a first come first serve basis. Dollars will be granted until all funds for each fiscal year are expended. Notification of fund depletion will be posted on the webpage. Prior approval for reimbursement is required.
Click here for the Gelding Voucher Application
Euthanasia Support Program
This program will be developed to help address equine welfare with hopes of assisting the average horse owner in need. In addition it helps us to address the serious issue of the unwanted horse. This grant program will be available all year and applications will be considered on a first come first serve basis. Dollars will be granted until all funds for each fiscal year are expended. Notification of fund depletion will be posted on the webpage. Requests may be made after the fact, but reimbursement is not guaranteed and is dependent on remaining funds available.
Click here for the Euthanasia Support Program Application
Equine Safety Net Program
The Equine Safety Net was established to assist those caring horse owners who have a temporary financial setback (such as a job loss, disaster or medical incident within the past 6 months), and are having difficulties feeding their horses.
The North Carolina Horse Council will feed up to two horses for 30 days, so that these individuals may consider alternatives for the horses or get back on their feet financially. Applications for 30 day extensions are also considered.
This grant program will be available all year and applications will be considered on a first come first serve basis. Dollars will be granted until all funds for each fiscal year are expended. Notification of fund depletion will be posted on the webpage.
Click here for the Equine Safety Net Program Application
Trail Grants
The issue of equine land use is a serious issue for North Carolina and our trail riding community. In addition, our trails continue to be threatened by closure or decreased in mileage. No one knows better where the priorities are regarding these issues than the local trail associations who with this program would be banding together with the NCHC to develop our strategic plan and promote NC as a trail destination state. This program will allow us to prioritize projects and get the most impact from our referendum dollars. North Carolina Trail Associations are invited to participate via the identification of trail projects across the state. A review team will prioritize and identify projects for funding.
Click here for the Trail Grants Application
Education and Community Grants: Education is vital to the NCHC mission. By establishing a new Educational Grant program addressing state-wide interests and placing a high priority on replicability and uniqueness, we would hope to reach a larger number of the equine community. Based on our Education Committee Survey, electronic programs were sought out by many of the respondents. Examples of this would be development of internet programs in conjunction with our state educational institutions and professional organizations and made accessible statewide to the average horse owner.
Community Grants apply to projects which assist equine owners via emergency rescue’s therapeutic services, rescue or safety activities or a specific service which meets a well defined need within the equine community.
Each educational/community grant must identify a unique approach to an existing issue or problem within the North Carolina equine community. Statement of the problem, a statement of deliverable items, a clearly defined method of how the program or project can be replicated and the role the grantee will play in duplicating the program must be written in the grant. A fully itemized budget and identification of other funding sources must also be included with each grant request.
The grants may be received throughout the fiscal year of 2011, beginning in February and will be accepted until all dollars are awarded. The requested dollar amount per each grant may not exceed $2,250 for fiscal year 2011. (Grant forms will be available on-line February 2011.)
Click here for the Education and Community Grants application
Scholarship Grants
The need to support hands on experiences and support and maintain the education of qualified equine workers within our state is great. As we become less rural and our students are coming to us with less “farm” or agricultural experience it is critical that they be provided some hands on learning opportunities. In addition, by providing some post-secondary NCHC scholarships, we can encourage practice in our state upon graduation. Youth scholarships are also available for middle school and high school as well as therapeutic riding or camp activities.
Click here for the Scholarship Grants Application
Development Grants
Funding of major development or building projects will be considered throughout the year beginning in mid 2011.
Click here for the Development Grants Application
Health and Research Grants
This grant category remains unchanged. Grants will be received during May of each year, evaluated during July and funded during August of each fiscal year.
Click here for the Health and Research Grant Application
Proposal Goals/Outcomes
All proposals must focus on one or more of the NCHC’s strategic outcomes (see NCHC Strategic Plan).
All programs should meet one or more of the following criteria:
a. Unifies the horse community.
b. Makes a lasting difference (systemic changes to North Carolina’s horse environment)
c. Directly affects at least 50 people over the course of the year
d. Allows NCHC to develop and/or provide expertise and information on equine issues and facts
e. Increases the awareness of NCHC
f. Identifies revenue sources for NCHC
Deadline for Submission and Anticipdated Award and Date
Grant award deadlines vary. Please see the application/information forms under each category.
Grants should be submitted electronically to: grants@nchorsecouncil.com. A written copy must also be submitted. These proposals should be mailed to the NCHC c/o Sue M. Gray, Executive Director, 4904 Waters Edge Drive, Suite 290 Raleigh, NC 27606. Each Proposal should be clearly marked as a Grant Proposal and the appropriate Category identified on the external envelope.
NOTE: Every effort will be made to notify grant applicants that their submission has been received; however, it remains the responsibility of the applicant to verify the receipt of their grant.
Who May Submit a Proposal?
Proposals authored by existing clubs, associations, institutions of higher education or individuals maintaining an interest in the health , recreational and educational interests of the horse industry are being solicited. Proposals impacting the broadest scope of horse owners are preferred.
Proposal Elements/Outline
Proposal processing
1. Proposals are to be submitted to the NCHC Office by established deadlines if applicable. Please see individual grant categories for specific information.
2. The proposals are forwarded to the appropriate NCHC Committee.
3. Proposals are scored on a 10-point system: Need for and impact of project/study weighed with the proposal impact on the specific criteria described in the RFP (4pts), quality of proposal (4pts), appropriateness of budget (1pt), ability to carry out the project/investigation and likelihood of timely completion (1pt).
4. Special review committees will be appointed by the NCHC President to review all grants. (See Review Committee Selection Process) Each member of the committee will grade each proposal. Following discussion by Committee members, a final score and rank will be assigned to each grant. Proposals that are incomplete, late or ones not following the format will be excluded from consideration. Only proposals deemed meritorious for funding with budgets not exceeding the maximum allocation for each category of grants will be submitted to the NCHC in rank order. The NCHC Executive Committee will make the final decision for funding based upon the reviewing Committee’s recommendations and monies available.
5. Budget: Specific Grant Categories may be limited to a maximum dollar amount set each year as dollars are available. If dollars in specific categories are not expended during the present fiscal year they may be added to the next years allocations.
Review Committee Selection Process:
Each year the NCHC President will select one member of the Executive Committee to Chair the following review committees:
- Education and Community Grants
- Development
- Scholarship Grants
- Health and Research Grants
- Trails
- Gelding
- Euthanasia
- Safety Net
- Each Review Committee will consist of a Chairperson from the NCHC Executive Committee and two other representatives from the Board of Directors (All membership categories would be eligible to serve; however, the NCHC conflict of interest policy would apply.) These members will be recommended by the Executive Committee and appointed by the President.
- The Committee members would be appointed to serve for one year.
- The Chair of each committee would be responsible for scheduling and conducting the reviews and presenting the committee recommendations to the Executive Committee for final funding/approval
Evaluation Criteria
All proposals will be reviewed by the appropriate NCHC Committee utilizing the following guidelines:
- FIT: The extent to which the proposal provides evidence of enhancing the NCHC strategic goals as related to the specific theme identified
- QUALITY: The overall quality of the proposal and its evidence that the project can make a difference
- INDUSTRY IMPACT: The magnitude of impact on horse owners. How many horse owners will be directly impacted by the project
- FEASIBILITY: Evidence provided that the proposal is realistic in light of the category and its potential for longer term sustainability
- ACCOUNTABILITY: The quality of the assessment plan. Does the evaluation plan adequately shed light on the effectiveness of the proposal