New York SNAP in Schools Outreach and Enrollment Request For Proposals (RFP)

The No Kid Hungry SNAP in Schools Opportunity will provide funding to community organizations and schools to maximize Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) enrollment and participation to ensure children and families have access to healthy meals at school and at home during the school year and/or summer months.

No Kid Hungry knows that community organizations and schools play a key role in ensuring children receive access to nutritious meals and food they need to learn, grow, and thrive to reach their full potential. We seek to support partnerships between schools and community-based organizations that increase SNAP access and enrollment through trusted messaging and assistance in school communities, support the connection between SNAP and school meals, and ensure that children and families have the food they need to thrive. We support SNAP outreach and enrollment efforts focused on serving underserved families and children, particularly immigrant and mixed-status families, communities of color, and rural communities. We encourage efforts that target outreach to eligible but not enrolled families, support families with navigating the application process, build connections between SNAP and school meals such as increasing enrollment to boost Identified Student Percentages and/or reach eligibility for the Community Eligibility Provision, and combat barriers to accessing SNAP such as language access. This is a growing area of focus for No Kid Hungry, so we’re hoping to support partners willing to participate and learn through a community of practice with other grantees tackling similar efforts.

Deadline

  • Applications are due December 20, 2022

Funding Amount

  • We expect to fund 5-8 projects with a range from $25,000-50,000 depending on the size and need of each application.
  
Access a PDF of this RFP here!

No Kid Hungry is committed to addressing the systemic and structural health, social, and economic inequities that disproportionately impact historically under-resourced communities. No Kid Hungry will prioritize funding school districts impacting the following communities:

  • Communities where 50% or more of the population identifies as Black, Latino, Indigenous Peoples, Asian, Hawaiian Native or Pacific Islander
  • Rural and urban communities where schools/school districts face unique challenges in addressing hunger
  • Communities experiencing extreme economic hardship, determined through multiple data points 
  • Communities where members experience intersecting social and environmental inequities

Please visit the No Kid Hungry website to learn more about No Kid Hungry’s grantmaking beliefs and values, as well as how No Kid Hungry prioritizes grant funds.

Funds will be prioritized to support applications with a strong and sustainable plan for maximizing participation and/or increasing federal nutrition program enrollment with the ability to track qualitative and quantitative metrics to support programmatic outcomes including number of households screened for eligibility, provided with application assistance, and enrolled in the program. 

Funds are intended to support organizations and school districts as they adapt to meet the changing needs of children and families. Strategies may include: 

  • Promoting and supporting outreach and enrollment efforts related to SNAP.
  • Providing application assistance to support families in enrolling federal nutrition programs and economic supports.
  • Equipping culturally sensitive and trusted messengers to support families and communities in navigating the SNAP application process including translated information, in-language assistance, and addressing misconceptions.
  • Supporting partnerships between school districts and other local community-based organizations (nonprofit organizations, local governments, etc.) to implement and increase access to federal nutrition programs.
  • Promoting cross enrollment efforts connecting federal nutrition programs, child nutrition programs and/or economic supports.
  • Increasing SNAP enrollment to help increase school meal access in particular supporting schools and districts to increase their Identified Student Percentage and maximize the Community Eligibility Provision. 
  • Ensuring maximum family and child participation in federal nutrition programs by lowering barriers to the program through technology access, language access, policy and/or systems change.

Budget requests may include:

  • Program outreach, marketing costs, translation services, benefit enrollment assistance, and participant/caregiver engagement. 
  • Costs of hiring additional staff positions, increasing hours for existing staff, and providing incentive for staff retention, recruitment and training. 
  • Technology requests.
  • Additional expenses as needed.

Applicants will be required to provide the following information:  

  • Reporting and authorized signature contact information.
  • Demographic information related to populations served and service locale.
  • Information about your current and planned federal nutrition program outreach and enrollment efforts.   
  • Detailed description of grant funding program objectives.
  • Detailed budget of anticipated use of funding.
  • Demographic makeup of your organization’s leadership, board, staff, and volunteers.
  • Letter of support from relevant school(s)/district(s) or community partner(s). 
 
Applicants may be contacted by the Program Team to discuss aspects of the proposed project. 

Please Note:

Grants may be funded through corporate partners working with Share Our Strength. You will be notified upon receipt of the grant award if a corporate partner is sponsoring the grant award.

Additionally, we understand that programming may vary and change throughout the grant year. Please submit your application with your current thinking for how your organization plans to increase or improve access to emergency food and federal nutrition programs throughout the year and any potential emergency service plans. If you are awarded funds, you will be required to submit quarterly progress reports that accurately describe your project implementation, as well as changes in participation and/or meal service delivery as programming adjusts to the evolving operating environment.

Grantees will join a No Kid Hungry community of practice with additional grantees & partners focused on increasing SNAP awareness & participation in families with children. The community of practice will allow grantees to not only access immediate technical assistance from No Kid Hungry, but also provide an opportunity for peer learning, troubleshooting, and sharing best practices. We anticipate the community of practice to run throughout the grant year with quarterly meetings (schedule to be determined after the grant award). We also plan to highlight grantees work through case studies and other learning opportunities to help contribute to the growing body of SNAP in schools work nationwide.

To Get Started on Your Application:

  1. Log into or create an account for the No Kid Hungry Grants Portal at https://nokidhungry.force.com. Please do not use Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge when registering or working within the portal.
  2. To create a new account, click “New User.”
  3. After you have logged into the No Kid Hungry Grants Portal, click “Start a New Application” on the Home page.
  4. Input the following access code to gain access to the application and then Click “Start Application” to begin:
    1. Schools/School Districts: NYSNAPInSchools2023
    2. Community Organizations: NYCommunitySNAPInSchools2023
  5. Be sure to input all required answers and save frequently as you are inputting information.
  6. Once all questions are completed, click “Review Application.”
  7. Download your application as a PDF and then click “Submit.”
  8. Please submit a letter of support indicating your organization/school districts proven track record of creating and maintaining a partnership between a local community organization and school district(s). The letter should come from your organization/school districts partner, outlining the partnership with your organization/school district and success of it. All letters should be submitted to Stephanie Wu Winter (swuwinter@strength.org) with the subject line SNAP in Schools- Letter of Support (District/Org Name). 

Sample Application:

To view a sample application, please click here.

Questions

Program Related: swuwinter@strength.org

Technical or Portal Related: GrantsHelpDesk@strength.org