Spokane Collaborative - Policy Advocacy Funding Opportunity

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Background

In October 2019, the BHT Board allocated $500,000 for equity projects to be decided upon and organized by the members of the Spokane Collaborative. The Collaborative divided its efforts into three focus areas: Reducing Family Violence & Trauma, Improving Access to Affordable Housing, and Improving Access to Behavioral Health Services.

A workgroup was developed for each area and was allocated a portion of the funding based on the size of the group, and the breadth of their proposed activities. These funding allocations were first proposed by the full Collaborative and finalized by the Collaborative’s leadership team known as the Collaborative Connections Team (CCT). Following are the total amounts allocated to each group:

  • Reducing Family Violence & Trauma - $104,000

  • Improving Access to Affordable Housing - $116,000

  • Improving Access to Behavioral Health Services - $136,000

The remaining $144,000 was allocated to a “holdback fund“ by the CCT, in the event that a workgroup needed to cover an additional cost or a new equity gap activity opportunity emerged. For example, an Oral Health Equity focus area & workgroup was added in 2021 in partnership with Smile Spokane. This group was allocated $15,000 from the holdback bucket, in addition to some funding from Arcora.

After a year of working on these equity gap projects, the CCT recognized a need for policy work to impact inequities in our community. The CCT allocated $65,000 from the holdback fund to invest in this new work.

Funding Purpose

To provide a flexible pool of funding for policy-related equity efforts, with a clear process for Collaborative member organizations to request funds. We recognize that policy issues often move faster than the speed of the deliberative work of a big collaborative. We hope this process will be nimble enough to support local policy work related to the Collaborative’s equity priorities.

Who’s eligible?

  • Open to Spokane Collaborative member organizations with an MOU for the current calendar year.

  • This eligibility includes community organizations who are not current Collaborative members but who agree to participate in the Collaborative going forward. See 2021 MOU.

How much is available?

$65,000 in total

  • Individual cap at $15,000 per organization

    • Joint applications can request more

  • Applications may be fully funded, partially funded, or denied at the discretion of the Collaborative Connections Team. See rubric below.

What do we mean by policy work?

  • Policy work may include voter or policymaker education, community activation, advocacy, and more. Note that these funds may not be used for lobbying.

  • Funding will prioritize policy work at the local or state level meant to serve communities in Spokane County.

  • Applications for other work in the identified equity areas will be considered, but note that policy-related applications will be prioritized. See rubric below.

Timeline

  • This is an open application process i.e. no deadline. The process will remain open until the funds are spent.

  • The Collaborative Connections Team will review any applications at their monthly meeting, held the second Thursday of the month. Applications received by the first Friday of the month will be reviewed at that month’s meeting.

  • Applicants will be notified of the decision or request for further clarification/discussion following that meeting.

How to apply

  • Click apply here to be directed to the online application.

Rubric

The Collaborative Connection Team will make funding decisions based on the following criteria. Each area will be scored on a 4-point scale (where applicable).

  • Is the applying organization a member of the Collaborative?

  • Is the project service area within Spokane County?

  • Does this proposal serve a disparately impacted population?

  • Does this proposal have demonstrated support from community members? Have they talked to people impacted by the issue the work seeks to address?

  • Is the proposal supported by other organizations (in or out of the Collaborative)?

  • Does this have a policy or nonpartisan orientation (versus a heavy partisan/political lean or no policy content)?

  • Does this demonstrate ability to achieve the outcomes in the proposal? (organization capacity, staff, funding)

  • Does it complement existing project or efforts (within the Collaborative or in the community)?

  • Is the proposal supported by additional funding sources?