Answer: More likely to get the max. Potential amount $65K (Keeping in mind the application review criteria that is used to review the applications).

Answer: Yes, sustainability beyond the grant year is very important. Yes, it will be necessary for the applicant to showcase the proposed strategy that will be implemented to continue the program when MENTOR Rhode Island funding concludes.

Answer: The Elements of Effective Mentoring have been updated, so there is new information that was not available in the last grant cycle, plus we will provide TA individualized depending on where you are implementing best practices. The Community of Practice meetings are mandatory for all so everyone can share ideas and information.

Answer: The following continues through the duration of the grant period: Hybrid Model, Bi-Monthly. Community of Practice meetings are mandatory. Missing meetings would jeopardize the funding, which will be specified in the MOU.  

Answer: Data collection will be necessary but will not be all quantitative because we want to hear about all the rich experiential learning that happens in your programs. There will be pre/post surveys for the participants that you will need to administer and report back to us on in addition to numbers served and demographic information.  The subgrantee will be responsible for answering the minimum required questions. As well as indicating how the program outcomes were achieved.

Answer: Yes, the monies can be used to hire someone or delegate responsibilities of an existing staff member to recruit. Recruitment will be a challenge since we will all be looking for mentors. The grantees will work together with MENTOR RI staff through our Community of Practice meetings to make sure that we have a solid plan in place, so we don’t duplicate efforts. If you plan to fund a recruiter, you will need to outline this in your budget and plan.

Answer: Yes, you can give a stipend or perhaps gift cards to volunteers.  Since meetings with mentees may often take place in places such as restaurants and coffee shops, it would be reasonable to support those meetings with gift cards given to the volunteers.

Answer: Unfortunately, we cannot expand the age group to be served beyond 24 years old.

Answer: Yes, grant monies can be used to fund professional development for staff to gain the skills necessary to build effective relationships with young people with a focus on staff members that are integral to this program.  

Answer: All grant funded dollars are needed to serve youth residing in the City of Providence. The program location can be housed in a different location but the youth being served via this RATC initiative must reside in Providence.

Answer: The basis of this funding is through the federal government. Food expenses will not be covered.

No it is not possible to start the application, close out of it and resume later. You may minimize the application on your bottom tool bar and resume later.

Answer: Yes.

Answer: Multiple programs are welcome to collaborate. All programs in the collaboration will be expected to share their financial documentation at the time of submission. However, there must be one lead identified to represent the collaboration regarding program deliverables and requirements.

Answer: While you may select various types of mentoring styles. It is important to clearly identify the type of mentoring your program model will focus on for this initiative.

Answer: Funds will need to be used for new matches.

Answer: The Relationships at the Center initiative will include 7 mandatory Community of Practice sessions (Hybrid Model, Bi-Monthly). The date of each session will be shared on our October 2, 2024, mandatory training/orientation.

December 2024

February 2025

April 2025

June 2025

August 2025

October 2025

December 2025

Answer: Sustainability and total number of youths served are important pieces of this initiative, therefore, a best practice is for you to enroll mentees on-going. Because documenting the impact of your work is important, we will be doing that with pre/post youth surveys (as well as other qualitative data collection). For the presurvey, we would like as many mentees as possible that are part of your proposal to be in the program by the end of February 2025. 

All mentees should receive their pre-survey during the month of February, and you need to see that those surveys are completed by the youth and returned to us NO LATER than March 3rd 2025.  Those mentees will serve as the cohort for our evaluation tool (pre and post surveys) reporting to the city. Any mentees added after February 28, 2025 should be included in your regular reporting; they just won’t be part of the pre and post survey evaluation reporting

Answer: You may submit written questions regarding the Mentoring RFP no later than August 23, 2024, by 5:00pm.  Submit to Jeanine Achin at Jachin@mentorri.org and Marisol Feliciano at Mfeliciano@mentorri.org. Responses will be posted as questions are submitted by August 26, 2024, by 5:00pm. All responses to applicant questions will be posted on MENTOR Rhode Island’s website www.MentorRI.org by this date. 

As always MENTOR Rhode Island is here to assist and provide you with guidance throughout the application process.  If you have added questions after the cutoff date, please review the entire RFP Application, the Defining Key Terms and Other Considerations resource page, and the 2 Applicant Orientation Sessions.

Should you run into issues submitting the application online and/or attaching files, you may email us after the 8/23 cut off.

Answer: Being that funds for the Relationships at the Center Initiative are federal dollars, food will not be an allowable expense.  You may add as a line item, stipends for mentors. Be as specific as you can. For example, 5x stipends @ $100.00 (each) x 5 mentors.

MENTOR Rhode Island sees this commitment by Providence as an opportunity to transform the city into a Relationship-Centered Community. A Relationship-Centered Community has the following attributes:

• Data Driven: Includes structured needs assessment and ongoing evaluation, including identified outcome measures to determine if young people are meeting their relationship-centered goals.
• Relationship-Rich: The community needs to be relationship-rich, including mentor-rich, providing all young people the opportunity to build meaningful and healthy relationships that matter, in school and beyond.
• Exposure to People, Places, and Environments: Ensure young people of all ages have opportunities to meet people (other than family) within their communities, as well as people from outside their immediate communities and neighborhoods.
• Experiential Learning: Provide all young people access to project-based, competency-based assignments, internships, work readiness opportunities, youth-lead community advocacy opportunities, and problem-solving activities based on real-life situations as part of their coursework, extra-curricular involvement, or community-based opportunities.

The ultimate outcome is the relationships our young people build and sustain. Over the course of the initiative, MENTOR Rhode Island will evaluate the following:  

• Quantity of relationships measures who is in a young person’s network over time. With increased access to high quality relationships for young people, the better their chances of finding the support they need and the opportunities they deserve.
• ▪ Quality of relationships measures how young people experience the relationships they are in and the extent to which those relationships are meeting their relational, developmental, and instrumental needs. Different relationships offer different value as young people’s needs evolve.
• ▪ Structure of networks gauges the variety of people a young person knows and how those people are themselves connected. A young person cannot be what they cannot see. Different people with varied backgrounds, expertise, and insights can provide young people with a wide range of options for discovering opportunities, exploring interests, and accessing career options.
• ▪ Ability to mobilize relationships assesses a young person’s ability to seek out help when needed and to activate different relationships. Connecting a young person to relationships isn’t enough. Young people must have skills to nurture relationships and recognize how and when to leverage relationships as resources in their life journey. 

In the long-term, MENTOR Rhode Island sees the outcomes of continued support of “Relationships at the Center – A Solution for Providence Youth” to be that the city will be a Relationship-Centered Community, where young people have a sense of belonging and trust and are less likely to engage in risky or violent behavior.

Application Review Criteria

The following criteria are used during the review of applications submitted to MENTOR Rhode Island:

Need for Program (10 Points)

• The application describes how the program aligns with the outcomes listed on page 3 of this document.
• The need being addressed by the program is described using local data.
• The application describes why it is timely and/or urgent to address the identified need.
• The application describes the program’s targeted population.

Organizational Capacity (15 Points)

• The organization indicates a strong commitment to the program.
• The qualifications of the organization as a whole suggests that the program will be implemented and/or managed successfully.
• The organization has experience in the implementation/operation of programs of similar size and scope in serving the target population and in achieving identified program outcomes or is willing to commit the time and talent necessary to build the infrastructure by participating in intensive training and technical assistance, designed for grantees without the current bandwidth or relevant expertise.

Program Approach and Design (20 Points)

• The program uses an innovative approach to addressing the identified need.
• The program’s overall design and activities are reasonable and are likely to achieve the program’s stated outcomes.
• The program’s overall design and activities reflect one or more strategies identified on pages 5-7 of this document.
• The program’s overall design and activities integrate with relevant existing services.
• The program’s activities are well designed and logical given the identified need and target population.

Evaluation (15 Points)

• The evaluation model clearly identifies Projected Program Activities and projected outcomes.
• The evaluation model includes assessment of the mentoring relationships as well as youth outcomes.
• Projected Measurable Outcomes/Indicators (other than Required and Recommended Success Indicators) are realistic and appropriate, capturing changes or benefits for clients served.

Sustainability (20 Points)

• The proposed strategy to continue the program when MENTOR RI funding ends is reasonable and realistic.

Budget and Budget Narrative (20 Points)

• The total program budget is adequate to successfully implement/operate the program and address the identified problem, need or issue.
• The total program costs are reasonable, given the scale and scope of the program.
• The budget and budget narrative clearly describe how MENTOR RI/City of Providence funds and other necessary funds will be applied to the various program budget line items.
• The budget narrative is sufficiently detailed to provide programmatic justification for each line item in the total program budget.
• The applicant has sought additional funders (pending and/or confirmed) and has secured sufficient funding to adequately implement/operate the program as described.

Budget NOTE: In addition to the costs, you identify as part of your program expenses, please also include the following in your proposal:

1. Staff time to attend 2 days of orientation/training, plus bi-monthly 2 hour “Community of Practice” gatherings and trainings.
2. Local mileage @ .67 per mile or other transportation costs for staff travel related to this grant.
3. Staff time for deep dive on program practices (dependent on your current knowledge and implementation of the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring ™). Your current level will not impact your approval odds positively or negatively. Above all, we want to be sure you have the tools you need to implement an effective program for the youth you serve.
4. Experienced programs, please allocate 24 hours of staff time. New programs, please include up to 75 hours of staff time. This is in addition to the orientation/training and community of practice hours from number 1 above.

Total Possible Points = 100

The deadline to submit applications is Wednesday, September 4, 2024, by 5:00 p.m.

How to apply

A completed application must include:

1. Completed application including all narrative sections
2. Budget Proposal
3. Current Financial Statements:
4. Operating Budget Current Fiscal Year
5. Year-to-date Budget versus Actual Profit and Loss Statement
6. Balance Sheet
7. Latest Form 990 or Audited Financial Statement (for fiscal sponsor if applicable)

Please submit your application and upload all required documents via the application link.

  2024 – 2025 Relationships at the Center, MENTOR Rhode Island, City of Providence Grant Application – Google Forms

What will readers look for?

• Well-rounded programming centered on young people’s needs
• Innovation and passion for mentoring
• How program will be sustained after funding ends
• Programs that serve young people where no mentoring program currently exists may be given priority