We’ve uncovered a “secret” YouthBuild RFP. Well, it is not exactly secret, but not exactly well publicized either. The FY ’10 Department of Labor Appropriates Bill gave YouthBuild USA, a national nonprofit, a $10,000,000 non-competitive grant. It helps to have pals in Congress. The Department of Labor press release sounds as if YouthBuild USA will use the money itself. The YouthBuild USA site has a cryptic description of the YouthBuild SMART (“Start Making a Real Transformation”) Program.
Rather than use all of Department of Labor lucre itself, YouthBuild USA is making eight sub-grants. What you won’t find on the YouthBuild USA site, however, is the RFP or any explanation of how to apply. That’s because YouthBuild USA apparently only announced the competition in an email to its “affiliates.” Unless a nonprofit is in the know by being an affiliate, it won’t know about this competition. Like all good journalists (I know I ‘m a blogger, not a journalist, but a fella can pretend, can’t he?), we have unnamed sources and decided to put this “secret” RFP in our Free Grant Alert system. I trust YouthBuild USA appreciates our help in getting the word out. It’s interesting that YouthBuild USA will make eight sub-grants totaling about $8,000,000, making their administrative rake about $2,000,000. Nice work if you can get it. By the way, the deadline is September 20.
Speaking of YouthBuild, the Department of Labor will soon issue another YouthBuild SGA (Solicitation for Grant Applications, which is Department of Labor-speak for RFP). There will be at least 28 grants available, using what is left of the FY ’10 YouthBuild appropriation after second year funding for existing grantees, walking around money for YouthBuild USA and what have you. The SGA could be issued any day and there will probably be around $20 million available. This SGA will not be a secret. As Scotty the newsman in “The Thing from Another World” says, “Watch the skies”, or, just read our Free Grant Alerts.