The Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) fund Request for Proposals (RFP) is an opportunity for Community-based organizations working in Seattle on anti-displacement strategies, responding to creating new economic opportunities, improving educational outcomes, and other forms of community development.
Donor Name: Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD)
State: Washington
City: Seattle
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/05/2022
Size of the Grant: $75,000 and $2 million
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
The City’s purpose for the Equitable Development Initiative (EDI) fund is to support projects that address displacement and lack of access to opportunity for historically marginalized communities in Seattle.
Distinctive features of the EDI fund
- Organizations that are interested in applying to the EDI fund are eligible to access capital funds as the project progresses, subject to the needs of their project and fund availability.
- Funding is limited to organizations/coalitions led by impacted communities, working on advancing economic and racial equity in high-risk displacement communities.
- EDI funds are intended to be targeted towards communities that are experiencing or are at the highest risk of experiencing, displacement pressures as a result of Seattle’s growth. Additionally, priority goes to communities that have historically experienced specific policies that limit the opportunity of people of color.
- EDI generally assumes that engagement with partners will involve a multi-year process of building capacity, developing a project, and overseeing implementation and reporting.
- They aim to distribute funds broadly among communities that are impacted by displacement and historic disinvestment.
- EDI may recommend alternative funding strategies for projects that are able to access existing resources in order to maximize the amount available to communities. EDI funds are intended to complement existing funding sources and address gaps identified by communities in the resources available to the distinctive features of the EDI fund
- Organizations that are interested in applying to the EDI fund are eligible to access capital funds as the project progresses, subject to the needs of their project and fund availability.
- Funding is limited to organizations/coalitions led by impacted communities, working on advancing economic and racial equity in high-risk of displacement communities.
- EDI funds are intended to be targeted towards communities that are experiencing or are at the highest risk of experiencing, displacement pressures as a result of Seattle’s growth. Additionally, priority goes to communities that have historically experienced specific policies that limit the opportunity of people of color.
- EDI generally assumes that engagement with partners will involve a multi-year process of building capacity, developing a project, and overseeing implementation and reporting.
- They aim to distribute funds broadly among communities that are impacted by displacement and historic disinvestment.
- EDI may recommend alternative funding strategies for projects that are able to access existing resources in order to maximize the amount available to communities. EDI funds are intended to complement existing funding sources and address gaps identified by communities in the resources available to them
Funds Available
The Equitable Development Initiative has funding available for new and returning projects. Projects that do not use their funds and extend beyond the two-year period will be required to reapply for the remaining awarded funds to ensure that projects are still active.
Funding Caps
- Capacity-Building $75,000.
-
Capital $2 million
Eligibility Criteria
The EDI fund is intended to support anti-displacement strategies and promote economic development opportunities by supporting community-initiated solutions that are designed and implemented by communities that are subject to displacement as the region grows. As such, the EDI fund will prioritize applicants who are best able to demonstrate a thorough organizational commitment to equitable development as both practice and outcome in the relationship between their organization and the community whose interests they seek to represent.
Priority will be given to organizations that best meet most of the following criteria:
- Is the applicant incorporated as a nonprofit in the State of Washington?
- If not, does the organization have a fiscal sponsor, and does the fiscal sponsor limit sponsor fees to 10 percent of the funding award or less and have a clear strategy to support the organization’s long-term capacity-building work?
- EDI may make exceptions where a for-profit organization can demonstrate extraordinary accountability to impacted communities and where requiring non-profit status or fiscal sponsorship would add unnecessary costs and inefficiency to the project.
- The proposal must do work that primarily serves City of Seattle residents.
- The applicant must be in good standing with any other open City of Seattle contracts, grants, and/or loans.
- The project addresses at least three of the Equity Drivers from the Implementation Plan. Proposals should focus on only the three drivers that best fit the project concept.
- Projects that have previously received capacity-building awards must answer the Supplemental Questions. This does not apply to organizations that received one-time funding from the 2020 RFP.
For more information, visit Equitable Development Initiative.
