Technical Review
After you submit your application by November 15, 2024, Baltimore’s Promise staff will review your application materials. We will check that your required documents are correct and up to date. Baltimore’s Promise staff will email you by Friday, December 6, 2024, to let you know about any missing or incorrect materials. You will have until 5:00 PM on Friday, December 13, 2024, to resubmit any necessary materials. Funders may choose to not consider incomplete applications. We strongly encourage you to read through the section on required documents (page 8) before submitting your application to avoid needing to resubmit materials.
Community Review Process
We may select your application for community reviewers to read. Reviewers will include youth ages 14-24 and parents/caregivers of youth ages 0-13. Community Reviewers will be chosen through an open call on social media and through our partnerships with community-based organizations. Community reviewers will review up to 200 applications. The SFC will align 100% of funding decisions with the community review process.
If we choose your application for review, the community review committee will evaluate your Program Description from your application. We will then incorporate community review feedback into final decision-making. ALL SFC applicants that undergo the Community Review Process will receive feedback about their applications from community reviewers. View a video about our Community Review Process here.
Funder Review and Decision-Making:
At the same time that community reviewers evaluate SFC applications, SFC funders complete a funder review process. SFC funders will receive all application materials and evaluate applications based on a standardized rubric.
Funder evaluations will be combined with community review feedback to produce a funding recommendation for each application. In addition to funder and community review feedback, the final slate of SFC 2025 grantees will be determined based on the SFC’s eligibility requirements and shared funding priority areas, including ages served and programs from BIPOC-led organizations. We will announce funding decisions by March 2025. We will email a decision letter to the proposal contact listed on the online application.
The SFC is an aligned fund. This means that, while the SFC decides the slate of 2025 grantees together, grants will still be awarded by individual funders. The SFC strives to coordinate funding decisions and fund whole program budgets as much as possible. Before finalizing their decisions, SFC funders meet to align final decisions with the goal of fully funding as many high-quality summer programs as possible. SFC funders also strive to blend public and private sources of funding so that grantees have more flexibility in how they can spend their funds.
For summer 2025, the SFC will provide more than $3 million to programs. Of this amount:
You are welcome to apply for the full funding needed to run a high-quality summer program. The SFC will prioritize funding full program budgets for grantees with organizational budgets that are less than $300,000. For grantees with organizational budgets greater than $300,000, grant awards will be capped at $75,000 per program.
After you submit your application by November 15, 2024, Baltimore’s Promise staff will review your application materials. We will check that your required documents are correct and up to date. Baltimore’s Promise staff will email you by Friday, December 6, 2024, to let you know about any missing or incorrect materials. You will have until 5:00 PM on Friday, December 13, 2024, to resubmit any necessary materials. Funders may choose to not consider incomplete applications. We strongly encourage you to read through the section on required documents (page 8) before submitting your application to avoid needing to resubmit materials.
Community Review Process
We may select your application for community reviewers to read. Reviewers will include youth ages 14-24 and parents/caregivers of youth ages 0-13. Community Reviewers will be chosen through an open call on social media and through our partnerships with community-based organizations. Community reviewers will review up to 200 applications. The SFC will align 100% of funding decisions with the community review process.
If we choose your application for review, the community review committee will evaluate your Program Description from your application. We will then incorporate community review feedback into final decision-making. ALL SFC applicants that undergo the Community Review Process will receive feedback about their applications from community reviewers. View a video about our Community Review Process here.
Funder Review and Decision-Making:
At the same time that community reviewers evaluate SFC applications, SFC funders complete a funder review process. SFC funders will receive all application materials and evaluate applications based on a standardized rubric.
Funder evaluations will be combined with community review feedback to produce a funding recommendation for each application. In addition to funder and community review feedback, the final slate of SFC 2025 grantees will be determined based on the SFC’s eligibility requirements and shared funding priority areas, including ages served and programs from BIPOC-led organizations. We will announce funding decisions by March 2025. We will email a decision letter to the proposal contact listed on the online application.
The SFC is an aligned fund. This means that, while the SFC decides the slate of 2025 grantees together, grants will still be awarded by individual funders. The SFC strives to coordinate funding decisions and fund whole program budgets as much as possible. Before finalizing their decisions, SFC funders meet to align final decisions with the goal of fully funding as many high-quality summer programs as possible. SFC funders also strive to blend public and private sources of funding so that grantees have more flexibility in how they can spend their funds.
For summer 2025, the SFC will provide more than $3 million to programs. Of this amount:
- At least 75% will fund organizations led by Black, Brown, Indigenous, and Asian leaders
- 100% will be aligned with feedback from community reviewers
You are welcome to apply for the full funding needed to run a high-quality summer program. The SFC will prioritize funding full program budgets for grantees with organizational budgets that are less than $300,000. For grantees with organizational budgets greater than $300,000, grant awards will be capped at $75,000 per program.
Full Funding Timeline
October 15, 2024: SFC 2025 RFP released
October 21, 2024: In-person Information Session, 5:30-7:00 PM; The Cube, 4709 Harford Road Baltimore, MD 21214
October 25, 2024: Virtual Information Session, 2:30-4:00 PM on Zoom. Click HERE to register for the event and join Zoom Call
12:00 PM on November 18, 2024: Deadline to email questions about the SFC application. No questions submitted after this deadline are guaranteed a response.
5:00 PM on November 20, 2024: SFC 2024 Application DEADLINE! The SFC does not accept late applications for any reason after 5:00 PM on November 20.
Friday, December 6, 2024: We will alert applicants if they are missing essential documentation.
5:00 PM on December 13, 2024: Deadline for applicants to send any missing documentation.
March 2025: We will announce SFC award decisions!
October 21, 2024: In-person Information Session, 5:30-7:00 PM; The Cube, 4709 Harford Road Baltimore, MD 21214
October 25, 2024: Virtual Information Session, 2:30-4:00 PM on Zoom. Click HERE to register for the event and join Zoom Call
12:00 PM on November 18, 2024: Deadline to email questions about the SFC application. No questions submitted after this deadline are guaranteed a response.
5:00 PM on November 20, 2024: SFC 2024 Application DEADLINE! The SFC does not accept late applications for any reason after 5:00 PM on November 20.
Friday, December 6, 2024: We will alert applicants if they are missing essential documentation.
5:00 PM on December 13, 2024: Deadline for applicants to send any missing documentation.
March 2025: We will announce SFC award decisions!
SFC |