Technical Review: 
After you submit your application on November 15, 2023, 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 1, 2023, to let you know about any missing or incorrect materials. You will have until 5:00 PM on Friday, December 15, 2023, to resubmit any necessary materials. Funders may not consider incomplete applications. We strongly encourage you to read through the section on required documents before submitting your application to avoid needing to resubmit materials. 
 
Community Review Process:
After the technical 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. Each member will use the Community Review Rubric (See Appendix B). 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. Please see Appendix C for more information about what community reviewers will look for when reviewing SFC applications. 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 2024 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 mid-February 2024. 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 2024 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.  

Funding Timeline:
October 12, 2023- SFC 2024 RFP released
October 19, 2023- Virtual Information Session, Thursday, October 19, 1:30-3:00 PM, Join Here
October 23, 2023- In-person Information Session, Monday, October 23, 5:30-7:00 PM, Enoch Pratt Free Library, Waverly Branch, 400 E 33rd St, Baltimore, MD 21218
October 26, 2023- We will upload the first Question & Answers document answering all clarification questions to bmoresfc.org.
12:00 PM on November 9, 2023- Deadline for submitting substantive questions about the SFC application
November 13, 2023-We will upload the updated Question & Answers document answering all clarification questions to bmoresfc.org.
12:00 PM on November 14, 2023- Deadline to submit any technical questions about the SFC application portal. If you do not submit technical questions by 12:00 PM on November 14, the SFC team cannot guarantee that you will receive a response before the deadline at 5:00 PM November 15. Please make sure that you reach out with technical questions by 12:00 PM on November 14 to ensure you are able to submit your application on time. The SFC does not accept late applications for any reason after 5:00 PM on November 15.
5:00 PM on November 15, 2023- SFC 2024 Application DEADLINE!
Friday, December 1, 2023- We will alert applicants if they are missing essential documentation.
5:00 PM on December 15, 2023- Deadline for applicants to send any missing documentation
February 2024- We will announce SFC award decisions!