By Erin Randall A New Year means new beginnings – particularly if your agency is interested in grant funding. As 2013 gets under way, federal and state grant programs are beginning to open making millions in grant funding available. The majority of grant programs that come available this time of the year are geared towards public safety related programs, though there are also opportunities for public administration projects. The Department of Justice (DOJ), is rolling out programs looking to support and improve courts and jails, address gangs and recidivism, and even fund innovative approaches. The DOJ’s grant programs can fund a wide variety of software solutions – from a Jail Management Systems to the Gang Tracking Module. The Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA) has numerous programs that support improved local government-business relationships and economic competitiveness. Interested in Electronic Plan Review? Online Bill Pay? This may just be the grant for you!
Of course, securing grant funding can be a challenge for seasoned and “green” grant writers alike. Successful applications, can be made easier by following a few simple steps:
Read Any Grant Program Guidelines Completely (even if they are 70 pages long). Most Federal and State grant programs provide guidelines that help “guide” eligible organizations through the application process. There is a wealth of information contained in these documents that will help you develop a strong application.
Reach Out to Others. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Base your project design on what has been funded and successful in the past. Reach out to the program hotlines established to assist you through the application process. Contact prior winners to request their winning project narratives. You will be surprised by how much others want to help you succeed!
Utilize Your Resources. Assemble a team that can divvy up and contribute to the grant application. A team approach often times creates the best project design, and helps establish project buy-in.
Whether your agency is well-positioned to pursue grant funding in 2013 or just interested in learning more, SunGard Public Sector Grants Services is here to help you. This free service helps you identify the right funding opportunity for your agency and develop a winning application. Utilizing this unique service is as simple as contacting your SunGard Account Executive or Customer Service Executive. What are you waiting for? Let’s make 2013 a great (and successful) year!
Join SunGard Public Sector on Thursday, June 30 at 2 p.m. EST for a free learning event to showcase how the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) and the government employee social networking site GovLoop foster collaboration among all levels of government.
John Bienko, Deputy Director at the United States Small Business Administration, will discuss how the administration uses eLearning and online communities to provide service to hundreds of thousands of people and businesses they serve for free or for a nominal cost.
Steve Ressler (Founder and President of GovLoop) and Andrew Krzmrazick (Director of Community Engagement at GovLoop.com) will discuss how GovLoop promotes and supports an online community of goverment innovators of all kinds from the federal, state, and local entities. Dicussion points include social media and government, creating innovation in government, and increasing citizen engagement.
This webinar is absolutely FREE to SunGard Public Sector customers interested in learning more about how to use technology to improve their collaboration in local government agencies. Register today. If you are not currently a SunGard Public Sector customer but would like to attend, please let us know.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has at long last released funding for a wide variety of grant programs. If you’re familiar with DHS grants, then you know the application period typically runs from January to December. The reason behind the delay this year was the budget battle that played out in Congress, postponing the release of grant funding until formal federal budget approval. If you are not familiar with DHS grants, rest assured that this does not prevent you from taking advantage of this potential funding source. There are several details than any interested agency must know, particularly the due date, application requirements, and each grant program’s funding priorities. Obtaining this information is as easy as reviewing each program’s guidelines. However, having a true understanding of how to develop your request and ensure it scores well in the review process is insight the guidelines cannot provide. For this information, I invite you to attend the upcoming Developing Your DHS Grant Request for 2011 Success. This webinar will cover the application requirements, review past winning projects, and offer tips & tricks for developing a winning request. Register to attend today! Click here for more information.
Four public safety agencies located in Tazewell County, IL have recently gone live on SunGard’s OSSI Public Safety Solution, as reported by the Peoria Journal Star. The agencies will utilize the OSSI Records Management System to centralize records in a central database and share information across jurisdictions.
Pekin Interim Chief of Police Greg Nelson said the system will save time and help ensure officer safety.
“What this means, for the first time ever, is free-flowing information between police departments,” said Nelson. “Criminals are mobile — they don’t live and operate in one town.
“It is foolish to think that we should work in isolation of each other.”
The Cayman Islands 911 Emergency Communications Centre has selected SunGard’s OSSI Public Safety Solution to provide technology applications for public safety, including Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) software. The centre dispatches the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service, Emergency Medical Services, and Cayman Islands Fire Service, and according to the centre serves more than 50,000 citizens of the Cayman Islands representing a mix of more than 100 nationalities.
“With SunGard Public Sector, every implementation deadline and benchmark was met,” said Brent Finster, emergency communications manager for Cayman Islands Emergency Communications. “There were no delays or unforeseen issues. The employees were knowledgeable about their solution, and they managed expectations as to how it would resolve our needs.”
SunGard Public Sector’s OSSI Public Safety Solution will provide the Cayman Island Emergency Communications Centre with a fully integrated public safety software solution that will help increase productivity and accountability. SunGard Public Sector’s OSSI Computer-Aided Dispatch (OSSI CAD) system helps provide a fast, reliable way to manage and dispatch emergency calls, including integrated mapping, a graphical user interface, and hotspot notifications. OSSI CAD delivers leading-edge technology for today’s mission critical conditions and supports the perpetual demands of high-availability environments.
As I type this, Steve Jobs is in San Francisco preparing to make another announcement about new consumer technology that will no doubt raise the stakes for how information and content is shared through the internet.
For local government, these announcements must be followed by a reasonable question: What does the technology mean for public administration? How can leading-edge user interfaces and hardware work to help government do its job faster and better?
At our recent local government user group, SunGard Public Sector presented a demo to explore just those topics. Using code from our new enterprise-wide software suite, ONESolution, our team built out a proof-of-concept demonstrating how technologies such as Microsoft’s Surface interface and Apple’s iPad can provide real-world benefit to city and county operations. View the demo below, and let us know if you have questions in the comments.
A New Year means new beginnings – particularly if your agency is interested in grant funding. As 2013 gets under way, federal and state grant programs are beginning to open making millions in grant funding available. The majority of grant programs that come available this time of the year are geared towards public safety related programs, though there are also opportunities for public administration projects. The Department of Justice (DOJ), is rolling out programs looking to support and improve courts and jails, address gangs and recidivism, and even fund innovative approaches. The DOJ’s grant programs can fund a wide variety of software solutions – from a Jail Management Systems to the Gang Tracking Module. The Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration (EDA) has numerous programs that support improved local government-business relationships and economic competitiveness. Interested in Electronic Plan Review? Online Bill Pay? This may just be the grant for you!