In New York, Nonprofit Security Grant Program application packages are due by midnight, Friday, May 9th.

Frequently Asked Questions

• What do I have to do? Use JCRC’s Checklist (download here) to double check yourself.  Remember, there are three separate sets of submissions:
  • Grants Gateway. Your document must be approved and your status report reflecting your approval must be downloaded.
  • Investment Justification. The Excel spreadsheet that is the critical part of the application. (When you open the spreadsheet remember to pay attention to the yellow bars at the top of the page, clicking on “Enable Editing” and “Enable Content”. MAC users, we don’t have a good answer on how to make this work on a MAC. Our advice: borrow a PC.
  • E-Grants. The administrative software used to upload your information and documents into the system.
• Why should I use the Scoring Worksheet? This is a transparent process. This is the form that the judges use to score your application. There are 40 possible points (plus a bonus for organizations that have never received a grant) and the trick is to “thoroughly” answer every question.
• You’ve seen a lot of submissions, what do people miss or get wrong?
  • Risk. The section has three elements, each worth 4 of the 40 point total. Many applicants smoosh them together. Threat includes the generalized threats to Jewish institutions (relating that to your institution); incidents, including plots, graffiti, bomb threats, letters, to your institution; and any conclusion from your risk assessment (e.g., This building is determined to be at high risk of a terrorist attack due …). Vulnerability includes the laundry list of shortcomings that need improvement. These can be physical, procedural or training gaps, e.g., ill-fitting doors and windows, lack of an access control policy. Consequences covers both destruction of your facility and/or the injury or death of your people. There are direct and indirect consequences. Think this through for a thorough answer.
  • Target hardening. The question has three parts. For every activity (e.g., installation of new doors, training) you have to describe the activity, how the activity will mitigate a specific vulnerability listed in the Risk section, the Authorized Equipment List code for the activity, and the basic cost of the activity. Make sure that you tell the judges how the activity will prevent or protect against a terrorist attack.
• Milestones. If you do everything right you probably won’t be able to start until January 1, 2015, because you need to have a signed contract. Most people have projects that require multiple activities. For example, doors and windows are usually special order items, which may take months to fabricate. You can’t complete the installation of an alarm system until the doors and windows are installed. Your milestones should reflect the differences between different activities and how they interrelate. Also, make this your own. For example, you should be giving progress reports to your board. Include that as a milestone.
• Project Management. People spend a lot of time on the qualifications of their staff, but they miss the governance element. How will your board supervise this major project? For example, you should have a building or security committee, what is their role? Are you using DHSES, police, JCRC or others as subject matter experts? How will do you relate with DHSES?
• Impact. Much is the answer is a rerun of the Target Hardening section, but make sure to relate it to the Coal Core Capabilities. See our post here.
• Bonus. If you’ve never received a grant, make sure that you fill in this section for a bonus point.
• Attachments. People have pressed “submit” in E-grants without attaching the required documents: Mission Statement, Vendor Responsibility Form, Investment Justification, Grants Gateway Status Report, and Risk/Vulnerability Assessment. This might disqualify your submission. Use the checklist.