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Scoring Process
Thank you for participating in the Housing Security Challenge.
We recommend reading all requirements for this application before you begin. We encourage you to review the Scoring Rubric that will be used to assess all valid applications. Please enter your responses to these application questions in English. Portions of your application, including your Quick Pitch, Proposal Title, Your Solution, and Your Video Pitch may be published on this website for public viewing.
Be sure to review your application as it will appear after it’s been submitted (link at the bottom of the page) and confirm your changes have been saved. When you have completed all of the requirements, a message will be displayed on the screen. At that point, you can submit your final application. Once you have submitted the application, you will no longer be able to make changes, and the status on your dashboard will confirm submission (you will not receive an automated email confirmation).
You must submit your application no later than Wednesday, January 20, at 5:00 PM Pacific Time.
The Housing Security Challenge embraces the idea that our community thrives when we work together to develop solutions that benefit the most vulnerable among us. The goal of the competition is to innovate beyond the construction of physical housing units to address the broader issue of housing security through supportive services related to racial inequality, economic and physical mobility, social work, public health, education, safe neighborhoods, and more. We want to address the broader context of housing insecurity and find ideas that can seed the next generation of affordable housing innovation in the state.
Please provide a title for your proposal.
YOUR QUICK PITCH (50 words)
This is your opportunity to make a strong first impression. Provide a clear and compelling explanation of your solution. Avoid using jargon, abbreviations, or language that a layperson may not understand. Your Quick Pitch is a brief statement that each evaluator will read to develop an initial understanding of your proposed solution. As a reminder, Your Quick Pitch, along with other portions of your application, may also be shared publicly on this website and other materials related to this competition.
CONNECTION TO HOUSING SECURITY (150 words)
Please explain how your solution will directly impact housing security in Arizona. How will it address the pressures and barriers that prevent individuals and families from accessing safe, secure, and dependable living conditions, particularly in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic? How will housing security increase as a result? Explain and where do you intend to apply your solution within Arizona specifically.
You are required to submit a video that captures your project and why it should be funded. The video is an opportunity to showcase your passion and to pitch your story in a succinct format. We want you to share your vision with the judges in a way that is different from the written proposal format. This DOES NOT need to be a professionally produced video.
In order to complete this part of your application, your team will upload a short digital film using YouTube.
Set the Privacy Settings on your video to Public or Unlisted – do not set them to Private.
Your video may be extracted from your submission and made available to the public and other donors. Appeal to a broad audience. Video submissions should follow these guidelines or your application may be disqualified:
Here are general suggestions for delivering a high-quality video pitch:
The following information is required to capture a basic understanding of the structure, management, and talent of your project team.
ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION (150 words)
Describe your organization and the work that you do. Why is this work important to your organization? How are you uniquely qualified to address housing security in Arizona and to serve as the lead applicant on this proposal?
PROJECT PARTNERS
If your team consists of two or more organizations, please list them using the legal name of each partner. If your team does not consist of two or more partners, please enter “Not Applicable.”
PARTNERSHIP STRUCTURE (150 words)
The Housing Security Challenge encourages creative, cross-sector partnerships. If your team has agreed to partner with one or more other organization(s) on this application, provide a brief narrative of the structure of your partnerships, including any decision-making authority between the parties. Partnerships may include one or more nonprofit organizations, for-profit ventures, and/or government entities as secondary partners. If you do not have any partners, please answer with N/A.
WHY THIS TEAM (250 words)
Consider your full project team, including your organization as the lead applicant, and the role(s) of the key staff, including relevant partners. Describe the project team’s leadership and experience as relates to this proposal, with particular emphasis on experience specific or transferrable to Arizona, and expertise in the housing sector. If relevant, include details about how and why any collaborations were formed. Explain the extent to which your team reflects the diversity of the communities you will be impacting, how your team is uniquely positioned to deliver results, and why it is the best choice to tackle this problem.
BIOGRAPHIES OF KEY PROJECT STAFF
For each of the top three individuals responsible for the success of the project, please provide a name (First/Last), the name of the organization the individual is affiliated with, and a brief biographical statement of up to 100 words. The biographical statement should include each individual’s title and emphasize those credentials and experiences which are most relevant to the project.
In this section, you will describe how your proposed solution will increase housing security in Arizona. Take time to underscore both the specific strengths of your strategic approach and how your proposed implementation will impact target communities.
PROBLEM STATEMENT (200 words)
Describe in detail the specific issue you are trying to address, as related to housing security in Arizona. Outline why your team has chosen to focus in this way. Use data to describe the scope of the problem and focus on the relative importance of it in a post COVID-19 world (as compared to other issues).
COMMUNITY CONTEXT (200 words)
Introduce the reader to the community or communities impacted by this problem where your solution will focus. What barriers do they face to securing or maintaining affordable housing? What additional needs do they have that may be impacted by your solution? What unique assets and strengths do they have that you hope to highlight, maintain, or build on through this work? We are open to solutions and providers who may not reside in Arizona, but you must show an understanding of local conditions.
YOUR SOLUTION (250 words)
Earlier in the application, you were asked to provide a Quick Pitch for your proposed solution. Now, you have an opportunity to expand and provide more detail. Explain your proposed solution so that a non-technical reader can easily understand. What is the connection between your proposed solution and housing security in Arizona? What makes your approach innovative and different from existing solutions?
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (150 words)
In describing the context of the community or communities you will focus on, you demonstrated your current knowledge of your stakeholders. How do you plan to work and engage with them throughout the process to ensure buy-in and long-term success?
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION (250 words)
We believe that bringing multiple voices and perspectives to the table is the best way to solve community problems and take full advantage of emerging opportunities. We also expect teams to think carefully about how to actively plan for and include the most marginalized and/or vulnerable from within those populations in solutions design, program planning, and ongoing work. Explain how you will ensure, or have ensured, that the design and implementation of your solution authentically reflects the values of diversity and inclusion in regards to race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and ability.
SCALABILITY(150 words)
Describe your ability to scale your solution and its benefits. Scale may mean expanding to new populations or parts of the state, or it may mean how you intend to amplify your impact more deeply in one geography or population or context. If appropriate, explain whether and how you will need to tailor and adapt your solution for scaling and/or amplifying impact.
TIMELINE AND MILESTONES (250 words)
What is your expected timeline for project completion, including tentative start and end dates? What outcomes or milestones will you track to know if you are successful or on track to be successful? For purposes of this question, you may assume a grant start date of July 1, 2021.
EVIDENCE OF EFFECTIVENESS (200 words)
What evidence do you have that your proposed solution will work? Present the results of any external evaluations that your approach has undergone. Reference any literature or scientific consensus to verify that the actions you describe will lead to the outcomes you predict. Explain the results of any pilot project or cases studies that have been completed using your proposed solution, if applicable. Also, be sure to describe any relevant assumptions you are making about how the lessons learned from these evaluations will translate in a post-COVID-19 environment.
PROJECTED IMPACT (200 words)
Describe the projected measurable outcome of your proposed solution. Include the number of target beneficiaries that you plan to reach, the specific impact on those recipients of your services, and the long-term effect of your intervention, particularly on the broader landscape of housing in the state. How do you intend to measure this impact? As you assert any claims, make your case based on the most realistic explanation of your proposed effort. How will you define success?
While the information provided in the previous section is intended to reveal strategic and practical implementation plans for your proposed solution, we also require other information necessary for our judges to understand the financial needs and sustainability of your proposal. You are required to submit a comprehensive budget and complementary explanations for the $250,000 award.
BUDGET NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION (150 words)
Please offer a general overview for how you would use the grant award, if you were to receive the cash award of $250,000. Your budget narrative description should include, in broad terms, total projected needs by category, and you may include any explanations of existing resources that you have secured.
DETAILED BUDGET
Provide specific line items from your budget narrative (above) for your work. To help us understand your organization's priorities, please provide a detailed budget for how you would spend the $250,000 grant if you received it today. Please make sure that any funds identified in this table reflect and clarify your general explanations provided in your budget narrative. Budgets must equal $250,000.
OTHER RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS (150 words)
Does your proposed solution require additional resources besides $250,000? If so, please explain what specific types of non-financial resources would be helpful as your organization(s) implemented your proposed solution. If you have already secured any additional resources for your proposed solution, both financial and non-financial, please describe them here.
FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY (100 words)
Please describe how resources will be mobilized to establish a sustainable funding base for your proposed solution. How will you ensure financial sustainability, specifically as it relates to your solution’s scalability? If you feel your approach does not require recurring financial support, please describe why this is the case.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS (100 words)
If there is any other information you would like reviewers to consider, please include it here.
The following questions are intended for applicants that are for-profit organizations. Nonprofits may enter “Not Applicable.”
CHARITABLE PURPOSE (150 words)
What is the charitable purpose of your project? Describe how the public or a subset of the public, which is a defined charitable class, will benefit from your project. A charitable class must generally be an indefinite number of individuals who are the beneficiaries of the charitable purpose and not a finite number of specified individuals. For example, the class can be needy persons within a disadvantaged community, but not a specified identifiable individual or a finite group of identifiable individuals in the community, even if that individual or finite group is disadvantaged (e.g.,“needy individuals in ABC Community” vs. “the Smith Family”).
PRIVATE BENEFIT (150 words)
Will private interests (such as shareholders, for-profit companies, contractors, consultants, or other individuals) benefit more than incidentally from your project as compared to the public or the charitable class?
If your project will trigger any private benefit to one or more individuals, provide an explanation of how the overarching public benefit cannot be achieved without necessarily benefiting those individuals and to what degree any private benefit compares to the public benefit. It is insufficient to say that benefits gained will be due to all of humanity benefitting.
If your project will not benefit any private interests, provide an explanation of how your project benefits only the public.
LOBBYING ACTIVITIES (150 words)
Does your project involve any efforts to effect public policy through changes in existing legislation or the enactment of new legislation?
Does your project require lobbying activities with respect to a specific legislative proposal?
If your project does involve any of the above lobbying activities, explain how the project involves any lobbying activities and if the project can be accomplished without lobbying. If not, what percentage of the project will be lobbying activities?
If your project does not involve any lobbying activities, then simply enter “Not Applicable.”
