Finding the right grant for your organization takes time, but if you know where to look, this process can be much easier. In our grant funding blog series, we’ve provided tips and insights to help you and your organization through the grant process.

In our last two posts, we talked about how to identify your telehealth grant funding needs and provided an overview of the four main types of grant funding sources. Now that you’re equipped with the correct information, your organization can begin a more informed search for telehealth grant funding opportunities.

Many resources exist, both paid and no-cost, to help you uncover potential funding sources and refine your search for the best alignment between grant program goals and your project. The following 17 points illustrate key grantor search resources available to help your organization find telehealth grant funding.

1. Search for grantors using paid grantor search services

Today, certain software platforms offer paid access to their sources for grantor searches. These platforms, such as Pivot or Foundation Directory Online, perform much of the data collection, sorting, and analysis you need to identify potential grant funding sources.

While these services save considerable time and legwork, they often come with a hefty price tag — especially if multiple providers will be using the platform. Determine whether you’re going to be looking for grants frequently and consistently enough to justify the expenses for those paid services.

2. Hire professional grant writers

Hiring a professional grant writer could mean an investment in finding more and better-aligned funding sources. Grant writers perform these tasks regularly and may have access to and experience with multiple platforms for grantor searches. Particularly for larger or more complex telehealth projects, it may be more cost-effective to hire a professional grant writer with the experience and skills to handle the grantor search for you.

3. Contact your local library

Some libraries have access to grant-seeking sources and other information that they make available to the community. These sources may guide you to funding opportunities and data sources for your applications.

4. Reach out to local community foundations

Local community foundations may be able to offer insight into corporate resources and regional funding opportunities through foundations, either their own or others in your area. They may also have limited knowledge or access to programs at the state and federal levels. Not all communities have community foundations, but they can be a valuable source of information and connections if yours does.

5. Research funding sources of peers and competitors

Through online searches of your peers and competitors, you can take a closer look at who has supported them financially to give you ideas about potential funding sources. Make contacts within your networks and gather and share information about what other providers have done to see what was and wasn’t successful.

6. Network with large, regional companies operating in your area

If you’re considering corporate sources of funding, one easy way to begin your search is by researching large, regional companies operating in your area. These companies may offer their own funding programs or partner with a foundation to award funds to healthcare projects.

7. Research active philanthropists in your area

Active philanthropists who are living in or are invested in your community or region could be valuable grant funding sources. Other local foundations and philanthropic organizations may list these individuals as donors on their websites.

8. Look at peer organizations’ listservs

Many peer organizations have listservs, and you can read through their updates about their telehealth projects. If their project seems to align with your interests and goals, join these listservs and start conversations to find out how and where they source funding for projects. This research can provide information on potential funding trends in the more focused areas you want to approach.

9. Check out resources and opportunities from local and national professional organizations

Both local and national professional organizations often host webinars and provide other information about funding opportunities. Some of these organizations may even help you connect with other individuals or organizations that have implemented or funded comparable projects.

10. Research state agencies relevant to your telehealth needs and patient populations

State-level agencies, particularly those in the realm of healthcare, telehealth, and the patient populations you serve, can offer support to your grantor search. Contact officials at those agencies and monitor their websites regularly for information, changes, and past featured projects. This research can give you insight into how you could design your project to meet what those grantors want.

11. Regularly check Grants.gov for federal grant funding opportunities

When searching for grant funding opportunities at the federal level, Grants.gov offers a wealth of information, but it requires you to allocate adequate time to utilize it most effectively. Be strategic in your searches by registering the agencies and type of project you are interested in, then narrow down your search to find the best grantor matches for your telehealth project.

12. Utilize no-cost sources of information relevant to your needs

For some areas, other no-cost grant sources of information, like the Rural Health Information Hub, regularly post grant funding opportunities–some quarterly, monthly, or even weekly.

13. Browse college and university databases

Colleges and universities may have access to some of these for-fee grantor databases that you might be able to use, particularly if you have a professional connection to the institution.

14. Research regional grantmaking centers

You can search online for regional grantmaking centers or grantmakers organizations for information about funding opportunities in your area.

15. Prepare a common grant application

If you decide to pursue and prepare a common grant application, you can obtain a list of grantmaking organizations that use the common grant application to expand your search further.

16. Contact financial institutions in your area

Financial institutions in your region may have departments that handle private foundation funds or donor-advised funds, which could be a source of funding and grantor information.

17. Speak with vendors of the telehealth equipment and software applications you need

Research and contact vendors of the types of telehealth equipment and software applications you’ll be using. They may offer information about other projects implemented in the past and how those projects received funding.

Most of these resources are free and accessible to any provider, but you need to allocate adequate time to utilize these often comprehensive resources. With persistence and consistent effort, you can find an array of potential grant-funding opportunities that align with your telehealth project goals.

Where Iris Telehealth fits in

At Iris, we’ve always got our eyes open for new grant opportunities and share what we find in our monthly newsletter the Iris Messenger. If you’d like to sign up, you can check out this page for more information.

Marian Chambers is a Grants Consultant at Professional Grant Writers, a full-service grant writing agency that works with nonprofit organizations to identify and apply for grants to fund their programs.

The American Rescue Plan Act opened up two new categories of Emergency Rural Health Care Grants, which will provide up to $500 million to community-based nonprofit healthcare organizations and federally recognized tribes. The purpose of these grants is to help rural organizations increase access to much-needed healthcare services — including telehealth. If your organization has been impacted by COVID-19 and seeks to expand or improve services, these grants may be a good fit for you.

The two grant tracks: Recovery Grants and Impact Grants

The Emergency Rural Health Grant program is awarding grants in two main tracks: Recovery Grants and Impact Grants.

Track one: Recovery Grants

Recovery Grants must be used in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic to support health care needs in your community. In your application, you can request grant funding to address one or more of the following categories:

• Vaccine distribution
• Medical supplies and equipment for medical surge
• Reimbursement for healthcare-related revenue loss during the pandemic
• Telehealth expansion
• Construction or renovation of healthcare facilities
• Staffing for testing or vaccine administration

Track two: Impact Grants

Impact Grants must be used in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and to support long-term, sustainable healthcare services — including the development of holistic healthcare programs (that blend behavioral care and other medical services), the expansion of telehealth services, and more. In your application, you can request funding for:

• Establishing a regional partnership to implement a model that supports the long-term sustainability of rural healthcare
• Establishing an evidence-based model that organizations in your community can replicate
• Identifying a health-related problem within your community and developing a solution
• Establishing a methodology to calculate impact measures
• Covering the cost of technical assistance necessary for project implementation
• Paying professional service fees associated with the grant request

Key program dates and details

Here are some of the key details of the Emergency Rural Health Care Grant program:

• Applications for grant awards are due October 12, 2021
• Recovery Grant awardees will receive between $25,000 and $1 million
• Impact Grant awardees will receive between $5 million and $10 million
• The Recovery Grant period is expected to begin around November 1, 2021, and last approximately 36 months
• The Impact Grant period is expected to begin around January 1, 2022, and last approximately 36 months

What Recovery Grant applicants need to submit in their application

Each Recovery Grant application must include the following:

• A summary page including the intended funding track, applicant name, amount of grant request, and project description
• A detailed table of contents
• A completed “Application for Federal Assistance” form (SF-424)
• A completed “Budget Information — Non-Construction Programs” form (SF-424A) or “Budget Information — Construction Programs” form (SF-424C)
• Organizational documents demonstrating eligibility
• Additional evidence of eligibility that demonstrates that your healthcare organization primarily serves rural areas
• A complete budget narrative

What Impact Grant applicants need to submit in their application

Each Impact Grant application must include the following:

• A summary page including the intended funding track, applicant name, amount of grant request, and project description
• A detailed table of contents
• A completed “Application for Federal Assistance” form (SF-424)
• A completed “Budget Information — Non-Construction Programs” form (SF-424A) or “Budget Information — Construction Programs” form (SF-424C)
• Organizational documents demonstrating eligibility
• Additional evidence of eligibility that demonstrates that your healthcare organization primarily serves rural areas
• A complete budget narrative

How your organization can apply to this grant program

Before your organization officially submits your application, make sure you’ve read the Notice of Funds Availability (NOFA) and reviewed the materials on the program webpage.

Contact your state’s Rural Development office and submit the materials outlined above when you’re ready to submit your application.

For more detailed information about the materials you’ll need to submit, please refer to the Recovery Grant application checklist and the Impact Grant application checklist.

The Emergency Rural Health Care Grant program is a perfect fit for healthcare organizations located in rural, underserved areas looking to impact their communities and improve their services in the wake of COVID-19. It also offers some excellent opportunities for organizations to incorporate or expand telepsychiatry services into their behavioral health programs. If your organization is interested in learning more about how telepsychiatry can supplement and improve your services, contact Iris Telehealth today — we’re always here to help.

Calling all CMHCs!

The SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) is currently accepting proposals for their new 2021 grant program. They’re estimating about $825,000,000 in available funding for between 165 and 825 organizations. These funding awards are exclusively available for Community Mental Health Centers (CMHCs). If you’re a CMHC, this program could be a great opportunity for your organization to expand or improve your behavioral health services.

We broke down the program requirements, details, and deadlines so you could decide whether or not to pursue an award.

What the CMHC Grant Program entails

The FY 2021 CMHC Grant Program is an initiative to help enable CMHCs to offset the impact of COVID-19 on their behavioral health programs and empower them to improve or expand services. In particular, this program seeks to help organizations meet the needs of patients with serious emotional disturbance (SED), serious mental illness (SMI), or co-occurring disorders (COD).

Here are some of the key details of the project:

• Applications for grant awards are due May 21, 2021
• Awardees can expect to receive between $500,000 and $2,500,000 per year as part of the program
• Funds will start arriving as soon as September 30, 2021
• Awardees will receive their funds for up to two years

Organizations should plan to have at least one staff member to serve as Project Director. This staff member must complete work related to this project for at least half of their full-time work role.

What your CMHC needs to submit as part of your application

Each application must focus on the following required activities:

• The total number of individuals you expect to serve as part of this project
• How you plan to establish or improve your organization’s infrastructure to support HIPAA compliant telehealth services
• How you’ll use this grant to provide services for individuals with SED, SMI, and COD
• Plans to provide trauma-informed screening, assessment, diagnosis, and treatment
• Provisions for clinical and recovery support services (such as psychosocial rehabilitation, case management services, and peer support)
• And resources you’ll use to address the overall mental health needs of your CMHC

Your organization must submit a “Project Narrative” as part of your application. The Project Narrative should contain the following five sections and should not exceed 10 pages total:

1. Population of focus and statement of need: In this section, you should identify your patient populations and their general demographics, how the pandemic impacted your revenue and ability to provide services, and the current state of need for patients with SED, SMI, and COD.
2. Proposed implementation approach: In this section, you’ll describe the goals and measurable objectives of your project, how you plan to implement the required activities for this award (and any additional activities you plan to focus on), and a realistic timeline for how you plan to use the funds over the next two years.
3. Proposed evidence-based service/practices (EBPs): In this section, you’ll discuss how each EBP you choose is appropriate for your patient populations and the outcomes you want to achieve.
4. Staff and organizational experience: In this section, you’ll describe your CMHC’s experience providers services to patients with SMI, SED, and COD, a list of staff (with titles) who will be working on the project, your project staff’s experience, and any other organizations you plan to partner with for your project.
5. Data collection and performance measurement: In this section, you’ll break down how you plan to collect data around your program — as well as how you’ll manage or monitor that data.

Note: The above list reflects the top line requirements for your application. If you’re planning to apply for funding, be sure to read the grant announcement in its entirety for more information on what you need (or are allowed) to submit.

How your CMHC can apply to this grant program

In order to apply for a grant with the 2021 CMHC Grant Program, you must register with NIH’s eRA Commons. SAMHSA recommends that you begin the registration process as soon as you think you want to apply. That means you should start the process ASAP so you don’t miss out on this potential opportunity!

In addition to eRA Commons, your organization should register with three more organizations to apply for a grant:

1. Dun & Bradstreet Data Universal Numbering System
2. System for Award Management (SAM)
3. Grants.gov

Once you’re registered, you can complete your application using eRA ASSIST, Grants.gov Workspace, or another system to system (S2S) provider.

To get started, visit Grants.gov or the SAMHSA website and download all the required documents.

Be sure you read the full grant program announcement carefully before you start preparing your application materials. You can find all the details here: https://www.samhsa.gov/grants/grant-announcements/sm-21-014

This grant program is a perfect fit for CMHCs looking to impact their communities and improve their services in the wake of COVID-19. It also offers some excellent opportunities for CMHCs to incorporate more formalized telepsychiatry offerings into their organization. If your organization is interested in building a sustainable telepsychiatry organization as part of your grant proposal, check out our comprehensive guide for CMHCs.

Once you’ve identified your organization’s telehealth needs, you can begin to search for grant funding sources to cover project costs and investments. In the early stages, this process can feel overwhelming — either from not knowing where to begin or from information overload. It’s important to learn the basics of how to find grant funding sources, including the different types of sources available to your organization.

We continue this blog series on telehealth grant funding with an overview of the four main types of funding sources — foundation funding, corporate funding, state funding, and federal funding — and common terminology to categorize them as you begin your research.

Foundation Funding

Aside from large national foundations, such as the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, foundation funding tends to be either regionally based or specifically focused on the individual foundation’s area of expertise.

Securing grant funding from these foundations often relies on relationship building. Many foundations do not accept unsolicited applications unless they issue requests for proposals. Pivot your approach, identify foundation staff and the decision-makers on the foundation’s board, and develop those relationships.

Additionally, look at foundations that accept applications, and learn when that process takes place. Often foundations are made of family members or boards that may meet once or twice a year. But these foundations don’t always offer defined dates for when the next round of funding and its corresponding application deadlines will be. Still, dedicating time to researching these deadlines could mean opening up new doors to funding opportunities.

Corporate Funding

Project alignment with grantor goals is critical when seeking corporate sources as part of an overall telehealth grant funding strategy. Corporations may have specific goals or parameters for projects that may exclude or uniquely fit your particular telehealth project, particularly in terms of industry and geographic location.

Investing time into researching corporate funding also means determining how you should approach different corporations. Some corporations have set up separate foundations to handle grant funding, which you’ll be able to find while performing your due diligence. If that’s the case, you may try relationship-building with individuals employed by the corporation or on its foundation board in addition to responding to general requests for proposals.

State Funding

To utilize state-based grant funding, you need to determine which agencies at the state level are in charge of telehealth and related programs. After making those initial determinations, it’s essential to identify how they accept applications and distribute funds.

For example, some state agencies award funding through competitive applications, while others may distribute the funds based on an internal formula or have funding passed through another entity.

You should determine when agencies will present their schedule for applications so you can have adequate time to put together a competitive proposal. State funding often gives limited application windows, sometimes just six to eight weeks before a proposal is due. And if you’re looking at something complex, like a telehealth proposal, you need to work in advance. That way, when that schedule is released, you’ll know what’s required and expected of your application, and you’ll be more prepared to submit it.

Federal Funding

Federal funding typically represents the largest grants. Grantors announce these opportunities regularly on Grants.gov, you should pay close attention to the application submission window. This process takes time, organization, and planning ahead of time — including regular monitoring of the Grants.gov website.

Another aspect of sourcing federal grant funding is being in communication with the federal agencies and their staff. They will share information with you about the next cycle of funding and the amount of federal funding allocated to their programs, which predicates grant funding availability.

Note Whether Funding Sources Are Labeled Active, Inactive, or Pending

While performing your search for grant funding sources, you will come across terms like “active,” “inactive,” and “pending.” These may impact whether and how you include a particular grantor into your application timeline and schedule.

Active programs mean there is money presently available, and the funding source is welcoming new projects to apply for funding. Grantors may accept applications or letters of inquiry year-round or open for applications at limited periods of time throughout the year.

Inactive programs are not currently open to applications for funding. A program could become inactive because they accomplished their goals, revisited their goals, or experienced budget cuts that impacted their ability to fund projects. Inactive could signify an organization is permanently closed to applications, or they may be planning to return to an open, active status in the future.

Pending programs are programs that are not currently awarding grants. It may not be the time of year for their funding applications, or they may be waiting on federal budgets to pass so they can assess funding availability. Pending programs may be especially common during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marian Chambers is a Grants Consultant at Professional Grant Writers, a full-service grant writing agency that works with nonprofit organizations to identify and apply for grants to fund their programs.

Grant funding offers healthcare providers opportunities to implement and expand telehealth programs within their practices. But many providers’ grant-seeking efforts stop before they’ve really begun because they haven’t clarified their specific needs for telehealth services and funding.

By identifying your organization’s telehealth needs, you can gather and discover information that informs your grant search’s direction. This approach enables you to rule out opportunities that do not align and significantly narrows the search, making the process much less overwhelming.

Over the next few weeks, we’re putting together a blog series to help provide tips and insights that will help you through the grant funding process. In this piece, we’ll take a look at how and why your organization should identify your telehealth grant funding needs first before beginning the application process.

Ask Yourself Key Questions to Identify and Specify your Telehealth Needs

Before beginning your search for potential grantors, ask yourself the following questions to begin to identify and narrow down your telehealth needs:

• What do you want to accomplish? Identify specific goals, metrics, or improvements you wish to see for your organization, community, and patient populations.
• When do you need to have this completed? Consider the timing and urgency of your funding needs alongside the schedule and availability of grantor funds to guide your application choices and timelines.
• What population(s) do you want to serve? What specific needs do these patient populations have, and what common challenges do they face that could be alleviated by telehealth access? Your program is more likely to succeed if you align your funding needs with their needs for services.
• Where will the initiative be located? Your geographic location can limit the scope of an overwhelming grantor search while also generating leads for region-specific opportunities available in your area.
• How much money will you need to secure to complete this project? The nature, size, and costs of telehealth projects can vary widely, as can the allocation of funding each grantor provides. Because application rejection is common and funds remain limited, you will likely consider multiple grant funding sources throughout the application process.

The answers to these questions will provide you with parameters you can use while reviewing various funding sources. These parameters focus your search and enable you to make more informed decisions about how to proceed.

Consider Common or Trending Needs in Telehealth that Attract Grant Funding

If you’re unsure of where to focus your telehealth project, begin with the most common needs and most common sources of priorities for telehealth funding.

Consider medically underserved communities and areas of medicine where healthcare organizations struggle to attract and retain patient populations and providers. For example, rural areas, low-income communities, and tribal nations frequently generate targeted grant funding opportunities because grantors recognize that access to healthcare is a common need in those communities.

Another area that tends to attract greater needs and funding opportunities is communities with defined health disparities, particularly those that are well-documented by reputable third-party research. These can include comorbidities such as obesity, hypertension, and heart disease, which may be prevalent in a particular patient community. Similarly, grant funding opportunities may target common mental health comorbidities such as addiction and anxiety, mood, or personality disorders.

By considering common needs in the community you serve, your organization can better determine the scope of the project you want to implement. This also enables you to narrow your grantor search and identify potential funding sources that are more targeted and aligned with your telehealth goals.

Gather Input From Any Stakeholders, Especially Clinicians, as Well as Colleagues and Peers

Discuss goals and ideas with the individuals on your team who will be using the telehealth technology or are otherwise involved with the program, and gather their input and feedback. This includes your administrative staff and clinicians as well as any other departments, executives, or board members assigned to review and approve such projects.

These discussions should include your clinicians. Take the time to determine what they need, feel comfortable with, have time and energy for, and which systems they feel would best meet the needs of your organization’s patient base. Generating buy-in and input from your clinicians is critical to the successful implementation of telehealth services and technology once you receive funding.

Outside of your organization, speak with peers, colleagues, and even competitors for input on your telehealth goals and plan. Find out what has and hasn’t worked for their own telehealth efforts to inform your own plan and application. Some grantors share information about past grant award winners, who you can also contact for input and networking.

Grant seeking can feel overwhelming. But rather than looking at the totality of funds available, try to narrow your search strategically by clarifying your needs from the beginning. This saves you time later on in the process as you search for grantors and prepare your funding applications.

In the next post of our series, we’ll explore different types of grantors you can consider in your search for telehealth grant funding sources.

Marian Chambers is a Grants Consultant at Professional Grant Writers, a full-service grant writing agency that works with nonprofit organizations to identify and apply for grants to fund their programs.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has affected many aspects of our everyday lives – even areas we would have never predicted could be influenced. As a result, individuals are unable to provide for themselves and their families, and businesses are struggling to keep their doors open.

To support the lives of the American people, on March 27th, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. This act provides over $2 trillion in economic relief for the American people affected by COVID-19. The four main sections of support are:

1. Assistance for American Workers and Families
2. Assistance for Small Businesses
3. Preserving Jobs for American Industries
4. Assistance for State and Local Governments

To read more about the CARES Act, visit: https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/cares

FCC Launches COVID-19 Telehealth Program

As a part of the CARES Act, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initiated the COVID-19 Telehealth Program. This program provides $200 million in funding to assist health care providers transitioning care to at home and mobile visits. As of April 13^th, all eligible health care providers can submit an online application to receive a portion of this funding.

This program can help fund your telecommunication services, information services, and devices necessary for continuing patient care for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizations will receive funding on a first-come, first-served basis. The FCC has already begun to award funding.

To read more about organizations who have been awarded, visit: https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/fcc-announces-first-hospitals-win-covid-19-telehealth-program-funding

How to Know if You’re an Eligible Organization

The program is “limited to nonprofit and public eligible health care providers that fall within the categories of health care providers in section 254(h)(7)(B) of the 1996 Act” (FCC FAQs, Question 8). The eligible categories of health care providers include:

(1) post-secondary educational institutions offering healthcare instruction, teaching hospitals, and medical schools

(2) community health centers or health centers providing healthcare to migrants

(3) local health departments or agencies

(4) community mental health centers

(5) not-for-profit hospitals

(6) rural health clinics*

(7) skilled nursing facilities

(8) consortia of healthcare providers consisting of one or more entities falling into the first seven categories.

*Since the CARES Act authorizes the COVID-19 Telehealth Program, both rural and non-rural health clinics are eligible to receive support.

If you have more questions regarding the COVID-19 Telehealth program visit: https://www.fcc.gov/covid-19-telehealth-program-frequently-asked-questions-faqs

How to Apply

Before filling out an application, there are additional necessary steps you need to take.

1. Obtain an eligibility determination

• Navigate to My Portal from the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC)
• Fill the FCC Form 460
• You do not need to be a rural health care provider to file the 460
• You can proceed to steps 2-4 while your FCC Form 460 is pending with USAC

Health care provider sites that USAC has already deemed eligible to participate in the Commission’s existing Rural Health Care (RHC) Programs may rely on that eligibility determination for the COVID-19 Telehealth Program.

2. Obtain an FCC Registration Number (FRN)

Your FRN will serve as you or your organization’s 10-digit identification number.

• Navigate to the Commission Registration System (CORES) to create your FRN, username, and account
• You will receive an automated email titled “FCC Account Request Verification” where you must verify your account email address before the account will be activated
• Once logged into CORES, select “Register New FRN” or “Associate Username to FRN” as applicable
• Provide the information as prompted, including your taxpayer identification number (TIN), and then click “Submit”
• CORES will generate a new FRN or associate your existing FRN with its account

3. Fill out the Application

Once completing these first two steps, you are now ready to fill out the online application.

4. Register with the Federal System for Award Management (SAM)

While you do not need to be registered with the SAM prior to submission of the application, it’s strongly encouraged that you get the process completed as soon as possible.

To read more about the Telehealth Program visit: https://www.fcc.gov/covid-19-telehealth-program

We’re Here to Help

Although COVID-19 has caused panic and uncertainty, the FCC’s Telehealth Program is an exciting tool to help extend patient care. Now is the time to embrace telehealth and what it can do for our country.

While updates and changes are coming at us regularly and we are all struggling to keep up, we want to assure you that we are here for you – Now, during the rest of the pandemic, and after the chaos calms into normality.

In the next few weeks, we will begin answering all your questions pertaining to COVID-19, on our online forum page. Also, to remember to put our mental health first, our Clinical Hiring Manager and Resident Guru, Erin Schepmann, will be leading regular meditation meetups on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Use the links below to navigate to each one of these pages.

Stay well. We will get through this.

Ask us your questions