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2023 Innovation Grants

2023 Nourishing Neighbors Innovation Spark Grant RFP

 

Albertsons Companies Foundation is seeking partnerships with organizations supporting innovative and creative solutions that are locally tailored to eliminate the cycle of hunger in our communities.

Funding Cycle:  Multi-year grant (up to 4 years)

Funding Amount:  Total amount up to $3 million (allocation by year to be determined by organization)

Grant Period: Starting August 2023

Organizational Requirements:

  • Open to organizations with an annual operating budget of at least $1 million
  • Organizations may either have or be willing to form a panel of advisors with people with lived experience with hunger (minimum 3 advisors)

Grant Overview:

We are seeking to fund projects that go beyond food distribution and provide long-term solutions to move people out of the cycle of hunger.

Preferred applications will:

  • Be innovative – starts with a new idea, addresses a need, and creates value
  • Have clear measurable indicators
  • Be in early-stage investing (focus on new projects)
  • Focus on ending the cycle of hunger for people in a specific geographic area
  • Be feasible (attainable) and relevant (supporting evident needs)
  • Are not focused on food distribution but other means of moving our neighbors out of the food line

These types of programs will not qualify:

  • Programs focused on food distribution
  • Capital projects (buildings, infrastructure, etc.) these can be a part of the application but not the sole purpose of the grant
  • Programs focused solely on connections or enhancements to federal programs like SNAP and WIC
  • Projects focused on nutrition and education (examples: community gardens and cooking classes)
  • Projects that are ongoing or already established
  • Projects above the $5 million total budget
  • Over 50% of funds spent on advocacy

Geographic Priorities:

Priority will be given to projects in areas that have:

  • High Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)
  • High Food Insecurity
  • Store density (see attached list of stores)

Recommendations:

  • Provide a clear picture of the gaps in funding that need to be filled. We often receive applications with beautiful descriptions of the project, but we also want to understand how our funding is needed
  • Collaboration between organizations with a lead applying organization is encouraged
  • Help us understand the genesis of your innovative idea: Was it from a needs assessment? If so, let us know a quick overview and outcome.  If your idea came from someone with lived experience, let us know.

Application Methodology:

In respect to your busy schedule, we have decided to start with a short preliminary application.  Applications will be considered and a short-list of applicants will be requested to provide an additional in-depth application.

Due Date – April 15, 2023 (11:59 PST)

Invitation Code – Innovation2023

Application Link – https://albertsonscompaniesfoundation.versaic.com/login

Question Sessions:

We want to provide you with an opportunity to ask questions.  We will have 2 question/answer virtual information sessions where you can feel comfortable to come and ask questions about the grant.  You can also send questions to Anjana.bhattarai@albertsons.com ahead of the meeting.  We will collect all questions/answers and post them on /2023-innovation-grants/

Session #1:  March 20 at 10am PT use https://bit.ly/3mxp4m4 to join

Session #2: March 22 at 1pm PT use https://bit.ly/3yeQmQP to join

Questions/Answers will be posted on March 24

 

Application Questions:

  1. Give us an overview of the food insecurity in your area that you are proposing?
  2. What are the challenges and complications that you are facing in addressing food insecurity?
  3. What is the solution that your proposing?
  4. How is the project innovative or creative locally tailored solutions?
  5. What are the outcomes of the project?
  6. How many people will this project impact? *we do understand that it might be challenging to come up with a number but if you could provide a rough estimate, it would be helpful.
  7. What is the Social Vulnerability Index in the area you are proposing?
  8. What percentage of people are food secure in the area you are proposing?

Timeline:

  • Preliminary Application Due: 4/15
  • Organizations notified of short-list status and regrets: 5/15
  • Virtual meetings and in-depth applications scheduled and completed: 6/16
  • Funding Provided: July 2023
  • Grant Period Starts August 2023

 

Additional FAQ’s from our listening sessions:

1. How did this grant come about?
As a foundation, our strategic focus has evolved over the past year. While we continue to support immediate food distributions efforts (feeding the line), we are now placing a greater emphasis on developing longer term solutions to move people out hunger (shortening the line). To that end, we have identified two ESG goals- to provide one billion meals by 2023 and to break the cycle of hunger. And this grant opportunity aligns with the latter goal. Of course- we are not experts on eradicating hunger- we have an amazing advisory team whom we look up to for their guidance and feedback and this is how this grant opportunity came up. We recognize that many organizations have great ideas to tackle food insecurity but lack the financial means to do so. And we believe this grant presents an opportunity for us to bridge this gap and for organizations test out those innovative ideas.

2. Does this grant application take the place of the yearly Nourishing Neighbors application that supports food distribution efforts?
No, this grant is a new addition to the Nourishing Neighbors program. we have four grant opportunities scheduled for this year:
• Innovation Grants to help organizations that are focused on breaking the cycle of hunger in the communities we serve.
• Summer Meals Grant- focused on providing breakfast to kids in need during the summer. RFP will be released in April.
• Connecting to and Enhancing Federal Meals Programs – RFP released in June/July
• Holiday Gift Cards – RFP released in August and due September (donations of gift cards through a 3rd party received November – February)
Additionally, our divisions offer additional food relief programs at the local level. If you have any queries for local funding opportunities, please reach out to your local representative. Each division has its own set of guidelines for local grant applications, and they are the best point of contact for any questions regarding funding criteria for local grants. Here’s a link to all contacts: /contact/

3. Our budget is just under $1M this year. Can we still apply?
You are welcome to submit an application. If your proposal is exceptional and aligns with the grant criteria, we will certainly review it. However, priority will be given to established organizations with a successful track record of managing large grants and the necessary infrastructure to do so.If your annual
budget is $500,000 and your proposed project is one million dollar over the course of four years for your project, we would be willing to consider your application. Additionally, if your budget is under a million dollars and you have partners who are willing to collaborate with you to meet the million-dollar threshold, we would also take this into consideration. Collaboration among partners is highly encouraged.

4. Last year, our organization piloted a pioneering food rescue app that helps us maximize food rescue donations, particularly from smaller food retailers and restaurants. The pilot was successful, and we need funding this year to expand our use of the app, including hiring a coordinator and conducting marketing and outreach so that more food donors in our county use the app when they have excess food. Innovation Spark funds will not be used for actual food distribution but will instead support this vital new infrastructure for our organization. Would this project be eligible for funding?
We believe that this proposal is better suited to the food distribution program, which aims to address immediate hunger needs. The outcome of the application is bridging the gap between surplus food and those who are food insecure and are still dependent on donated food and is a food distribution solution. It may not align with the goals of the innovation grant, which seeks to help people move out of food insecurity in the long term.

5. Would a project focused on community members coming together and cooking/meal prepping together (for example, meet 3x/month, cook three meals at a time) be eligible? The project would be combating food insecurity by improving access to healthy home-cooked meals for one-person households.
Based on our understanding, we do not believe this program provides solutions to move people out of hunger. That said, we are open to hearing more about the program and any evidence that suggests otherwise.

6. Please share a general example of a project that might qualify for these funds. Unfortunately, we do not have any examples to share as this is the first time, we are offering this grant. We really wish we knew the formula to end hunger, but sadly we don’t. And that’s why we are offering this opportunity. We are counting on you experts to help us identify the gaps and how we can fill those gaps. We are excited to see all the great ideas you all with come with!

7. DC: has an ASI score of 0.6502 (indicates a medium to high level of vulnerability.? Do you think that DC would be considered a priority area for Albertsons in this RFP? When reviewing the applications, we will consider multiple factors, including the ASI as well as the Social Vulnerability Index, High Food Insecurity, the number of snap users, store density etc. That said, the strongest applications will be those that demonstrate the greatest need in the target community.

8. Could you clarify if the grant amount is $3mil per organization, or $3mil for the total funding pool?
Total amount up to $3 million per organization over a 4-year period (allocation by year to be determined by organization)

9. How many stores must be in your area to qualify?
We have approximately 2300 stores across the states, and we consider store density as a significant factor when evaluating applications. We prioritize investing in communities where we have a strong presence. Therefore, even if an application meets all our criteria, we are unlikely to select a project proposed in an area with only a few stores. Applications with a high store density in the proposed area will receive preference, provided they meet all other requirements.

10. Can an organization’s annual operating budget of at least $1 million include some and/or part of the Capital improvement project such a building renovation for a property owned by the organization applying for this Grant? Yes, it may. But, if the total budget for the organization excluding the one-time capital budget is significantly less than $1 million, then the organization may not qualify.

11. “Projects above the $5 million total budget” be clarified? Does this mean proposed projects with a total budget of more than $5 million over the four-year grant period?
You can have other funders in the project. We don’t want a project with a total budget of $20million, and we are giving $3million and you will need significant additional resources to secure the remaining funds to complete the project. Our goal is to enable organizations to focus primarily on the project itself, and thus we prefer projects with a budget of around $3 million that we can either fully fund ourselves or, in cases where other funders are involved, allow for a maximum additional contribution totaling up to $5 million. Additionally, we prefer not to serve as a catalyst for seeking additional funding, and would rather support projects that are self-sufficient.

12. We have some partners who are interested in working on our idea with us. If they were not explicitly invited by Albertsons but we were, can we apply using this coordination with partners?
Absolutely! Please feel free to forward this RFP to any organizations you believe would benefit from this grant. And, yes, collaboration with partners is highly encouraged!

13. Can we apply for our new girls’ program scholarships? We are doubling the number of students in our area who are food secure through our meals program, which is an essential component of our scholarships.
We would need more information to make a fair assessment. However, if your application presents innovative solutions that can move people out of food insecurity, we will consider it.

14. Can we submit multiple applications as an organization?
If you have several projects that align with the grant’s goal, you are welcome to submit multiple applications.

15. Part of the focus is breaking the cycle of food insecurity, does that include providing food access to regions that are food deserts?
To be eligible for consideration, the proposed project should help individuals to become self-sufficient and not reliant on external assistance. If say in 6 months, people continue to require assistance, and are standing in line to put food on their table, then this project would not be considered eligible for the grant.

16. Can funds be used for regranting? We have a robust granting program to our local partners and community organizations and will soon be kicking off our Hunger Hotspot and Neighbor Innovation grants which encourage our partners to apply to fund innovative hunger solutions (e.g., workforce development, urban farming and other projects TBD). These funds could help us support these projects in underserved communities if eligible.
Yes!

17. Are Medically Tailored Meals acceptable?
No. The purpose of this grant is not to provide different levels of nutrition to those in need but rather to move people of hunger. That said, if medically tailored meals are a part of the overall picture to move people out of the cycle of hunger, it could be a portion of the project that somehow moves people out of the cycle of hunger.

18. Our program is two-prong: we deliver healthy meals and groceries to preschool-aged children who do not have access to free lunch programs AND we connect their families to local wraparound social services to help them break the poverty cycle. Does this qualify for the grant?
This proposal maybe more suited for our Summer Meals grant or Connecting Families to Federal Meals grant. The focus of this innovative grant is to support longer-term solutions that enable individuals to become self-sufficient and not reliant on external assistance for their food needs.

19. How important is the Social Vulnerability Index to your selection process? It seems that it is just the first step in screening populations and while our geographic area may be marked low, we know there’s a lot of insecurity. What are you hoping to learn about our community through this measurement?
While evaluating applications, we look at various metrics to identify areas with the greatest need and potential impact. We look at snap usage in the area, store density, high food insecurity, potential CPG partnerships etc. These metrics, among others, help us determine which areas have higher and lower need for assistance.

20. Would a project around implementation of food access plans that address food insecurity in new ways at the county level be eligible?
If the project is expected to result in continued dependence on external aid for food after it ends, it may not qualify for the grant. Please provide us with a compelling argument that demonstrates: the proposed project is needed in the area; it is innovative and will help people move out of the cycle of hunger.

21. If we are transitioning and expanding our site to a choice pantry that feeds and allows communities to gather to select food that is culturally appropriate.
Unfortunately, this does not qualify for the innovation grant. Our innovation grant is focused on supporting long-term solution that help individuals become self-sufficient and no longer reliant on external assistance, such as waiting in line at a food pantry. This proposal maybe better suited for our other hunger relief programs.

22. What can we expect regarding marketing requirements if awarded the grant (e.g., media requests, co-branding, naming, etc.)?
If your organization is awarded the grant, we will provide you with a communication toolkit to help you share about the grant on various media platforms. Additionally, as part of our larger PR plan for Nourishing Neighbors, we plan to issue a press release in June announcing the grant, and we will request quotes from the grant recipients to include in the release. We are open to working with the partners to find out mutually beneficial ways to promote the grant. That said, this is optional, and we do not want to impose any requirements on our partners.

23. The project we have in mind is multi-faceted, and would include food distribution and SNAP/WIC outreach as two components among many other elements that include longer-term strategies like financial empowerment work, workforce development/career growth work, childcare access, housing support, etc. Is it ok to propose a project that includes food distribution and WIC/SNAP, if those are not the sole components?
Absolutely, yes!

24. Are there any budget restrictions? For example, can overhead/indirect costs be included in the budget?
Yes, no budget restrictions.

25. Can the project include a planning and design phase within the multi-year term? E.g., At the time of proposal there is a robust concept, but additional planning will occur over the first year of the grant?
Yes!

26. You mentioned that other issues outside of hunger will be in scope. Does that mean projects centered around poverty/economic security (labor/wage, housing, and transportation) are eligible?
Yes!

27. Are you open to supporting schools with significantly high numbers of students experiencing homelessness? Especially if the school can provide transportation, academic and social-emotional support services and possible training/support for parents of our students facing these circumstances?
Yes! If the proposed project presents strong and persuasive evidence that it can effectively move people out of the hunger of cycle, we will be open to considering it.

28. Will there be an opportunity to do a one-on-one Zoom call to clarify our proposed project with your team?
We appreciate your interest in connecting with us, but due to time constraints, we are unable to accommodate individual meetings. As a small team, we receive a high volume of requests, and therefore, we have designed our application process to be more efficient. The first step is submitting a letter of intent (LOI), where we ask you to share your ideas at a high level. Based on these submissions, we will select the top applications and notify those who did not make it to the next round. There are no budget-related questions in the application, and it is simple and straightforward. In the second round, we will conduct one-on-one calls with the top applicants. Thank you for understanding.

29. The application asks for which organization nominated us for the grant – Feeding America, FRAC, No Kid Hungry, etc. None of those seem to match this grant. The selection of Other opens a text box. Do we just put Albertson’s down?
If you received the RFP directly from us, please select “Other” and mention the Albertsons Companies Foundation. If you received the RFP from one of our partners, such as Feeding America, No Kid Hungry, Share Our Strength, WhyHunger, Hunger Free America, or FRAC, please list them as your nominator. If you were selected for the grant and nominated by one of our partners, you will receive the check directly from them. It’s important to note that the selection process does not give any preference or weightage to applications based on their selection source. The purpose of this question is simply to help us keep track of our accounting records.

30. Yes! Ending food insecurity is our goal as well. Could we provide direct cash assistance to individuals and families as part of this grant? If yes, what percentage of the budget would be allowed?
Direct cash would be very similar to food distribution. Yes, it could be a portion of it but not the whole project.

31. Can you talk to us a bit more about the panel of advisors’ component of this project?
We recognize and highly value the vital role that individuals with lived experience play in finding solutions to a problem. To ensure that their perspectives are included in the project, we have a requirement. If an organization does not have a panel of individuals with lived experience, they must create one to guide their proposed project. A portion of the grant can be used to provide stipends or other forms of support for the advisory group. The main goal here is to ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are guiding our work.

32. When you say specific geographic area, do you have a size/scale in mind? Like city, neighborhood, census tract, etc? Would the area need to be contiguous?
No, there is no specific size/scale and the area need not have to be contiguous. The limitation here is not on the size of the community, but the size of the grant. $3milion over the four years would limit the size of the geographic area that you can impact.

33. Would workforce development qualify for this grant? We work with youth/teens and would like to employ teens to bring more financial resources to their household. And/or building/training teens so that they have the skillset they need to go into the workforce and secure a well-paying job.
Yes, this qualifies for the grant.

34. Is there any information you can share about what might go in the “in-depth application” for projects invited to apply?
After the initial application review process, we will request a high-level budget plan from the top candidates. This will be followed by a set of follow-up questions that may vary based on the specifics of the application. We will then dedicate one-on-one time with each of the top-selected candidates, providing them with an opportunity to further convince us that their project is the right fit for us to invest in.

35. Is there a reason that education programs like gardens and cooking classes will not qualify?
While we recognize the importance of these programs, our priority is to fund initiatives that can make a significant impact in breaking the cycle of hunger. Therefore, we would like to hear more about how these programs can contribute to long-term solutions and help people become self-reliant. We
encourage you to provide us with compelling arguments and evidence to demonstrate the innovative nature of these programs and their potential to break the cycle of hunger. Thank you for your understanding.

36. The RFP states that projects with over 50% of funds spent on advocacy don’t qualify. How are you defining advocacy expenses?
This is a rule set by IRS and not the foundation. Here the definition of advocacy expenses is direct lobbying.

37. What is considered an on-going/already established project vs. early stage investing project?
Ongoing and established projects refer to those that have already received funding and have been consistently running. On the other hand, early-stage investment projects are those that are still in the initial assessment phase and have yet to secure funding.

38. With respect, it seems counter intuitive not to center food distribution/food education around nutrition and educational programming around food. Food is Medicine is an extremely innovative program for example. Is there a reason that food is absent from a grant that seeks to disrupt cycles of hunger?
Yes, we agree that food is medicine and we have not removed the food component from this grant. However, the focus of this grant is on investing in new and innovative ideas that help people break the cycle of hunger. We are looking for programs that not only provide food distribution and nutrition education, but also equip individuals with the resources and tools necessary to become self-sufficient. If, after participating in your program, individuals are still reliant on your organization for food, then unfortunately, this grant may not be the best fit for your program. However, you may want to consider applying for our other meal programs.

39. Can you talk more about how you’re defining regions? Can we submit an application for work that spans regions or bridges two regions?
We prioritize projects that benefit people in areas where we have a strong presence. The areas could be as small as a town in Pleasanton, CA or as large as a state like Maine. Yes, if your project has the funding necessary to serve multiple regions, then that’s fine.

40. My organization is in the middle of a campaign focusing on innovative projects to address the systemic issues of hunger– however, much of our need is for staffing– would an app with high personnel requests still be competitive?
Our grants can be used to fund a variety of project expenses, including staffing. As long as your project aligns with our funding priorities and demonstrates a clear impact in addressing systemic issues of hunger, we would consider it a strong candidate for funding.

41. Would you consider funding a program that is an innovative technology-based food access program that is currently being piloted in one city but requires expansion to multiple cities to demonstrate proof of concept?
Yes, but if the technology-based food access program only provides temporary relief by simply helping people access food without addressing the root causes of food insecurity, then it may not be a good fit for our funding priorities. Our focus is on supporting sustainable solutions that help people achieve long-term food security and independence.

42. how important is sustainability to these innovative projects?
We don’t require a sustainability plan from the organizations we fund for continuing this project after our funding ends. We have confidence in the expertise of the organizations we support to find solutions to come up with solutions to sustain the project. Our focus is on prioritizing projects that offer long-term solutions to move people out of hunger in the long-term. Ultimately, we are looking for innovative projects that have the potential to create meaningful and lasting change in the communities they serve.

43. With regard to food distribution, can you expand on this please. For example, does this include any projects that connect people with quality, nutritious, affordable food?
The grant focuses on sustainable solutions to address hunger and move people out of the cycle of dependence on external food assistance. While the grant may support projects that involve food distribution, it is primarily focused on supporting initiatives that provide long-term solutions.

44. Would you accept a one-year application or are only looking for multi-year?
Yes, we will consider.

45. Could an eligible project be a new component to an established program?
Yes, as long as the new component is innovative and breaks the cycle of hunger for people in our neighborhood.

46. As a food bank we have spent lots of time and resources to shorten the line, but have found that hunger is one symptom of poverty which we have found to be something that nobody has been able to solve. It seems like things like affordable housing, living wage, etc. all have to be present to move the needle, so just trying to understand if food banks are not .
Yes, we understand that hunger is often a symptom of poverty. And, yes, likely most of these elements do need to be present. We believe the strongest applications in this particular RFP will be those that include some of these elements.

47. Can you talk more about the measurable indicators you mention?
When we ask for measurable indicators, we are looking to try to understand what outcomes/outputs you are trying to achieve. Another way to put this question might be, what is the goal of this project? How will you know you are reaching that goal?

48. Can you clarify what is meant by these disqualifying criteria: Programs focused solely on connections or enhancements to federal programs like SNAP and WIC?
Projects that solely focus on enhancing or connecting people to federal programs like SNAP and WIC are not eligible for this grant. While these programs provide temporary assistance, they do not provide sustainable long-term solutions to end hunger. The grant seeks innovative solutions to address hunger and promote self-sufficiency, rather than enabling dependence on external aid. However, there is a separate grant opportunity in September for projects like these.

49. The criteria seem extremely narrow. can you explain a little bit more about the thinking behind omitting food distribution, education, SNAP, etc. from qualifying for this funding?
The grant does not necessarily exclude food distribution, education, or SNAP from being considered for funding. These can be components of a project proposal, as long as the overall project provides a compelling argument for how it will help people move out of food insecurity and promote self-sufficiency. The grant is primarily focused on supporting sustainable, innovative solutions that address the root causes of hunger and reduce dependence on external aid. If a proposal meets these criteria, it will be considered for funding.

50. Recognizing it’s not a requirement, are you looking for proposals that aligning proposed work with local stores?
While it is not a requirement, proposals that involve aligning the proposed work with local stores are welcome. However, no preference will be given to such proposals over others.

51. Is there a way to read all your funding categories, so that we get a sense of how you delineate the differences in these efforts?
Here are our opportunities for funding:
• Innovative Spark Grants – grants to move people out of the cycle of hunger (RFP open now)
• Breakfast for Kids Grants – focus on breakfasts this summer (RFP will be published in April)
• Nutrition Security Grants – grants for organizations that connect people with SNAP/WIC or strengthen those programs like Double Up bucks and produce incentives (RFP expected in July)
• Holiday Gift Cards – gift cards to give to clients during the holidays (RFP expected in August)

52. Can we include a sizable evaluation component, such as are social programs and/or universal basic income actually impacting food security?
Yes, absolutely!

53. What is the source of funding for this grant? Is this grant being funded by an external fund or a source internal to Safeway Foundation?
The grant will be funded through a fundraising campaign that will take place in our stores across the company during May.

54. Is it possible to write this brief proposal as a Feasibility study in the beginning (First 9-12 months) that turns into Implementation in Years 2 & 3 based on the findings of the Feasibility Study?
Absolutely!

55. Some of these upstream interventions (job training, housing) are much more expensive than distribution. Is there a range of the # of people we should be serving in this program?
We do understand, and we don’t anticipate a large of people being served through this grant. The grant does not prioritize the number of people served by a project, but rather the effectiveness and potential for lasting change.

Video of the second session can be found here:  https://youtu.be/HpNf5AIxuzw