Glossary
A
Access to health: An individual's ability to obtain appropriate health and health care services. The barriers to access that the Endowment is currently focusing on are: economic (insufficient monetary resources), geographic (primarily physical distance and communications access between client and provider), and social-cultural.
Activities: (See “project activities”).
Advocacy: Taking part in efforts to create or effect change in policies or systems. Advocacy efforts can take many forms, including education, direct action, and lobbying. Funding from the Endowment may not be used to attempt to influence specific legislation; to influence the outcome of, or participate in, any public election; or to carry on, directly or indirectly, any voter registration drive.
Applicant organization: The organization that is applying to the Endowment for a grant. In the case of a group of organizations working together to apply for a grant, the group chooses one of its members to be the applicant organization. The chosen organization is accountable to the Endowment for the programmatic and financial outcomes of the grant. In the case of a legally organized collaborative, the collaborative is the applicant organization.
B
Best practices: Strategies, programs, and initiatives that have been formally evaluated and documented as consistently producing positive, desired results.
Bridge grant: Money awarded through a Discretionary Grant that is used to fill an urgent, short-term gap in the funds needed to provide continuous, essential services. A proposal for this type of funding must provide descriptions of current need and provisions for long-term funding.
C
Capacity: The organizational structure, management and staff skills, technical resources, and operating methods of an organization that determine its ability to solve problems, create and sustain services and programs, and generate resources and support.
Collaboration: A group of organizations working together to achieve a common goal by planning, designing, and implementing a project. In a collaborative effort, all stakeholders exchange information, share resources, enhance each other’s capacities, and alter their normal activities to achieve the goal. A collaboration must be a legal entity in order to apply for an Endowment grant.
Community needs assessment: Documented research results that indicate the needs of the target population as opposed to the needs of the applicant organization. Research includes consulting with members of the public, community organizations, service providers, and local government officials to identify and prioritize community health and health care needs.
Convening: To gather diverse stakeholders to exchange information or work collaboratively to improve health.
D
Data collection method: The way that information is collected. Examples of data collection methods include surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation, document review, and tests.
Data collection timeframe: When and how often indicator data are collected. Examples include quarterly, once a semester, at start of project and end of project.
Dissemination plan: A documented strategy for sharing the knowledge gained from a project. The activities that make up the dissemination plan must be included as a discrete (separate) outcome in the Project Workplan when required.
E
Eligibility criteria: The standards that the Endowment uses to determine whether an organization or a project is eligible to receive funding.
Emergency Grant: Endowment funding to address a critical situation in the New Hampshire health-related safety net (typically, in a community mental health center, community health center, or oral health clinic). These grants are non-competitive.
Evaluation plan: See “outcome evaluation plan”.
Evaluation results: Description of progress, including data, in achieving outcomes as measured through outcome indicators. Evaluation results are submitted with interim (if results are available) and final progress reports to the Endowment.
Expenditure Responsibility: Expenditure Responsibility is when a private foundation makes a grant to an organization that is not classified by the IRS as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) and as a public charity according to Section 509(a), it is required by law to ensure that the funds are spent for charitable purposes and not for private gain or political activities. Such grants require a pre-grant inquiry and a detailed, written agreement. Special reports on the status of the grant must be filed with the IRS, and the grantees must be listed on the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF.
F
Fiscal sponsor: A tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization that serves as the applicant for another organization or a collaborative that is not formally incorporated. The mission statement of the Fiscal Sponsor should align with the mission statement of the organization or organizations it represents. The Fiscal Sponsor agrees to be accountable to the Endowment for the programmatic and financial outcomes of the grant. All information in the “Organization Profile” section of the Grant Proposal form (including the EIN number) describes the Fiscal Sponsor.
G
Grant: Money awarded by the Endowment to an organization to support a project.
H
Health: The state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. This is the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of “health”.
I
In-kind revenue: Contributed goods or services from an applicant or collaborating organization, as opposed to contributed financial gifts.
Indicator: A quantitative or qualitative measure that provides a basis for assessing achievement, change, or performance over time.
Input: A resource needed to implement a project activity and achieve a project output. “Inputs” are frequently referred to as “resources.” Examples of inputs include staff, consultants, volunteers, new technology, new equipment, and supplies.
Institutional Review Board (IRB): A committee that has been formally designated to approve, monitor, and review biomedical and behavioral research involving humans with the aim to protect the rights and welfare of the research subjects. IRBs are typically located in universities and some government departments although independent IRBs also exist. The Endowment will work with grantees to ensure that appropriate consent and review processes for research subjects are followed for grants that are research and data focused. IRB approval is not required for a grant proposal. If a grant proposal is funded and IRB approval is needed, the Endowment will work with grantees to complete this process.
L
Letter of commitment: A letter from a collaborating organization that indicates commitment to the submitted project in one or more of the following ways:
* Already participated in the planning of the project.
* Personnel will actively participate in the project.
* Will contribute resources to the project.
Letter of Inquiry: A letter to the Endowment from a potential applicant organization that outlines a proposed project. See Proposal Guidelines for information on the appropriate uses of a letter of inquiry.
Letter of Support: A letter from an organization other than the applicant organization that expresses agreement with or enthusiasm for a proposed project.
Leveraged funds: Monies to be received from sources other than the Endowment, if those monies are a result of receiving a grant from the Endowment. Leveraged funds should be identified in the project narrative.
M
Model project: A project that can be used as a model solution by other organizations.
O
Operating Support Grant: A five-year (or more) Endowment for Health funding commitment to provide core operating support to statewide organizations that focus on health-related, nonprofit capacity building, knowledge development, or advocacy. Grants are similarly awarded to theme-related statewide organizations. This is a non-competitive grant.
Outcome: The result of project activities, often expressed in terms of changes in behavior, norms, decision-making, knowledge, attitudes, capacities, motivations, skills, or conditions of individuals, families, households, organizations, systems, or communities. Together, the full set of project outcomes should achieve the overall project goal. See Project Workplan Guidelines for a complete description of project outcomes.
Outcome Evaluation Plan table: The component of the Project Workplan, presented in table form, that describes how each outcome (not the process) of a project will be assessed, including outcome indicators, data collection methods, and timeframes. Applicants present some initial thinking about outcome indicators and data collection methods during the proposal process. If a project is funded, the Outcome Evaluation Plan table for each outcome must be finalized within the first six months of project implementation.
Outcome indicator: The quantitative or qualitative measure that provides information about whether or not an outcome has been accomplished. An indicator is the measurable “evidence” or information. In many cases, more than one indicator may be necessary to measure an outcome. Project Workplan Guidelines for a complete description of outcome indicators.
Output: A direct, tangible, and measurable product of a project activity. An output is usually expressed as a number of units delivered. Examples of project outputs include: 5 classes held, 3 outreach materials developed, 200 participants served, 300 hours of service provided, and 6 focus groups held. See also, “outcome.”
P
Principal investigator: The person who is responsible for the research work of a project.
Project: The total effort to be undertaken by the applicant organization in order to achieve the project goal set forth in the proposal, including activities for which funds are sought from the Endowment, and usually, additional activities to be funded by other sources.
Project activities: How a project uses its inputs to achieve outcomes. Example: “Identify a consultant to develop the training curriculum.” Project Workplan Guidelines
for a complete description of project activities.
Project goal statement: A broad, general statement about what will be accomplished by a project and how it will be done. See Project Workplan Guidelines for a complete description of the project goal statement, including its content and its importance in the project life cycle.
Project revenue: Money that is generated by the project for which funding is being requested. For example, if the proposal includes training sessions where a dentist and pediatrician provide training to providers, the monies generated by the session fees would be considered project revenues.
Project Workplan: A clear representation of a project showing who is going to do what, when they are going to do it, and what they will accomplish. This must include project activities related to disseminating the knowledge gained from a project and sustaining the health improvement outcomes of a project beyond the Endowment grant period. See Project Project Workplan Guidelines
for complete instructions on developing a Project Workplan.
Public Policy Grant: Money awarded to an organization to conduct research, data collection and analysis, convening, planning, technical assistance, and/or project implementation to address a critical gap between a health-related outcome and a current public policy that is designed to achieve that outcome. An organization must receive an invitation from the Endowment in order to apply for this type of grant, and an organization may submit a Letter of Inquiry to prompt an invitation.
R
Responsible person: The person who uses the specified inputs to achieve specified anticipated outputs within a specified time span.
S
Sustainability: The ability of the health improvement outcomes of a project to continue beyond the Endowment grant period without further Endowment funding. Achieving sustainability may involve locating new sources of funding, working to improve reimbursement systems, modifying the program without losing its integrity and/or integrating the work of the project into existing health systems. All Endowment applicants are expected to actively plan for sustainability. An outcome regarding sustainability planning is required in proposals that require a Project Workplan.
Systemic change: A permanent change to the health system of a target population. Ultimately, systemic change may require a change in public policy.
T
Target population: The group of persons whose health status is expected to be directly improved by the project.
Technical assistance: Contracted services and expertise necessary to improve an organization’s capabilities. Example: paying for a technology consultant to help improve information systems in the organization.
Technical feasibility: The likelihood of implementing a project and achieving the expected outcomes, when project activities are compared with current knowledge and experience in the related field.
Terms of Award: A contract that specifies the conditions that a grantee and the Endowment must meet in order for the grantee to receive payment of an approved award.
Theme Summary: A document that contains a summary of the outcomes and strategies for an Endowment theme, the progress to date in achieving those outcomes and strategies, and the work yet to be done.
Theoretical soundness: The validity of the concepts upon which the outcomes of a project depend, when those concepts are compared with current theory and experiential knowledge in the related field.
Timeframe: The start date and end date (in mm/yy-mm/yy format) of the period during which an activity will occur As presented in the Project Workplan.
U
Underserved population: A group of people who, for a variety of reasons, do not have equal access to health and health care services.
V
Vulnerable population: A group of people with certain characteristics that cause it to be at greater risk of having poor health. The Endowment considers these characteristics to include, but not to be limited to, age, culture, disability, education, ethnicity, health insurance status, housing status, income, mental health, and race.
