How to Apply for OVC FY25 Notices if Funding Opportunities (NOFOs)

DARIAN HANRAHAN: Thank you for joining us for an overview of How to Apply to the Office for Victims of Crime’s Fiscal Year 2025, Notices of Funding Opportunities or NOFOs. 

My name is Darian Hanrahan, and I am joined here with my colleague Kristin Weschler, and we are pleased that you are joining us today for a high-level overview of how to apply for OVC's FY 2025 Notices of Funding Opportunities. 

So, just to give folks an outline of today's webinar. Today, we are going to be talking about OVC's mission and provide general information about how to prepare for and submit your application to OVC’s FY 2025 NOFOs. All of our current funding opportunities are on the OVC website. And there, you will find each of the open NOFOs with important dates and application information.

So, a little bit about the Office for Victims of Crime or OVC. OVC is part of the Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs or OJP, and administers the Crime Victims Fund, which is financed by fines and penalties from convictions in federal cases and not from tax dollars. OVC channels that money towards victim compensation and assistance throughout the United States as well as many OVC discretionary grant programs for victims of crime. So here we raise awareness for crime victims’ issues and support programs that assist all victims in the aftermath of crime. We provide leadership and funding for critical direct services, looking at emerging needs and existing gaps in victim services, identifying and replicating best practices, and implementing data-driven and technical innovations in victim services.

So, we will now provide a brief overview of the main steps that you need to take to apply for OVC funding. 

Your application will involve three systems in preparation and submission, SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and JustGrants. Now before you apply for funding, you must have an active registration in SAM.gov. After SAM.gov registration, there are two steps to submit your application. Step 1 takes place in Grants.gov, where you initiate the application. And once you submit the first part of your application in Grants.gov, you will move to step 2. Step 2 takes place in JustGrants, where you will submit your full application.

Now, before you apply for funding, your entity must register with SAM.gov and obtain a Unique Entity Identifier, also known as a UEI. You must maintain an active SAM.gov registration status at all times. Now for entities new to SAM.gov, the registration process can take time, so start early to be sure that your status reaches active before you need to submit a funding application. 

Now you should renew your registration in SAM.gov every 12 months. Even if you've applied for a federal grant before, you need to check that your registration is current and renew it if it's not. 

Now, as I said, applicants must have an active SAM.gov status before you will be able to complete step 1 of the application process in Grants.gov. Please also be sure that your organization's points of contact in SAM.gov, especially the Electronic Business Point of Contact or E-Biz POC, are current. The E-Biz POC may receive notices about time-sensitive actions they need to take during the application process. Applicants who do not begin the registration or renewal process at least 10 business days prior to the Grants.gov deadline may not be able to complete the process in time and will not be considered for a technical waiver that allows for late submission. And at the end of this training, we have provided additional resources for you to reference as you complete the SAM.gov registration.

Now here from the SAM.gov homepage, you can either get started with registering or renewing your existing registration. 

So, once you have a current--an active current registration in SAM.gov, you are now ready to begin the application process. Applications are submitted to DOJ electronically through a two-step process. You will need to register and add users in two different systems with two different deadlines. We will talk more in depth about each step. But as a quick overview, for step 1, you'll submit the Application for Federal Assistance or SF-424 in Grants.gov. For step 2, you'll complete the full application in JustGrants, which is DOJ’s grants management system. We encourage you not to wait until close to the deadline to submit your application. Please keep in mind during the final step of submission, the JustGrants system will check your application for completeness. Unfortunately, we have had applicants fail to successfully submit their application because the NOFO deadline passed before this process was completed. Those that are completed after the deadline will not be considered for funding. We typically recommend completing each step at least 48 hours before the deadline and not waiting until the deadline to submit materials. This is to ensure that you have time to address unexpected errors and make corrections if needed. I'll now pass it over to my colleague Kristin, to walk us through these two steps.

KRISTIN WESCHLER: So, as Darian said, this is a two-step process. 

Step 1 is Grants.gov, which is the central place to locate federal funding opportunities. Once your registration is complete and roles are assigned in Grants.gov, you'll need to complete the SF-424, otherwise known as the Application for Federal Assistance form in the system. 

A few special points about Grants.gov. First, be sure everyone you plan to have work on your funding application can access and take actions in Grants.gov. Do this in advance of the application to be sure you're ready to submit when the time comes. Second, Grants.gov will only allow entities with an active SAM.gov registration status to submit an Application for Federal Assistance, so please check to be sure your registration is not expiring soon. Third, OJP will use information from your organization's SAM.gov account to confirm the legal name, EIN, UEI and mailing address entered in this SF-424 form. Please ensure that the information entered in the SF-424 matches your current registration in SAM.gov.

For those of you who may be familiar with the OJP application process in previous years, DOJ made one change to the Grants.gov step this year. We are no longer requiring every applicant to submit an SF-LLL form in Grants.gov. Instead, applicants will be asked about their lobbying activities in the JustGrants application. 

For both steps 1 and step 2, we recommend completing each step at least 48 hours before the deadline, not waiting until the deadline to submit materials. That's to ensure you have time to address unexpected errors and make corrections if needed. If you fail to submit the SF-424 form in Grants.gov by the deadline, you will be unable to complete the application in JustGrants. We'll talk more about Grants.gov registration and the SF-424 in the next few slides. 

Every person who uses Grants.gov to apply for a grant must have a profile. If the applicant does not already have a Grants.gov account, you will need to register in Grants.gov. Follow the Grants.gov Quick Start Guide for Applicants to register, create a workspace, assign roles, and find a funding opportunity, and also to submit the first part of the application. You can also find information about troubleshooting issues.

Once your registration is complete and roles are assigned in Grants.gov, you'll be able to complete the SF-424. As a reminder, OJP will use information from the organization's SAM.gov account to confirm the legal name, EIN, UE,I and mailing address entered in the SF-424. Please ensure the information entered into the SF-424 matches your current registration in SAM.gov. You can find more information about the SF-424 in the links provided in the NOFO. 

One common question about the SF-424 is, “Do I need a firm budget amount to submit this form?” The answer is no. You can provide an estimate on this form and then update your funding request in JustGrants when you submit your final application. Once submitted, the SF-424 helps to pre-populate standard information in your JustGrants application.

One other note about the SF-424 is the individual listed in Section 8F of this form is automatically identified as the application submitter in JustGrants, so be sure that person is checking their email and is prepared to complete the application in JustGrants during step 2. 

If this is your entity's first DOJ application, your SAM.gov E-Biz Point of Contact will also need to monitor their email and prepare to take action to onboard your entity into JustGrants as you move into step 2. The SF-424 form must be signed by the Authorized Representative of the applicant organization. Remember, this individual is typically someone who has the authority to make institutional decisions on behalf of the organization. If the Sign and Submit button is grayed out in Grants.gov, you are not the assigned AOR in Grants.gov and need to have the assigned Authorized Representative submit the form. 

After submitting the Grants.gov application, your SF-424 cannot be changed. However, any corresponding data fields within the JustGrants application can be updated in the Standard Applicant Information section if changes are needed. After submitting your SF-424, you should receive a series of email confirmations from Grants.gov as the form is processed through Grants.gov and moves into JustGrants. If you do not receive these emails within 24 hours, please contact Grants.gov. If you have submission errors in your Grants.gov application, you will receive a Rejection Notice for Application instead of a Submission Validation Receipt for Application, and you will need to address those errors in order to successfully submit.

You will know when Grants.gov sends the application information to JustGrants by noting that the Agency Received step appears in green in the Grants.gov workplace. At that point, Grants.gov will automatically populate a new application in JustGrants. Your work in Grants.gov is now complete. 

Step 2 takes place in JustGrants. JustGrants is the Department of Justice's web-based grants management system. It is the platform where you will manage your OVC application. As previously noted, JustGrants creates an application based on the information you included in your Grants.gov application. Your new JustGrants application will be assigned to the person identified in section 8F of the SF-424 that you submitted in Grants.gov. This person will be the application submitter in JustGrants.

If an individual will be associated with more than one entity in JustGrants, for example, a grant writer who will serve as an application submitter for multiple entities, that person must establish a unique email address for each entity. If your entity is new to JustGrants, your SAM.gov E-Biz Point of Contact is automatically assigned as the JustGrants Entity Administrator and must follow the instructions they receive from an email from DOJ to create a JustGrants account. The Entity Administrator role may be reassigned once the entity is onboarded. 

It is important to ensure all necessary users are invited and assigned roles. Applicants should log into JustGrants to confirm critical users such as Application Submitter and Authorized Representative are listed as entity users on the entity page. If changes are needed, the Assigned Entity Administrator must work with their entity to make the corrections in SAM.gov, which will update JustGrants within 5 days.

Please note that only the Assigned Application Submitters can work on your application in JustGrants. Follow the JustGrants prompts and complete all required fields marked with an asterisk. Upload all required documents. Once all documents are uploaded and all data is entered, complete a read-only review of the full application and select the Check for Errors button to confirm that all required fields are completed. After ensuring the application is complete and error free, select the Submit button. The application will change to submitted. Once the application is submitted. The Application Submitter, Authorized Representative, and Entity Administrator will receive a confirmation email. 

Each Fiscal Year 2025 NOFO provides detailed information about the purpose of funding, along with the opportunity's key dates, applicant eligibility, and application requirements. Many NOFOs look similar but have unique requirements. Additionally, there could be variations across the requirements for competitive and non-competitive NOFOs such as Formula NOFOs.

Carefully review each NOFO for guidance on what is required within each section of the NOFO and then complete the application in JustGrants. Generally, applications contain most of these sections. The standard Application Information in JustGrants is pre-populated with data from your SF-424. You’ll need to review and make edits as needed to the information in JustGrants. You do not need to go back and make changes to your SF-424 in Grants.gov. Just be sure that the information in JustGrants is accurate and complete. This is also where you will confirm the Authorized Representative for the application and verify the entity's legal name and address. This must be completed before you can submit an application.

The Proposal Abstract is a brief summary of your proposed project that is publicly available if the project is awarded, so be sure that this does not contain any personal identifiable information. Use the Notices of Funding Opportunity Instructions link in the top right of JustGrants screen to quickly refer to requirements for the proposed abstract. Remember, NOFO requirements vary. 

The Proposal Narrative provides much more detail about your proposed project, including the problems and needs it will address, goals and objectives, project design, and your organization's ability to implement the project. Again, you can use the Notice of Funding Opportunity Instructions link in the top right of the JustGrants screen to quickly refer to requirements for the proposed narrative. 

You must use the budget format specified in the NOFO, which can be web-based and/or require budget attachments such as an Indirect Cost Rate Agreement. Some programs may not require budgets. Your budget should align with your Proposal Narrative and clearly explain how each cost will support the project. Costs should be reasonable and necessary for the proposed project and the project totals must align across the Standard Applicant Information and the Budget and Associated Documentation sections of the application. Since Allowable Costs will vary by DOJ program, you should look to the NOFO for more details on Allowable and Unallowable Costs.

For some DOJ programs, MOUs or Partner Letters of Intent are required. Generally, these should reflect partnerships and show agreement to support your project through commitment of staff time, space, services, or other project needs. 

Additional applicant components may be required for certain DOJ programs. Be sure to read through this section in the NOFO carefully. 

You'll also need to address multiple Disclosures and Assurances in your application. These questions guide applicants through programmatic, financial, and legal topics to ensure applicants understand what's required of them. Read those carefully and seek clarification when needed. There may be other required items to include specific to each NOFO. Review the NOFO you're responding to carefully to ensure you include all the required documents. 

There are two different ways to locate an application in JustGrants, and it is based on your assigned role in the system. The first option is for the Assigned Application Submitter to locate the application in their work list. 

Alternatively, any assigned JustGrants user can locate the application under the Applications tab on the entity page. It is important to note that only Application Submitters assigned to an application can work on it. 

As a reminder, all applications are submitted to DOJ electronically through a two-step process, and you will be required to register and add users in two different systems. For step 1, you'll submit the Application for Federal Assistance or SF-424 in Grants.gov. For step 2, you'll complete and submit the full application in JustGrants. Again, we encourage you not to wait until close to the deadline to submit your application. Please keep in mind during the final step of submission, the JustGrants system will check your application for completeness.

Unfortunately, we have had applicants fail to successfully submit their application because the NOFO deadline passed before this process was completed. Those that are completed after the deadline will not be considered for funding. We typically recommend completing each step at least 48 hours before the deadline, not waiting until the deadline to submit materials. That's to ensure that you have time to address unexpected errors and make corrections if needed. And as a reminder, the Grants.gov deadline is earlier than the JustGrants deadline. If you have any technical issues that prevent you from your application submission, you may request a waiver to submit after the deadline. You must contact the relevant help desk within 24 hours of the corresponding deadline to report the issue and obtain a tracking number documenting the contact. 

I'm now going to transition back to Darian, who will explain what to expect once the application has been submitted and offer some helpful resources.

DARIAN HANRAHAN: Thanks, Kristin. 

After the JustGrants deadline has passed, OVC will thoroughly review all applications. As a reminder, this process only applies to competitive NOFOs. Non-competitive NOFOs will follow a different process. First, we check to confirm that the application contains the Basic Minimum Requirements, or BMR, that were described in the funding opportunity. For applications that miss those requirements, you will receive notice that your application has been eliminated from further review. For competitive opportunities, Peer Reviewers who are subject matter experts will assess the technical merits of an application. OVC staff then assess applications based on factors such as geographic diversity, past performance, and whether applications are likely to meet the funding opportunity’s goals and objectives. We then evaluate the fiscal integrity of the applicant, examine proposed costs, and determine whether the Budget and Budget Narrative accurately explain the project's costs and whether those costs are allowable and reasonable.

Finally, OVC reviews potential risks presented by applicants prior to making an award. This pre-award risk assessment takes into account a variety of factors, including an applicant's financial capability and past performance. During the review process, OVC may contact you to clarify program or budget details. 

Applicants are often eager to learn how their application is progressing through the review process. Unfortunately, DOJ staff, including user support and the OJP Response Center cannot share any information with you until final awards have been made public. 

Funding decisions are usually announced before the end of OJP's fiscal year, which is September 30th. If your application has been funded, specific JustGrants users for your organization will be notified by email and will see the award appear in their JustGrants account. If you receive notice of an award, you must take specific steps in JustGrants to accept or decline it. The DOJ Award Acceptance Checklist on the JustGrants Resources website can walk you through those steps. If you are not selected for funding, OJP will notify you by email after all award recipients have been notified. You can visit OJP's Grant Awards website to see all OJP awards made by year, program and locality. 

I'll now talk a little bit more about available resources that can assist you with your application. 

So, we have many resources that are available to help guide you through your application process. The first is the Grants.gov Quick Start Guide. This is a comprehensive Quick Start Guide to help you register for and apply to OVC Awards. This guide includes sections on registering, roles, workspaces, completing forms, and submitting your application. As a reminder, Grants.gov is the first step of the application process. 

The JustGrants website has a collection of resources available for you to use. Training materials include self-guided e-learning videos that are supplemented by job aid reference guides, checklists, and infographics. These resources will help you to learn to navigate the system to complete various essential grants management tasks during the application process.

The DOJ Grant Application Submission Checklist includes step-by-step instructions on preparing your OVC application. The Office of Justice Programs or OJP Grant Application Resource Guide provides guidance to assist OJP grant applicants in preparing and submitting applications for OJP funding. It addresses a variety of policies, statutes, and regulations that apply to many, or in some cases all, OJP program applicants, or to grants and cooperative agreements awarded in FY 2025. Some OJP programs may have program NOFOs that expressly modify a provision of this guide. In such cases, the applicant is to follow the guidelines in the NOFO as to any such expressly modified provision.

The DOJ Grants Financial Guide is the primary reference manual to assist OJP, OVW, and COPS Office award recipients in fulfilling their fiduciary responsibility to safeguard grant funds and ensure funds are used for the purposes for which they were awarded. Applicants will want to become familiar with the guide. It compiles a variety of laws, rules, and regulations that affect the financial and administrative management of your award. References to the underlying laws and regulations have been provided in the guide as much as possible. The top 10 topics in the guide are listed here, such as Financial Management Systems, Allowable Costs, Unallowable Costs, Federal Financial Reports, among others. 

I'll now pass it back to Kristin to walk us through the remaining resources and contact information.

KRISTIN WESCHLER: Thanks, Darian. You can visit the OVC website to learn about OVC’s history and funding, find products, and register for upcoming events. There's also a four-part pre-application webinar series, which OVC provided in 2022 that may be helpful in preparing your application. Any upcoming programmatic webinars for released FY 2025 NOFOs will be posted on this site as well.

Today, we've given you a brief overview of the OVC funding process. For further detailed training on Application Submission, you can attend a live weekly training session, download detailed training slides, or watch a prerecorded version of the training using the links provided. 

Be sure to start your application in Grants.gov and JustGrants as soon as possible to confirm you have access. If possible, submit your application before the due date. OJP will only accept late applications if an applicant can demonstrate that there is a technical reason they could not submit, so you'll want to ensure you have plenty of time to address any technical issues you may encounter. JustGrants can be reached by phone at 833-872-5175 or email to [email protected]. 

When contacting any of these help desks, please be sure to request a tracking number so you can document that you sought assistance with your issue. This will be important in the event that you need to document that you had a technical issue that prevented you from submitting your application.

Finally, the OJP Response Center is available to answer questions about Programmatic Requirements of the NOFO. They can be reached by phone at 800-851-3420 or email [email protected]. 

If you are a current grantee, we appreciate your understanding that your grant manager and other OVC staff cannot answer questions about an open NOFO directly. For purposes of fairness and transparency, if you reach out to us, we will have to refer you back to the OJP Response Center so that your question can be documented and addressed officially. 

Finally, please keep in mind that the OJP Response Center is also who you will need to contact within 24 hours of the JustGrants or Grants.gov deadlines should you experience any technical issues that prevented your application submission. Keep in mind you'll need to be able to document any technical issues, which is why starting your application early and maintaining any tracking numbers if you have reported an issue is critical. 

If you need assistance when registering or working in SAM.gov or Grants.gov, please contact their help desk directly. For assistance with registering or renewing an account in SAM.gov, please call 866-606-8220 or visit their website at sam.gov/help. 

For assistance in Grants.gov, call 800-518-4726 or email [email protected]. You can also visit their website at grants.gov/support. We want to thank you for watching this presentation. We hope the information is helpful in navigating the application process.