Volunteer and Staff Roles UWCO volunteers and staff will have key and complementary roles in reviewing programs and developing program investment recommendations. Volunteers will: • Provide input and oversight in the development of investment criteria and priority considerations; • Review and approve all letter of intent recommendations; • Provide input during the review of full proposals; and • Review and approve the total package of funding recommendations. UWCO staff will: • Review letters of intent and full proposals; • Coordinate follow-up and conduct site visits during the review of full proposals; • Facilitate and incorporate volunteer input and guidance into the process; and • Coordinate the final set of recommendations for approval by the UWCO Board of Trustees.
Letter of Intent (LOI) and Full Proposal Components of the Process The program investment process will include two phases: letter of intent and full proposal. Letter of Intent Through the submission of brief letters of intent, agencies will share their strongest ideas about ways to assist in achieving specific community results. Forms and instructions for the LOI phase will be posted on the UWCO website in October 2008. The deadline for LOI submission is December 1, 2008. All LOIs will be reviewed using consistent investment criteria in the following categories: Contribution to a Community Result, Program Strength, Organizational Capacity, Collaboration/Integration, and Current UWCO-Funded Program. Scores from the review process will be used to evaluate proposals against UWCO expectations and as a base of comparison among LOIs. UWCO will not establish a minimum score or “cut-off point” in the review process, (e.g., proposals that receive a score of 50 or more will move to the full proposal phase). In the LOI review, UWCO will identify applicants that will move to the full proposal phase. These programs will have been determined to have maximum potential impact on the achievement of the nine community results. The LOI process is expected to be highly competitive and some quality programs may not be asked to move forward to the full proposal phase.
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