25K Grant to Help Nonprofits Ready for Federal Funds

Managing the effective use of the hundreds of millions of dollars in federal relief funds that are being allocated to Hawai‘i is no simple task.

Transform Hawai‘i Government (THG) and the Hawai‘i Alliance of Nonprofit Organizations (HANO) are partnering to ensure government agencies that disburse these federal funds and nonprofit organizations that receive the funds as grants or contracts work effectively and efficiently together to deliver critical community services. THG and HANO are also supporting nonprofit organizations with navigating routine state and county contracts.

THG recently gave HANO a $25,000 grant to develop an educational toolkit and training resources to equip Hawai‘i’s nonprofit organizations to be better prepared to work with government agencies that are issuing federal funds for community services. The curriculum will familiarize nonprofit organizations with the application process that leads to a contract. The THG grant provides initial seed funding for HANO to develop the design of the first set of modules for the toolkit. The curriculum is projected to be completed and ready for nonprofit organizations by early 2023.

“So often nonprofit organizations become discouraged with the application process and this can prevent some communities from receiving the services they need. This creates inequitable access to services in our state,” said Lisa Maruyama, CEO of HANO, which has served as an intermediary for Hawaii’s nonprofit organizations for the past 16 years. “Instead of hitting a wall, we’re helping nonprofits overcome these challenges. We’ll assess their capacity to fulfill the requirements of a government grant or contract and provide the technical expertise to help guide them through the rigorous application requirements.”

“We’re always looking at new ways to support innovative approaches to government modernization and are glad to support HANO in this ground-breaking initiative,” said Christine Sakuda, THG’s executive director. “As we continue to work at systemic IT transformation within government, we’re also exploring transformative projects that interact with government.”

Sakuda added that this program’s long-term goal is to strengthen the relationship between the public and nonprofit sectors to mutually develop ways to continuously improve the contracting and procurement processes as well as access to services across the islands.