Application
Review the questions and materials you will need to submit your project.
Review the questions and materials you will need to submit your project.
Thank you for participating in Prebys Sparx. We recommend reviewing all application requirements, Rules, and the scoring rubric used to assess all valid submissions before you begin.
Responses to this submission form must be in English. This provides consistency across all submissions during our review process and reduces the risk of misinterpretation or translation error. It is fine to leave organization names and other items that have no direct translation in the original language.
This application form saves automatically and the status of your application is available to view on your dashboard. You have the option to request an automated confirmation email after clicking “submit” – be sure to click the checkbox opting into this email when the confirmation message appears.
Your entire submission will be shared with Evaluation Panel members and the Prebys Sparx Team during the evaluation process. Portions of your submission may be published online and may be shared with the general public to promote your solution or to highlight results (see Rules for more information). Those portions may include, but are not limited to, Quick Pitch and Video Presentation.
Prior to submission, confirm the information provided on the Registration Form is correct (go to Submissions and select Registration Form). Be sure to review your submission as it will appear after it has been submitted (click the preview button next to Submit). When you have completed all requirements, you will be able to submit the application form. Once you have submitted, you will no longer be able to make changes.
Submit your application no later than 3:00 PM Pacific Time on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. Participants who do not submit their completed application by the deadline will not have their entry considered for this challenge. Contact questions@prebyssparx.org with questions or technical issues.
All fields are required.
Offer a brief and compelling overview of your solution.
Solution Title (up to 10 words)
Provide a title for your solution that easily identifies and distinguishes it from others.
Solution Statement (up to 25 words)
Provide a short, one-sentence description of your solution.
Executive Summary (up to 75 words)
Provide a concise overview of the most compelling aspects of your solution. This should be a stand-alone summary of the problem and proposed solution.
Submit a video that showcases your solution and pitches your story in a succinct format. This is an opportunity to share your vision and approach in a way that is different from the written proposal format. You may include screen shots, walk-throughs, or other visuals of your solution if you wish. This DOES NOT need to be a professionally produced video – a video shot on a smartphone is acceptable.
To complete this requirement, upload a digital film using YouTube. Video submissions must follow these guidelines or else it will render the application ineligible:
Here are general suggestions for delivering a high-quality video pitch:
Provide a basic understanding of the leadership, structure, and capabilities of those working on this solution. Should you receive funding, you must designate a Lead Organization responsible for taking accountability for those award funds, as well as providing project direction, control, and supervision. Your Lead Organization was identified during registration. If your Lead Organization has changed, please select Registration Form from the Submissions menu to update the Lead Organization information.
Partners
We welcome applications from teams that include multiple organizations and reflect cross-sector partnerships. If the Lead Organization is not based in San Diego County, partnering with a nonprofit that is based in San Diego County is a requirement. NOTE: Government agencies, individuals, and for-profit companies cannot submit as the Lead Organization, but are encouraged to serve as partners with an eligible nonprofit organization. If your team consists of two or more organizations, list them using the legal name of each partner. If your team does not consist of two or more organizations, enter “Not Applicable.”
Team Collaboration
Partnerships must demonstrate authentic collaboration between organizations and must continue for the duration of the one-year project period at minimum. Does your team consist of two or more organizations with an executed memorandum of understanding (MOU) (signed and dated by all parties, including the Lead Organization submitting this proposal)? NOTE: While MOUs are not required at this time, they may be requested from Finalists to verify authentic, sustained collaboration.
Team Structure (up to 150 words)
Describe the roles, responsibilities, and contributions of each key team member/partner. Explain how the team will work together, including any reporting structures between the partners and Lead Organization.
Track Record and Capabilities (up to 150 words)
Describe your team’s skills, capacity, assets, resources, and experience to successfully deliver the solution. Be sure to include core competencies and how they apply to your solution, any relevant past efforts or experience, and any other additional details that support your ability to deliver impact. If your team has personal experience with the challenge you’re solving, please share.
Demonstrate your understanding of the problem you aim to solve.
Problem Statement (up to 150 words)
Set the stage for your solution and explain why you have committed to help solve this challenge. Describe the general needs your solution will address. It is critical that your explanation reflects a genuine and authentic understanding of local conditions in San Diego County and how the beneficiaries of your solution perceive the problem and opportunity.
Existing Landscape (up to 150 words)
Briefly describe other efforts aimed to address this problem and other organizations or projects that are most similar to your work, if applicable. Explain how your team and proposed solution fit into this landscape. Introduce your understanding of the currently relevant systems and conditions which affect your plans and the impact of your solution.
Prebys Sparx welcomes a wide range of new or existing solutions that employ arts and culture and/or nature to address growing mental health disparities and promote behavioral well-being among youth in the San Diego region. Illustrate your approach and the benefits your solution will deliver. Emphasize how your project aligns with the criteria used to assess each valid application (see scoring rubric).
Solution Category
Solution Category was selected during registration (arts and culture, nature, or both). If this has changed, please select Registration Form from the Submission menu to update.
Project Stage
Select one option that best describes the project stage for your proposed solution. NOTE: Solutions at any stage are eligible to apply. The scoring rubric considers the likelihood of implementation, regardless of stage.
Solution Description (up to 250 words)
Describe your solution and the ways in which the use of arts and culture and/or nature will address growing mental health disparities and promote behavioral well-being among San Diego youth. Provide an overview of key stakeholders and introduce the measurable outcomes, impact, and benefits to these communities. NOTE: Later in the application you will have additional opportunities to describe beneficiaries and intended impact.
Innovation (up to 150 words)
Explain how your solution diverges from, enhances, and/or reinforces existing methods/practices. Emphasize unique aspects of your solution and why you believe it will be more effective or impactful than existing efforts to address the problem.
Reach & Scalability (up to 200 words)
How many people ages 0-25 is your solution reaching as of today and/or on an annual basis, and what proportion of the people reached by your solution do you estimate are currently experiencing mental and behavioral health disparities? Share your vision for expanding your reach and plans to expand your solution to benefit more people, including any plans to promote your solution to enable broader access. If you expect a significant change in your reach in the coming year, describe the factors that will affect this change and include how many your project to be reaching one year from now, including your rationale for this projection.
Project Visual
Upload a single PDF of a visual representation of your solution. This may include flowcharts, organizational charts, maps of the proposed project areas, diagrams, logic models, etc. The PDF should not exceed 10MB and a total of three pages, and should not contain additional text explanations or be used to circumvent word counts in this submission form. Some brief labels and/or basic text descriptions are permitted. Pages beyond the three-page limit, as well as unrelated content, will render the submission ineligible.
Tell us more about where your solution will focus its impact and the communities that will benefit.
What is the primary population your solution serves?
Select one. Please find definitions for Opportunity Youth and Overburdened Youth here.
What other population(s) does your solution serve?
Select all that apply. Please find definitions for Opportunity Youth and Overburdened Youth here.
What ethnicity/ethnicities does your solution serve?
Select all that apply.
What gender identity/identities does your solution serve?
Select all that apply.
What age group(s) does your solution serve?
Select all that apply. NOTE: Solutions must impact youth ages 0-25 but can also benefit adults ages 26+. Please see Rules for more information.
Beneficiary Description (up to 200 words)
Describe the people / communities that your solution is intended to benefit. Discuss how the project benefits youth in the San Diego region and how the solution will employ arts and culture and/or nature to address growing mental health disparities and promote behavioral well-being. Include any secondary or other populations who may engage with and benefit from the project.
Beneficiary Engagement (up to 200 words)
We expect teams to be thoughtful about working with beneficiaries and to draw on the insights and perspectives of people for whom a solution is intended. Describe how you have engaged beneficiaries to inform the solution and/or its user experience, and describe your plans for ongoing engagement to ensure long-term success. Articulate any costs/burdens that beneficiaries may be expected to take on when participating in or using the proposed solution.
Stakeholder Engagement (up to 150 words)
To be effective, projects may need support or partnership from others – government, investors, technology partners, community leaders, etc. Demonstrate your understanding of the key stakeholders necessary for your work to be effective and describe plans to engage them on an ongoing basis to ensure long-term success. Articulate any costs/burdens that stakeholders may be expected to absorb.
Solution Location
Enter the primary location in San Diego County where you plan to implement your solution. This location may or may not be the same as the location where you are currently implementing your solution.
Solution Location #2
If there is a second location for your current or future work, provide the second location here. If not applicable, select “Not Applicable.”
Solution Location #3
If there is a third location for your current or future work, provide the third location here. If not applicable, select “Not Applicable.”
Location Description (up to 100 words)
Provide additional context that may be helpful in understanding the location(s) in which you are working or plan to work. Describe how your proposed solution is relevant to the challenges of people in San Diego County.
Demonstrate how your project will achieve meaningful results in San Diego County.
Theory of Action (up to 200 words)
Explain how your solution will lead to the mental and behavioral well-being outcomes among youth that you have described. What will need to occur for your solution to achieve these intended results for your priority population(s)?
Assessing Results (up to 150 words)
Describe your methodology for measuring overall performance of the proposed strategy, including the means through which you will track results or milestones to indicate success. What data and methodologies will you use to know if you are having your intended results? What infrastructure and/or intended process does your proposed solution have in place to track learnings and adapt approaches based on insights? NOTE: Winner may be expected to share results with the Conrad Prebys Foundation.
Sustainability (up to 100 words)
Describe plans to leverage additional resources to sustain and/or scale your approach over time and after the one-year project period ends.
Evidence of Effectiveness (up to 200 words)
Provide evidence to show the solution will work. Present any internal (e.g., informal studies, observations, or other indicators of change) or formal evidence, including any evaluation results. If you do not have evidence of impact of your own solution, can you point to research-backed practices on which your solution is based, or analogous solutions achieving meaningful impact that you think your solution may similarly achieve?
References (up to 200 words)
If you included citations [#s] above, provide a bibliography with a corresponding bracketed number [#] for each citation. If you did not insert citations, offer a list of resources that may be used to validate general claims made in your application. Link to any articles that may be accessed online. If not applicable, insert NOT APPLICABLE.
Evidence Type
Select one option that best describes the level of evidence supporting your proposed solution.
Communications (up to 150 words)
Briefly describe plans to promote your solution and share results, key findings, lessons learned, and other helpful information with others. If applicable, explain how your solution could serve as a model for other communities/populations throughout San Diego County and beyond.
Estimated Impact
Provide the estimated number of people to be served annually through this solution.
Illustrate your plan and the resources required to successfully implement your solution.
Plan & Timeline (up to 200 words)
Share your implementation plan over the course of up to a one-year project period. Include key dates and/or milestones to help track and measure success.
Risk Mitigation (up to 150 words)
Explain how you will ensure your solution is feasible. Describe the main risks your solution could fail, as well as any unintended consequences, and your plan to address them. Discuss your experience and capacity to manage technical and/or logistical barriers.
Budget Narrative (up to 150 words)
Offer a general overview of how you will use the $1 million award, including projected needs by category. You may include any explanations of existing resources you have already secured.
Budget
To help understand your priorities, provide a budget for how the $1 million award would be spent. Funds identified in this table should reflect and clarify your general explanations provided in Budget Narrative above and include more detailed cost categories that support your plans and intended outcomes. While administrative expenditures are eligible, note that we do not accept general line item descriptions (such as “Miscellaneous” or “Overhead”). In addition to direct project costs, the budget may include a reasonable allocation for indirect expenses associated with the overall operations of the organization that are shared across the organization’s activities. We reserve the right to review and adjust the amounts allocated for indirect expenses. The budget must account for the full $1 million and review the Rules for ineligible expenses.
Total Projected Costs
Provide the estimated total costs (in US dollars) to successfully implement your proposed solution over a one-year period. This amount may be more than the $1 million award.
Other Resources (up to 75 words)
List other key funders and amount of funding secured to date for the proposed solution, including in-kind support. If there are no current commitments for the solution, enter “Not Applicable.”
Other Considerations (up to 150 words)
Is there anything else we should know? This is your final opportunity to raise any other considerations, emphasize or expand upon a previous point, or provide new information, as necessary. NOTE: Evaluation Panel judges are instructed to avoid online research and/or review of links that may be provided as part of this submission – we recommend you include any key considerations and important information within your responses to this application form.
Billing Address
Provide the address associated with your organization’s bank accounts.
Street address
Address line 2 (optional)
City
Zip / Postal Code
Financial Liaison name
Should your organization receive funding, your Financial Liaison will be the main point-of-contact for payment processing. This is often, but not always, someone from the finance department.
First Name
Last Name
Financial Liaison phone
Please format as XXX-XXX-XXXX-XXXX
Financial Liaison email
Tax ID
Fiscal Year
Provide the fiscal year that your organization is currently in.
Fiscal Year End Date
Provide the date of when your organization’s current fiscal year will end.
Operating Budget
What is your organization’s operating budget for the current fiscal year (most recent projection)?
Fiscal Sponsor
If your organization is fiscally sponsored, enter Fiscal Sponsor’s name and address. If not applicable, please enter N/A.
Bill.com Payment Network ID
The Conrad Prebys Foundation utilizes Bill.com, a secure online system, for grant payment processing. A Bill.com account and PNI (Payment Network ID) are required to submit this form. If your organization has an existing Bill.com account, enter your PNI here. If you do not have a Bill.com account, instructions on how to create a Bill.com account are linked here. Please create your free account and enter your PNI into this form. If your organization is selected for funding, an ACH Transfer Test will be conducted to verify your account.
If your team is invited to participate in any future phases of this competition, you may be required to provide additional information (refer to the Rules and Timeline), including but not limited to:
The Conrad Prebys Foundation reserves the right to perform background checks on key individuals associated with the proposal, and the refusal by key individuals to provide necessary authorizations will be a reason to reject any application for further consideration. Background information and the results of any background checks will be kept confidential.
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