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    Illustration: a grant notice beside a cash bar that dips into a gap before reimbursement arrives, next to a pause, verify or proceed signal.

    Grants Hall · Free decision pack

    Check a grant before you apply.

    Five short steps. You leave with your own filled-in go or no-go pack: cash flow, match, eligibility questions, documents and a one-page board summary.

    Free. No purchase or sign-in. This tool does not search for grants, check your eligibility or promise funding. You bring the current official guidelines; the pack shows what they mean for your organization.

    Privacy. This draft is stored in this browser, not your account; do not enter confidential/personal information. Use organization and role names only. Never participant names, health details or ID numbers.
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    Step 1 of 5 · Understand

    Name the opportunity and who decides.

    Write down exactly which grant you are looking at, where its rules live and who will make the call.

    Why this matters: Most bad applications start with an old notice or a friend's summary. The current official guidelines are the only source that counts.

    See the fictional example

    Riverbend Youth Kitchen (fictional) records the fund's notice link, the date they read it and that the executive director decides with the treasurer.

    Paste the link to the funder's own current guidelines or notice. A news story or newsletter is not the source.

    The day you read the guidelines yourself. Rules change between cycles.

    From the official source. Add the time and time zone in the note.

    Where the work happens and who it reaches, in plain words. No participant names.

    A role or staff name, not a participant.

    What should change, in your words. Keep activities (sessions held) separate from changes (families cooking more).

    What the guidance here is doing

    • The Underneath™

      Sometimes the problem isn't that people aren't trying. Sometimes they're working twice as hard against a system that hasn't moved an inch.

      We ask what happened here before your program, what keeps the condition in place, and what people already do about it. Your answers change the advice, the logic model, the measures, the budget lines and the narrative. Not a diversity paragraph at the end.

      In this room: your context answers change the reason a grant is paused and add checks to the memo. The logic model, measures and budget lines change in the Grant Cycle room.

    • Financial Sustainability

      Congratulations. You got the grant. Now who's paying staff while you wait for reimbursement?

      We calculate the cash gap before the first payment, keep match and in-kind apart, and count unpaid work without calling it cash. It is not billing approval or clinical authorization.

      In this room: the cash gap before reimbursement, and match math only when you confirm the percent and what it is a percent of.

    This is guided analysis: fixed DSG questions and rules that read what you enter. No bot runs it for you. It does not find facts for you, verify them, or promise funding.

    Grant Go / No-Go Decision Pack · Board summary

    Unknown

    Unknown · Unknown

    Applicant decision

    Proceed only after verifying

    Do not draft until the open items below are answered in writing.

    Deadline
    Unknown
    Eligibility
    Unknown
    Payment
    Unknown
    Cash gap
    Unknown · Unknown payment type
    Match
    Match requirement unknown. Find it in the guidelines or ask the funder in writing.
    Direct costs
    $0
    Official source
    Not confirmed. Read the current official guidelines before relying on this pack.
    Decision owner
    Unknown

    Why

    • Verify: No official source link recorded.
    • Verify: You have not confirmed that you read the current official guidelines.
    • Verify: Deadline unknown.
    • Verify: Eligibility unknown or unclear.
    • Verify: Payment type unknown.
    • 3 more item(s) on the following pages.

    Next three actions

    1. Add the link to the funder's current official guidelines.
    2. Read the current guidelines yourself and record the date.
    3. Record the deadline date, time and time zone from the official source.

    Decision recorded by ____________________

    Date ____________

    Board acknowledgement ____________________

    Prepared November 12, 2026 by the applicant using DSG's free decision pack. DSG has not reviewed, searched or verified this opportunity. Not legal, tax or financial advice, not an eligibility determination, and no funding is promised.

    1. Opportunity and official source

    Opportunity
    Unknown
    Source
    Unknown
    Evidence status
    Not confirmed. Read the current official guidelines before relying on this pack.
    Location served
    Unknown
    Intended outcomes
    Unknown

    2. Eligibility, application and documents

    Eligibility
    Unknown
    How to apply
    Unknown

    No documents listed yet. Add every attachment the guidelines require.

    3. Cash flow before payment

    Cash gap = max(0, outlay before first payment − available float). Unknown until both numbers are entered.

    Expected days between spending and payment: Unknown

    Unknown payment type. Ask the funder in writing: is this paid in advance or by reimbursement, and how often can we request payment?

    Assumptions: outlay, float and lag are the applicant's estimates. Payment timing comes from the funder's written terms.

    4. Direct cost budget

    No direct costs entered.

    5. Contribution and match ledger

    Requirement: Unknown

    Match requirement unknown. Find it in the guidelines or ask the funder in writing.

    No contributions recorded.

    Whether in-kind or volunteer value counts toward a match depends on the funder's written terms.

    6. Partner commitments

    No partners listed.

    7. Allowable costs and receipts

    • Each planned cost is named as allowable in the current guidelines, or a written answer says so.
    • Unallowable costs are removed from the request.
    • We know what receipt or proof each payment request needs (invoice, timesheet, sign-in sheet).
    • Costs are only charged inside the award period.
    • The same cost is not charged to two funders.

    8. Evidence and privacy

    • Collect only what the funder requires about participants.
    • Keep participant names, health details and identifiers out of drafts, email threads and this pack.
    • Store attendance and outcome records where only named staff can open them.
    • Report counts and summaries, not individual records, unless the award requires otherwise.
    • Mark each claim as fact, community knowledge, estimate or unknown.

    9. Reporting calendar

    Requirements recorded: Unknown

    • Report due dates and formats are recorded from the award terms.
    • Each report has an owner and a draft date before it is due.
    • Payment requests and reports are matched, since late reports can delay reimbursement.
    • Final report and closeout dates are on the calendar.

    10. Next-capital map

    No future routes selected.

    A route on this map is something to explore, not a finding that you qualify.

    Questions to ask the funder in writing

    1. Does our organization qualify as an applicant, and does serving our service area meet the geographic requirement?
    2. Is this award paid in advance or by reimbursement? How often can we request payment, and how long does payment usually take?
    3. Is a match or cost share required? If so, what counts toward it?
    4. What is the exact deadline, including time and time zone?
    5. Which costs are allowable and unallowable, and what receipts or documentation are required for each payment request?
    6. What reports are due, on what dates, and in what format?

    All flagged items

    • Verify: No official source link recorded.
    • Verify: You have not confirmed that you read the current official guidelines.
    • Verify: Deadline unknown.
    • Verify: Eligibility unknown or unclear.
    • Verify: Payment type unknown.
    • Verify: Match or contribution requirement unknown.
    • Verify: No direct costs entered.
    • Verify: No decision owner named.

    Next actions

    • Add the link to the funder's current official guidelines.
    • Read the current guidelines yourself and record the date.
    • Record the deadline date, time and time zone from the official source.
    • Ask the funder in writing whether your organization and location qualify.
    • Ask the funder in writing whether payment is an advance or a reimbursement, and how often.
    • Find the match rule in the guidelines or ask the funder in writing.
    • List the direct costs you expect, by category.
    • Name the person who will make the go or no-go call.

    This decision pack follows the sequence of DSG's Grant Readiness & Reimbursement Pack, first written for an FY27 Ohio Minority Health Month opportunity. That pack was one program's example, not a rule for other grants. Every requirement here comes from the current guidelines you read.

    Rebel Roots™ Capital Acquisition · Deena Strategic Group · © Fredericka Wallace Deena · All rights reserved.

    Official tools

    Where to read the rules yourself

    These links go to official sites. DSG has not searched them for you or checked your eligibility. Record the date you open each one.

    This decision pack follows the sequence of DSG's Grant Readiness & Reimbursement Pack, first written for an FY27 Ohio Minority Health Month opportunity. That pack was one program's example, not a rule for other grants. Every requirement here comes from the current guidelines you read.

    Talk it through with a person

    One question is enough. Tell us where you are, and a person reads it.