Half of the Story is Missing Here

http://towncreekfdn.org//www.youtube.com/watch?v=t0_X1Xy8fDk

Commercials in support of non-renewable energy drive me absolutely bonkers.  1. for all the mis-construding that takes place and 2. the thought of everyone believing what the commercial says.

The above commercial is one I happened to catch on the benefits of LA public transit operating on natural gas.  The video does a good job (at least I think so) of evoking a sense of responsibility to support natural gas for its environmental and public health benefits.  And while that may all be true, the video is framed as if natural gas is the solution, instead  of a bridge to the solution.

The commercial is only half of the story.  Of course when you compare natural gas to energy sources, like oil and coal, it will depict natural gas as the cleaner/healthier energy option.  However, that picture drastically changes when you transition the comparison to one between natural gas and renewable energies and better planning.  The second comparison is an important piece of the energy picture missing from this story.

Side note:  I watched a number of commercials from the same natural gas interest.  The video below is a 30 second clip focused on farmers and natural gas.  The video opens with the opinion “I think farmers care more about the land than probably anyone else.”  As the clip opens with that statement, a clip plays of a red angus wading into a stream.  I’ll just let that one sink in.

http://towncreekfdn.org//www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBhCQp5eX74&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLE1ACBF0F1A7A022D

*Application Process Changes*

Over the last year we have surveyed our grantees to generate feedback on our application process.  We would like to thank everyone who took the time to fill out our survey and participate in our focus groups.

Our survey responses reinforced our beliefs in the redundancy between the Letter of Inquiry and proposal, the idea that a “one size fits all” proposal as an obstacle for groups, as well as the most useful part of the application process lying in our one-on-one conversations with applicants.

In response to this feedback, we will be implementing the following changes to our application process.We will retain the Letter of Inquiry template in its current form.  Unfortunately, we cannot leave the LOI without some sort of text restraint, as it becomes a capacity issue for our grant software system.  The LOI deadlines will remain the same.  Spring 2014: November 8, 2013     Summer 2014: March 7, 2014

We will review the submitted LOI’s and identify those applicants with fair to good prospects for receiving Town Creek funding.  We will schedule one-on-one conversations with these applications to learn more about their proposed work.  These conversations will help us to focus our subsequent requests for additional information and will result in a set of questions and observations to which we will ask the applicants to submit written responses.  Along with any relevant budget information, these written responses will constitute the full proposal.  We will no longer require applicants to complete a standard proposal template.

For the Spring 2014 Grant Cycle

  • The invitations following the November 8th LOI deadline will be issued on or before November 22nd.
  • Conversations will take place between December 2nd and December 20th
  • Written responses will be due 2 weeks after our meeting.

For the Summer 2014 Grant Cycle

  • The invitations following the March 7th LOI deadline will be issued on or before March 21st.
  • Conversations will take place between March 31st and April 18th.
  • Written responses will be due 2 weeks after our meeting.

Following receipt of these written responses we will initiate follow up conversations for further clarification if and as appropriate.

We believe these changes will make more efficient use of everyone’s time and effort, without compromising the integrity of our review process.

If you have any additional questions, please contact our Program Assistant, Megan Milliken at mmilliken@towncreekfdn.org or 410-763-8171 ext. 14