Mini-Grant Committee
The Mini-Grant committee is chaired by the Secretary/Treasurer. This is not a committee that is in the Bylaws. This is an ad-hoc committee that the Executive Committee has instated to read and review the Mini-Grant Applications. There are three other members of the Mini-Grant Committee: the Chair, the Chair-Elect, and an optional fourth member appointed by the Chair.
Collecting Mini-Grant Reports:
Secretary/Treasurer contacts past awardees to get their final report and their url link on October 1st. This url link should be added to the Past Awardee website by filling out the Website Request Form.
Soliciting and Awarding Mini-Grants:
Committee meets by email. The first email is to solicit if there are any updates that need to be made to the Mini-Grant website or the Mini-Grant Application Form before the October 1st FEd Forum post. The Mini-Grant Application Form creates a spreadsheet with the applications. You can see each Mini-Grant applicant, the Mini-Grant #, their first and last name, whether they are applying for a personal or project Mini-Grant, etc. There are also pdf's of the project and personal Mini-Grant proposals in the spreadsheet.
The second email is to tell the committee that the Mini-Grant deadline is closed and to solicit reviews on the Mini-Grant Reviewer Form. Committee members rank the proposals from 1-5 (with 5 being the best) on each of the three criteria (timeliness, impact, and additional considerations). This means that each proposal gets three 1-5 rankings from the three committee members. These 9 numbers are averaged together to give the proposal a score. In 2023, we funded everyone (Project and Personal Mini-Grants) with a score above a 4. In addition, on this form, the committee members are asked to select a funding level for the proposal (1 is 0% funding, 2 is 25% funding, 3 is 50% funding, 4 is 75% funding, and 5 is 100% funding). This funding level is averaged between the three committee members. The average funding level is the funding level for the project. The Secretary/Treasurer then makes a preliminary list of each awardee and the funding level. If there is money left over, then increase the percentage of funding to each Project Mini-Grant by the percent that is left over. If there is not enough money, then increase the average score that would get funded.
For reference, in 2020 the personal mini-grants that were fully funded were $750 and the fully funded project mini-grants were $3500. We had 39 applicants and we funded 22 of them and spent $35,000. We funded all of the personal mini-grants at a funding level of 50-100% and 10 of the project mini-grants at 10-100%. In 2023, the fully funded Personal and Project Mini-Grant values were the same as 2020. We had 16 applicants and spent $10,000. We had 8 applicants for Personal Mini-Grants and 8 applicants for Project Mini-Grants. We funded 4 Personal Mini-Grants all at the 50% mark ($375). We funded 5 Project Mini-Grant applicants at the 30-60% level. We actually had about $1600 left over that we hadn’t awarded. We decided that it was best to split these funds amongst the Project Mini-Grants in the hopes that the people might actually be able to do their projects with the money they were given.
The third email is from the Secretary/Treasurer on the outcome of the reviews. This email contains a preliminary list of the awardees and the funding level for each awardee. If the committee agrees to the preliminary list, then the Secretary/Treasurer will notify the awardees and update the Past Awardee website and the FEd Forum with the Project Mini-Grant awardees. Otherwise the committee should have a meeting to choose the awardees and funding levels.
Important Dates:
October 1 – Secretary/Treasurer sends an email to current Mini-Grant recipients to:
Remind them about the November 15th deadline for spending the funds
Ask the Project Mini-Grant Recipients to send their email report and url link.
October 1 – Secretary/Treasurer sends forum post to FEd membership asking them to apply for Mini-Grants.
November 1 – Mini-Grant Deadline. Secretary/Treasurer distributes Mini-Grant applications to Mini-Grant Committee for review.
December 1 – Mini-Grant committee selects awardees and funding levels. Secretary/Treasurer sends emails to awardees and posts winners of Project Mini-Grants on the APS FEd website and to the FEd forum.
Information sent to Mini-Grant Awardees
Congratulations on winning an APS FEd Mini-Grant! We are excited to fund your Personal or Project Mini-Grant.
Reporting Requirements
There are no reporting requirements for a Personal Mini-Grant. Recipients of a Project Mini-Grant will need to send an update via email describing the results of the funding and a url link. The url link could be a link to produced materials or it could be a link to a website that gives more information about the Project. If you have this url link now, please send it. We will request the update toward the end of the award period (October 1).
Timeline
You have until Nov. 15th (a little under a year) to use your award funds. Specifically, you need to send in any reimbursement requests by email before that date. Any funds that are not used by this date will go back into the general pool and will be available to future awardees.
Reimbursements for Travel or Meeting Registration
If you plan to use the Mini-Grant funds for travel or meeting registration, you should pay for the travel or registration first. Then, go online and download the Travel Reimbursement Form form. This form is located at the APS website that lists the Accounting Forms. You should also have received this form when you received your award letter. Submit all receipts and the Travel Reimbursement Form by sending an email to accountspayable@aps.org and cc the Secretary/Treasurer of the FEd. The Secretary/Treasurer will then send a follow-up email approving the reimbursement.
Reimbursements for Expenses to Vendors or Payments to Vendors
If you plan to use the Mini-Grant to reimburse yourself for expenses that you have incurred that are not travel related, then you need to fill out the Payment Request Form. Please list yourself as the vendor on this form. This form is located at the APS website that lists the Accounting Forms. You should also have received this form when you received your award letter. Submit the receipt and the Payment Request Form by sending an email to accountspayable@aps.org and cc the Secretary/Treasurer of the FEd. The Secretary/Treasurer will then send a follow-up email approving the reimbursement. If you would like the APS to pay the vendor directly, then you will follow the same procedure, except you should submit the invoice rather than the receipt, and you will fill out the Payment Request form with the vendor name.
Payments Directly to People for Salary
If you plan to use the Mini-Grant for salary, then you need to fill out a Payment Request Form, a W-9, and Direct Deposit form from each person receiving a payment. These forms, along with a copy of your proposed Project Budget listing the salary, should be submitted directly to accountspayable@aps.org with a cc of the Secretary/Treasurer of the FEd who will send a follow-up email approving the funds.