I. CRITERIA

A. Proposals shall be for projects directly related to the Annual Conference/District Comprehensive Plan for Hispanic Ministries, shall encompass the vision and goals of the National Plan for Hispanic Ministry as adopted by the 1996 General Conference and shall demonstrate a long term commitment in Hispanic ministries on the part of the annual conference/district.

B. Proposals shall be for strategic missional opportunities in Hispanic ministries that empower rather than create dependency on resources from the general church.

C. Strategic planning for Hispanic ministries and proposals for funding shall be developed in consultation with the constituency who will participate in the project and shall be sensitive to issues of racism.

D. Strategic planning which results in proposals for funding shall utilize theresources of consultants for the National Plan who are available to:

1. Provide orientation to the National Plan,

2. Provide training on Hispanic ministries,

3. Assist in formulating a strategic plan,

4. Identify funding and other resources to implement the plan,

5. Provide support (acompañamiento="accompaniment"),

6. Assist in project evaluation/assessment.

E. Projects to be funded must demonstrate how they address or respond to a strategic missional opportunity.

II. GUIDELINES

A. Proposals for support of a missionary working in Hispanic ministries shall make provisions for orientation to the National Plan and networking in Hispanic ministries for the missionary and the person who supervises the missionary.

B. It is expected that all proposals will have sources of funds (not simply in-kind contributions) which demonstrate the conference's commitment to Hispanic ministries.

C. All proposals shall include a budget for each year of the requested funding.

D. All funded projects are subject to an annual review/evaluation according to the criteria established by the project, the consultant, and the Grant Review Team before additional grant dollars are released for the subsequent year(s).

E. Grant dollars will only be released when it is certain a project or projects will be implemented (i.e., other sources of funds are assured, personnel is available, etc.)

F. Proposals may be for a specific, single project or for a block grant of money to be administered by the conference in order to implement multiple projects which are included in the Conference/District Comprehensive Plan.

1. Funding of Single Projects:

a. Proposals for the funding of single projects shall not exceed a maximum of three (3) years.

b. Maximum annual grants for a project shall not exceed $20,000.

c. Proposals for more than one year of funding shall show an annual decrease in grant dollars and an increase in project support from other sources.

2. Funding of Block Grants

a. Proposals for block grants shall include the conference numerical priority rating for each project to be funded from the grant.

b. Block grants shall be a one time grant and shall not exceed $50,000.

c. Block grant may be dispersed in one year, or they may be disbursed over two or three year time period based on the proposal.

G. Conferences may submit more than one application in a quadrennium with the exception of block grants which have been granted.

H. Conferences may re-submit an application if it is not funded as a result of the first application.

I. Grant monies which are allocated toward salaries shall be considered to include pension benefits. The General Board of Global Ministries shall not be considered responsible for pension liabilities as a result of salary allocations which are part of a grant proposal.

III. PROCESS

A. Inquiries and requests for grants may be made, preferably in writing, to either:

Rev. José L. Palos OR Rev. Conrado Soltero

Coordinator of National Plan for Mission Connectional Relationships

Hispanic Ministry Secretary

General Board of Global Ministries General Board of Global Ministries

475 Riverside Dr. Room 350 475 Riverside Dr. Room 1312

New York, New York 10115 New York, New York 10115

212/870-3693 212/870-3828

B. If a conference decides to proceed with a grant application, the Office of the Coordinator shall be notified and the Mission Connectional Relationship Secretary shall assign a consultant to the conference early in the process.

C. Deadlines for making grant applications are April 30 and November 30.*

D. All applications will receive both a preliminary review and a comprehensive team review.

E. A report of the team recommendations will be made to the Executive Committee of the Committee on Hispanic Ministries at its Spring and Fall meetings. If all guidelines have been met, monies will be released immediately following the Executive Committee meeting.

F. The Committee on Hispanic Ministries and the directors of the General Board of Global Ministries shall receive an annual report of all the grant activity.

* For 1997 only the April deadline is extended to June 1, 1997.