Nonprofit organizations in good standing and with an active 501(C)(3) are eligible to apply. The organization must serve residents of Broward County.

LETF funding is allocated fairly to a variety of programs in Broward County to address gaps and service needs. Awarded organizations have included entities such as schools, community-based non-profits and foundations, Divine 9 (African-American fraternities/sororities), behavioral health agencies, and faith-based organizations.

Applicants must successfully incorporate in their proposed programs LETF statutory requirements (Crime Prevention, Safe Neighborhood, Drug Abuse Prevention and Education) as well as Sheriff Tony’s priority initiatives: Diverting youth from the criminal justice system, reducing gun violence, and programs that assist the homeless and mentally ill. The proposed program must serve residents of Broward County.

Many funded programs work in the public schools or provide after-school and summer programming to encourage youth to perform well academically, stay in school, focus on career planning and secondary education, address bullying and gun violence, and foster teamwork and personal growth. LETF programs also address the unique needs of children in/or who have aged out of the foster care system, LGBTQ youth, domestic violence survivors, homeless, veterans, and those with histories of mental health and/or substance abuse.

In the past, LETF funding has assisted organizations with funds to pay for services and items such as therapy, laptops to assist with tutoring, college tours to inspire at-risk youth to continue their education, food bank distribution to address food insecurity, transportation to after school programs, life coaching, case management, and driver’s education for foster youth to achieve normalcy.

When a new grant funding cycle opens, information to include the date of the mandatory application workshop will be posted on the BSO website as well as on BSO’s social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

All interested organizations are required to attend a mandatory application workshop. While this has been typically held in person in previous year, the future workshop might be hosted online due to the pandemic crisis. By making the workshop mandatory, BSO ensures every potential applicant is aware of all LETF requirements and how to complete each section of the required application. Potential applicants are made aware of how to submit their application as well as the deadline for all submissions.

For those organizations with representatives who attended the mandatory workshop, applications will be made available on the BSO website for completion and submission. Applicants must ensure applications are submitted per instructions guidelines to include all required signatures, notarization, and attachments. Application that fail to meet the minimum submission criteria may result in application denial.

The LETF grant is very competitive due to a large pool of interested applicant organizations. All applications that meet minimum submission criteria are reviewed and rated by an objective BSO rating panel. Those BSO employees volunteering on the panel receive a rating orientation and must sign a conflict of interest form to attest they do not have a relationship with the organization whose application they may be rating.

Utilizing a uniform rating tool, each application is rated by two panel members who score proposals against the questions/criteria in the application. If their scores have a difference of 20 or more points, a third rater reviews the application, and the score outside of the closest two scores is discarded. A final list based on the score ranking is submitted to the Sheriff as a funding recommendation. All proposed projects for funding are reviewed by BSO’s Office of the General Counsel to ensure the projects meet LETF statutory purpose requirements. All recommended grant recipients are voted for final approval by the Broward County Commission.

Every application is rated fairly and uniformly as previously described. Those applicants who receive strong scores are successful at making a compelling case for funding by clearly illustrating service needs and/or gaps in Broward County and demonstrating, based on their organization’s history and experience, how they can effectively engage the target population. Every applicant agency is screened to ensure it has an active status in Sunbiz, has active non-profit status with the IRS, and is not on the convicted vendor list on Sam.gov.

Applicants are welcome to apply for grants for $10,000. Please note, LETF funds are not intended to support entire programs. Recipients have 12 months to expend the funds for their funded program.

Information about the next open grant application cycle will be posted on this web page and BSO’s various social media channels.