Excellence:

• The mission statement is clear, concise, and with programs/activities that support the mission  
• Confident in the ability or the organization to carry out the proposal
• Identifies strategic, clear, and terraced goals to address several constituencies
• Objectives or activities are listed each with a corresponding timeline. Most are clear, and reasonably measurable because a target or stretch target or deadline is listed
• The applicant is encouraged to consider adding quantitative measures to goals, objectives, activities and timelines to improve assessment.
• Also consider adding an outside evaluators in your assessment process
• Lists 12 potentially impactful partnerships but no relational context

Impact:

• The Marketing and Promotion plan is appropriate, extensive, and effective
• Educational and Outreach components serve the target constituency and are appropriate for the program/project
• The Armory’s programs and projects make a sizable but understated contribution to community morale, livability, outreach, and empowerment to underserved populations.  

Management:

• Very confident in the organizations fiscal stability and ability to carry out the proposed activities.
  • no mortgage or rent because the original buildings and land are provided at no cost from the City of West Palm Beach in a long-term contract. The new building, at a historical cost of about $5 million, is owned debt-free by the Armory.
  • a permanent endowment fund of $623,000. A second endowment fund was established this year when the Armory was awarded $25,000 for the Matching Gifts Challenge, for a total of $50,000, offered by the Community Foundation of Palm Beach and Martin Counties.
• The evaluation plan is limited to: surveys, registration information, and data analytics
• The educational outreach activities are appropriate for the size/scope of the program/project
• Confident in the applicant’s ability to sustain the proposed program after the funding cycle concludes.

Accessibility:

• Appears to meet ADA accessibility criteria (504 Self Eval, compliance staff person, etc.)

I am concerned that you are asking for a very high amount for an application that shows a heavy administrative budget, low impact on number of people served, and zero corporate donations and the slight majority of your program budget tilts on the administrative hiring side. With nearly a $3M operating budget, I think there is room for a discussion about managing the budget better.

Excellence: Action oriented goals. Combining the objectives and the timeline made it confusing to read. The timeline was out of order and some objectives were harder to measure than others (recruit two students per session versus target pre-school students). No context provided in partnership section.

Impact: Demonstrated positive professional trajectory for artists. Strong outreach partners but did not describe programs.

Management: Own building, permanent endowment. Do you have cash reserves? Under your evaluation plan, why aren't surveys utilized after all programs instead of most?

Accessibility: Strong accessibility programming.