During the Idea Submission Phase, organizations that are interested can share their idea for a project. This project could focus on changing policies, systems, and environments (PSE), promoting healthy aging, or improving community health (CHIP). If they decide to apply for a full grant later, their application will focus on this idea. This process lets people create an idea for a grant proposal or share a current method that fits with the Funds’ goal of tackling the main reasons for health differences. Applicants will get feedback on whether they are eligible, how well their idea fits, and how to improve their idea or method. This process will help them with their full grant application to the Funds and/or give them useful practice for improving PSE change and community health. You don’t have to submit an idea. If you do submit an idea, or if you get good feedback on it, that doesn’t mean your full application will be chosen for funding. After the time to submit ideas is over, you can ask staff questions during office hours while you’re working on your application. Getting Started: Overview of Process Step 1: Review Funds Information Background, purpose, funding streams, and eligibility criteria Step 2: Discuss Alignment Discuss alignment of your existing initiatives OR brainstorm new ideas aligned with the Funds purpose with your team and partners. This worksheet can help you consider key guiding questions. (Insert link) Step 3: Create Submission Co-create a submission with your team/partners. Step 4: Submit Idea Submit an idea for feedback. Due Dates: Phase 1: July 1st– 5:00 pm, July 21st, 2025 Phase 2: August 11th-5:00 pm, September 8th, 2025 Step 5: Receive Feedback Review feedback with your team and incorporate it as you see fit, if you plan to submit a full application. Timeline: You will receive feedback approximately 2-3 weeks after submission, or no later than September 30th Step 1: Review Funds Information Background In January 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) finished a major update to the Determination of Need (DoN) regulation. This update led to the creation of the Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds (The Funds). The money for the Funds comes from hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other healthcare organizations. These organizations are required to contribute to the Funds through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Determination of Need Program. Click here for additional information on the Determination of Need program. Purpose The Funds provide a chance to reduce unfair differences in health in communities throughout Massachusetts. They serve as both a source of grants and a way to build skills to help organizations and communities break down and remove obstacles to health. These obstacles include structural and institutional racism, poverty, and major power imbalances. This is done through community-focused policy, systems, and changes to the environment. The Funds are guided by the following principles: Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) account for significant variation in health outcomes. Policies, systems, and social/physical environments are historically based in structural and institutional racism and other forms of oppression. Structural and institutional racism and other forms of oppression need to be understood and disrupted to eliminate inequities in population health outcomes and the social determinants of health (SDoH). Who Can Apply: Massachusetts based non-profit 501(c)3 organizations, coalitions, or groups with a 501(c)3 fiscal sponsor, quasi-governmental organizations, and municipalities, and Regional Planning Agency are eligible to apply. Eligible Activities: Community-centered approaches that disrupt barriers to health and their root causes including structural racism, poverty, and deep power imbalances. Ineligible Applicant: Current grantee ** Hospitals, for-profit businesses, and colleges/universities are not eligible to apply as lead applicants but can participate as partners. Hospitals that have contributed DoN funds are not eligible to receive any funding. For information about DoN participants please click here. In areas where hospitals, colleges or universities play key roles as anchor institutions, these entities can be included as a partner or subcontractor (excluding hospitals that have contributed DoN dollars) with a community-based organization as the lead grantee. Funding Streams The Funds will distribute grants in the three funding areas below. Step 2: Discuss Alignment Discuss alignment of your existing initiatives OR brainstorm new ideas aligned with the Funds purpose with your team and partners. Please complete this short assessment to determine your alignment with the Fund’s eligibility and priority criteria. Please visit this page with a glossary that contains definitions important to funding and informing your idea. Step 3: Create Submission For the most helpful feedback, ALL submissions should include: Applicant Name(s): Name(s) of the person or group applying. Funding Stream: Choose one: PSE, CHIP, Healthy Aging, or Not sure Location: City or town where your main office is located. Geographic Scope of Work: Choose one: Southeast, Northeast, Metrowest, Boston, Central, or Western. This is the target area where you will conduct your activities by EOHHS Regions. Please visit this link for EOHHS MA Regions Descriptions SDoH focus: What are the main and secondary social factors affecting health that you will focus on? Health Domain Focus (for Healthy Aging): Which area of healthy aging will you focus on? Populations Impacted: Briefly describe the main groups of people who will benefit from your idea or project. Applicant Type: Choose one: Nonprofit 501c3, Coalition or group with a formal agreement with a 501c3 Fiscal Sponsor, City/Town Government, or Quasi-Government Organization/Regional Planning Agency. **Please note: While you are encouraged to submit an idea during the early stages, having 501c3 status is not required at that point. However, in order to submit a full grant application, your organization must have official 501c3 designation or be fiscally sponsor by an organization that does** Applicant Group Description: Give a short description (~1-2 paragraphs, 5-10 sentences) of your group, organization, partnership, or coalition – who is involved in carrying out the project. Idea for Funding Description: Give a short description (1-2 paragraphs, 5-10 sentences) of your plan for using the funding. See the funding streams below for more detailed instructions. If you know which specific funding you are seeking, please answer the questions listed below in the “Idea for Funding Description” section. Answering these questions will help us give you the most useful feedback. Only answer the questions for the funding stream you are interested in. Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change (PSE) Submissions PSE change approaches are different from direct services or programs. This funding does not support projects that only provide direct services. PSE change approaches create long-lasting changes in communities to make healthy choices easy and available for everyone. Here are the prompt questions to prepare you for the approach/project description: How will you work towards addressing barriers to health equity? What activities, frameworks, processes will you put in place to address policy, systems, and environmental change? How do you see your focus on social determinants of health (SDoH) potentially contributing to health outcomes? We’re especially interested in your thinking here, even if you’re still exploring the connection. How will you involve the most affected communities in your work? Are there components of sustainability throughout your idea? How will you ensure actions have a lasting impact beyond funding? Idea for Funding Description: Give a short description (1-2 paragraphs, 5-10 sentences) of your plan for using the funding. See the funding streams below for more detailed instructions. Healthy Aging Submissions The eight domains of Livability for age-friendly communities are transportation, housing, social participation, respect & social inclusion, work & civic engagement, communication & information, community & health services, and outdoor spaces & buildings. For more information on the eight domains, click here. Focus on the eight multi-sector domains of livability for age-friendly communities defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the AARP Emphasize social determinants of health, and use policy, systems, and environmental change approaches Here are the prompt questions to prepare you for the approach/project description: Which of the Eight Domains of Livability will you primarily focus on? (Outdoor spaces and buildings, transportation, housing, social participation, respect and social inclusion, work and civic engagement, community and information, community and health services) How will you work towards addressing barriers to health equity within the aging communities? What activities, frameworks, processes will you put in place to address policy, systems, and environmental change? How do you see your focus on social determinants of health (SDoH) potentially contributing to health outcomes? We’re especially interested in your thinking here, even if you’re still exploring the connection. How will you involve the most affected communities in your work? Are there components of sustainability throughout your idea? How will you ensure actions have a lasting impact beyond funding? Idea for Funding Description: Give a short description (1-2 paragraphs, 5-10 sentences) of your plan for using the funding. See the funding streams below for more detailed instructions. Community Health Improvement Planning (CHIP) Submissions A Community Health Improvement Plan (or CHIP) is a long-term effort to improve the health of a community. This includes an assessment, planning, and implementation phase. The CHIP is based on the results of a community health assessment (CHA), which studies the health-related needs and strengths of a community. CHIPs aim to respond to CHA results, bring together resources and stakeholders, and create a shared framework for community health. CHIPs coordinate strategies between different sectors and stakeholders. These include health care systems and hospitals, health departments, local government, community-based organizations, businesses, and residents. The Massachusetts Community Health and Healthy Aging Funds support the development and/or implementation of local and/or regional community health improvement planning processes. Here are the prompt questions to prepare you for the approach/project description: Are you a part of an existing CHIP planning group: Yes/No Are you aware of other CHIP processes impacting some or all of your geographic scope? Yes/No What is the overarching approach you want to take for your CHIP process? What supports or systems will you put in place to move smoothly from assessment to planning to implementation? Who are your partners, and how they help full fill your goals? How will you work towards addressing barriers to health equity within the aging communities? What activities, frameworks, processes will you put in place to address policy, systems, and environmental change? How will you involve the most affected communities in your work? Idea for Funding Description: Give a short description (1-2 paragraphs, 5-10 sentences) of your plan for using the funding. See the funding streams below for more detailed instructions. Exploring an Idea (Not Sure Where Your Idea Fits Yet?) This section is for folks who are still in the brainstorming phase or who are not sure which funding stream (e.g., PSE, Healthy Aging, CHIP) their idea belongs in. You don’t need to have every detail figured out. Before filling this section out, we encourage you to review the MACHHA Funds Request for Ideas Page and work through the idea submission assessment. These tools are designed to help you reflect on your goals, strengthen your concept, and think about where your idea might fit best. Here are the prompt questions to prepare you for the approach/project description: What community issue are you hoping to address? What’s your idea for how to tackle it? Who would be involved or impacted? What kind of change do you hope to see over time? Are there early thoughts on how this idea might connect to equity, social determinants of health, or long-term change? Idea for Funding Description: Give a short description (1-2 paragraphs, 5-10 sentences) of the idea you are thinking about. This can be a brainstorm, a concept you have been considering, or something in progress. We want to understand your vision so we can provide helpful feedback. Step 4: Submit Idea Submit your idea through this form. All submissions will receive eligibility verification & idea feedback This will include (1) confirming eligibility, and (2) feedback and guidance around alignment with the Funds purpose including upstream, policy, systems, and environmental change approaches, community engagement, and equity. Deadline: Phase 1: July 1st– 5:00 pm, July 21st, 2025 & Phase 2: August 11th-5:00 pm, September 8th, 2025 Feedback: Rolling ;2-3 weeks after submission, no later than September 30th Step 5: Receive Feedback Receive feedback & incorporate changes into your full application, if you plan to submit one. * Submitting an idea or receiving favorable feedback about an idea does not guarantee your application will be selected for funding. Frequently Asked Questions If we have additional questions, who should we contact? Please direct questions to [email protected] and a member of our team will get back to you. Do we need to submit an idea to be eligible to apply for or be considered for a grant? No, you do not need to submit an idea to apply or be considered for a grant. Nor does submission of an idea guarantee that you will receive funding. Do we need to submit the checklist worksheet that is linked in this Request for Ideas? No, you do not need to submit that worksheet. It is an optional tool for your team to use as you consider your activities and their alignment with the Funds purpose. When will the full application be available? The application process will open in the winter 2026. Are there other key dates we should be aware of? What is the funding timeline? Below is the approximate timeline for this funding process July 2025 Phase 1 Idea submission begins August 2025 Phase 2 Idea Submission Begins September 2025 Final Deadline January 2026 Application process opens March 29 Final deadline for applications May/June Award Notifications July 1 Grant start date What is the expected amount and length of grant awards? Award details are subject to change before the application process officially opens. However, the approximate size of awards in each funding stream are as follows: PSE: up to $200,000 per year, 3-5 years CHIP: up to $375,000 total, 3-5 years Healthy Aging: up to $100,000 per year, 3-5 years In addition, there may be an opportunity for interested applicants to submit a Seed/Planning Funding proposal for any of the three funding streams which would include up to $50,000 per year for 1-2 years. If I’m interested in multiple funding streams, can I submit multiple ideas? Can an organization submit an application in more than one funding stream? You are welcome to submit one idea per funding stream if you are considering several projects. When the full application opens, applicants can submit one application per funding stream. Can we submit an idea multiple times to receive additional feedback? Please submit your idea once. Due to the number of ideas, we expect to receive, we will not be able to review ideas multiple times. There will be additional opportunities to ask questions during the full application process.
