Submission Process

The DORLA Action Committee will accept proposals for civic action submitted through the DORLA website. Submissions will be selected twice a year for consideration by the DORLA Action Committee. Submitting individuals or organizations will be notified upon proposal receipt and again when a decision has been reached.

Submission Deadline

All proposals for civic action received by June 22 will be reviewed, and the submitting organization will be notified by May 9. Please let us know if a quicker turnaround time is needed, and the DORLA Action Committee will assess if they can meet that timeline

Approval Process

Proposals received by the deadline will be made available to the Action Committee within two weeks of the quarterly committee meeting. After internal discussion, a quorum of the Action Committee members will approve or reject each proposal by a majority vote. The Committee and Board may request alterations as necessary. Based on the Committee or Board decision, approved Civic Action projects will be classified as either:

• Projects bearing the DORLA logo and conducted as official DORLA civic actions

• Projects conducted “in partnership with DORLA” and bearing a logo containing that distinction

Those submitting approved proposals may be invited to make a brief presentation at the next scheduled meeting of the DORLA Board of Directors. Rejected applicants may appeal to the DORLA Board of Directors whose decision will be final. Conduct of approved civic action projects will confer no legal liability to DORLA board or staff.

Civic Action Project Applications that follow the Requirements for a Successful Application for Action Projects are welcomed from organizations that:

• Are committed to the DORLA principles

• Are recognized by the IRS as a charitable organization or can demonstrate the organizational capacity to conduct a project within the community

The following are the required elements of every proposal for civic action:

• Email subject line must include “Request for Support – DORLA”

• Proposals should be consolidated into one single PDF document

• All text must be legible, 11-point font, single-spaced, and set to one-inch margins on all sides

• Each page must include a header identifying the requestor

Proposal Evaluation

See “Requirements for a Successful Application for action projects” 30 total points available.

Description of Organization

Please answer the following questions in no more than five single-spaced paragraphs:

1. Briefly describe your organization: mission, vision and values. (6 points)

2. Explain the reasons for your organization’s interest in partnering with DORLA. Include any examples of related work your organization has done that would contribute to this application. (3 points)

3. How would the support of DORLA contribute to your organization’s mission statement or strategic goals? (3 points)

4. Discuss the population your organization works with and why you think collaboration with DORLA would be both appealing and helpful to your constituents. (3 points)

5. Discuss your organization’s short-term and long-term goals to eliminate institutional racism. How would your organization address ongoing institutional racism? (3 points)

6. Can your organization commit to assigning staff members to a community of learners beyond the time period of this request? For example, we are looking to see whether there is a commitment on the part of the organization to create capacity for this work and participate in a sustainable action. Would new staff be hired, or would existing staff continue your organizational action? (3 points)

7. Please indicate senior-level members of the organization that would supervise the actions taken to end racism. (3 points)

8. Please describe the programs and projects for workforce diversification and competence regarding institutional racism. (3 points)

9. Describe the organization’s ability to collect data and maintain reports demonstrating progress toward eliminating racism. (3 points).