DPI FAQs

The 7.5% restriction for administrative, personnel, and startup costs of the overall grant amount requested applies to any FTE (full-time equivalent) under the applicant.  

To apply for the DPI Grant, the non-profit would need to be a 501(c)(3).

When you log into ZOOMGRANTS (ZG), click on My Account Home. Any incomplete applications will appear under the Incomplete tab. If the application deadline has passed the incomplete applications will move the to the Archived tab.

If there is a character limit it will appear with each question. As you type, a box indicates how many characters are remaining. There may be a slight discrepancy in character counts upon saving the answer. Carriage Returns count as two (2) characters when SAVED, but count as one (1) characters when TYPING/EDITING. The final characters count may be off by 1 character for each carriage return. You may need to shorten your answer if your initial answer uses the maximum character limit.

A ZG account is linked to an individual within an agency, and not the agency as a whole. If your agency has distinct and separate projects with different project directors each project director should have his/her own account. (Unless the agency decides to have a singular generic account owner that provides project director access to each application on a case by case basis). 

• If your agency has multiple ZG accounts, each account may submit one or more applications.
• If a single ZG account holder would like to submit more than one application, you may accomplish this in one of two ways:
  1. Apply Again – creates a new blank application
     • Login 
     • Click Apply Again to create a new Application.
  2. Duplicate Application – copies an application within the same Grant Program and allows you to edit it. 
     • Under My Account Home find the application you want to duplicate (it will be under either the Incomplete or Submitted tab).
     • Click Duplicate and a copy of the application will open an allow you to edit.

Yes. A line item budget must be included in the budget narrative under the consultants/contract (professional services) category.  Suggested budget format is: list personnel, supplies and operating, travel, equipment, and contracted services or professional services. The budget should include only those items for which you are requesting funding.

Prior to application submission by the division, all applications must be reviewed and approved by our Authorizing Authority so that s/he has the opportunity to evaluate projects to determine if they are in keeping with our mission and goals and do not violate laws or regulations.  Is that possible in the system?

Yes, you can “Print/Preview” the application prior to submission. This can be found on the top right corner of the individual application. You may save to PDF and/or print it.

The application will collect information regarding the Geographic Area(s) where grant funds will be utilized and is not linked to the physical address of the agency.

These are considered supplies and must be entered into the supplies and operating category.  Equipment is considered an individual item costing $5,000 or more.

Yes. Be advised, hitting Return also uses two (2) characters.

All funds that are being requested for administrative functions, which can include accountant services, must be requested under the “Indirect” Line Item of the budget and clearly identified as administrative costs. 

In ZOOMGRANTS, the City or County is considered the Legal Entity. The Police Department or Sheriff’s Office would be the Applicant Agency (applying agency). The DBA status should be set to Yes.

Pre-Application, Organization Details, and tab Questions, and Statement of Work tab

Short Answers:

• Single Line - 250 characters
• Multiple Choice - only one answer is allowed
• Checkboxes - one or more answer is allowed
• Table Format - 10 characters each    

Long Answers:

Each long answer question will indicate the character limit associated with each question.

Tables (G&O, Budget Details, Additional Funding) tab:

• Large text boxes: 6,500 characters
• Medium text boxes: 25 characters
• Small text boxes: 10 characters

NOTE: carriage returns count at two (2) characters.

Providing food and beverages for conferences, meetings, and trainings that are not a direct service of a program are prohibited.  If you are interested in providing food and beverages for direct service recipients (children, youth and families), this requires an expressed pre-approval from the federal Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and there are no guarantees that this will be approved.  DCJ suggests that if the need is critical to a direct service program, you try to secure other sources of funding to cover these expenses.  If absolutely impossible, and you are approved for grant funding by this Office, we will work with you to seek the food and beverage approval necessary from the federal government, but again this approval is not determined by DCJ and these expenses could be disallowed by OJP. 

Yes. Please contact DCJ if you are currently registering with SAM or if you are reactivating your registration, but have not yet completed the process.

Using data released by the federal government, ZOOMGRANTS completes a SAM verification (via each applicant’s UEI) and presents the results for each applicant in the Application Summary tab of their applications.

The federal government releases this data every month, and SAM checks are completed once an applicant submits their application and are automatically updated monthly, following the release of the new data.

The SAM verification will only appear in the Application Summary tab on an application if the applicant has entered a valid UEI.