For weeks every year, I would get calls and emails from clients asking if I knew the status of fire department’s Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) applications. And then, as it happens every year, the dreaded emails of doom – the turndown notices – would start to appear in inboxes.
Just like clockwork, the calls and emails would pick up again, with remarkably similar comments from people showing their confusion and frustration: “This email doesn’t tell me anything” or “My turndown is exactly the same as the one the XYZ Fire Department received.”
Because FEMA receives nearly 9,000 AFG applications, it is impossible for them to send out thousands of emails detailing exactly why your application wasn’t approved for funding. However, there are clues inside your notice that will allow you to understand the general reasons that your application didn’t get funded – clues that will help your department better plan for the next grant application. Read More…
Leave a Reply