Funder template: NOAA / Department of Commerce · Opportunity: EDA-DISASTER-2025 · closes no deadline stated

How reviewers read this: NOAA commonly weights: importance/relevance to program goals, technical merit, overall qualifications of applicants, project costs, and outreach/ education. The NOFO states the weights — structure the narrative to make each criterion easy to score.

Verify: NOAA program offices publish detailed evaluation criteria with weights in each NOFO — mirror the stated criteria headings in the narrative.

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Project Narrative

Page limit: per the NOFO (commonly 15-25 pages) — verify against the NOFO.

Project Summary

Frame the project as a disaster-recovery investment that responds to economic harm from 2023–2024 disasters and improves the community’s economic trajectory beyond its pre-disaster baseline. Keep the summary tightly aligned to the chosen pathway: Readiness, Implementation, or Industry Transformation.

• What disaster-related economic harm from 2023 or 2024 does the project address, and in what community or region?
• Which EDA pathway is the best fit, and why does the project match that pathway’s purpose?
• How will the project help the community recover, build resilience, and exceed pre-disaster economic conditions?
• How will the project engage community members and private industry partners, consistent with EDA’s emphasis?

[DRAFT] Position the project as a readiness-oriented effort that helps a disaster-affected region build the capacity to use drought-related seasonal forecast information in water allocation planning as part of broader economic recovery and resilience planning.

[DRAFT] Emphasize that better water allocation decisions can support recovery in sectors dependent on reliable water supply, helping local businesses, utilities, and communities make more resilient economic decisions after recent disaster stress.

[DRAFT] Describe the project as combining interviews and a regional survey to identify decision barriers, strengthen coordination among municipal managers and industry stakeholders, and produce actionable guidance for recovery planning.

Relevance to Program Priorities

Explicitly map the project to the NOFO’s priorities using the NOFO’s numbering or pathway structure. State clearly how the work advances disaster recovery, regional economic resilience, and, where relevant, industry transformation.

• Which priority or pathway under the Disaster Supplemental NOFO does this project address?
• How does the project respond to economic distress or harm resulting from 2023–2024 natural disasters?
• How does the project demonstrate community responsiveness and engagement with private industry partners?
• If using the Industry Transformation Path, how does the project fit a coalition-led, multicomponent regional strategy?

[DRAFT] Align the project primarily with the Readiness Path by building strategy, capacity, and predevelopment knowledge needed for future disaster recovery and resilience investments.

[DRAFT] Show how the project supports implementation readiness by producing evidence on how municipal water managers use seasonal drought forecasts, helping local governments and partners make better-informed allocation decisions after disaster-related stress.

[DRAFT] If the application frames a broader regional economic case, explain how improved water governance supports industries and employers that depend on reliable water supplies, which is central to EDA’s focus on community recovery and private-sector engagement.

Technical Approach and Methods

Describe the work plan, data sources, instruments, and analysis methods. If human subjects or social-science methods are involved, explain sampling, interview protocol, survey design, and analytic strategy.

• What interview sample will be used, and how will participants be selected?
• What will the regional survey measure, and how will it complement the interviews?
• How will the project analyze forecast use, allocation decisions, and barriers or enablers?
• How will findings be translated into a disaster-recovery or resilience product usable by local stakeholders?

[DRAFT] Conduct semi-structured interviews with municipal water managers to document how seasonal drought forecasts are interpreted, trusted, and incorporated into allocation decisions during recovery from recent disasters.

[DRAFT] Field a regional survey to quantify forecast use patterns, institutional constraints, and coordination needs across municipalities, utilities, and potentially affected industry users.

[DRAFT] Use thematic analysis of interviews and descriptive and comparative analysis of survey results to identify decision bottlenecks, capacity gaps, and opportunities for improved cross-sector coordination.

Milestones and Deliverables

Provide a clear schedule with measurable outputs and outcomes. Include year-by-year or phase-by-phase milestones that show progress toward disaster-recovery objectives.

• What are the major phases of the project, and when will each be completed?
• What deliverables will be produced for community and industry stakeholders?
• What measurable outcomes will show increased readiness, implementation capacity, or transformation?
• How will progress be tracked against the project’s disaster-recovery goals?

[DRAFT] Phase 1: finalize stakeholder list, interview protocol, and survey instrument; secure community and partner input; complete any needed approvals.

[DRAFT] Phase 2: conduct interviews and field the regional survey; analyze findings to produce a practical report on forecast use in drought-related allocation decisions.

[DRAFT] Phase 3: deliver stakeholder briefings, a summary toolkit or guidance memo, and a dissemination package that can support future EDA-aligned recovery planning or implementation.

Outreach, Engagement, and Data Sharing

Explain how the project will engage affected stakeholders and ensure outputs are usable by the intended audience. Focus on community engagement and private industry partners, as emphasized by EDA.

• Which community stakeholders, public agencies, and private industry partners will be engaged?
• How will their input shape the project design and final products?
• What products will be shared, with whom, and in what form?
• How will results be made accessible and useful for decision-makers in recovery and resilience planning?

[DRAFT] Engage municipal water managers, local economic development leaders, and private industry stakeholders who depend on water reliability to ensure the project reflects real post-disaster planning needs.

[DRAFT] Share findings through briefings, plain-language summaries, and decision-support materials that help communities use seasonal drought forecasts in allocation and recovery decisions.

[DRAFT] Describe how the survey and interview results will be returned to participants and translated into actionable recommendations for local recovery, resilience, and future investment planning.

Budget Narrative

Page limit: no page limit — verify against the NOFO.

Budget Narrative

Provide a category-by-category justification consistent with the SF-424A, and include subaward detail if applicable. Tie each cost to the disaster-recovery scope, stakeholder engagement, and any readiness, implementation, or transformation activities.

• What costs are necessary for the proposed pathway and why are they reasonable?
• How do personnel, travel, supplies, subawards, and other direct costs support the project aims?
• If there are partners or subrecipients, what will each do and how will their costs be justified?
• How does the budget align with the scale of the disaster recovery need and the work plan?

[DRAFT] Justify personnel time for project management, interview/survey design, analysis, stakeholder coordination, and preparation of deliverables tailored to disaster recovery planning.

[DRAFT] Include travel and engagement costs for meetings with municipal water managers, community stakeholders, and private industry partners needed to ensure the project is responsive to local recovery needs.

[DRAFT] If applicable, justify subaward or consultant support for survey administration, data analysis, or facilitation of stakeholder workshops that help convert findings into usable recovery tools.

Data Management Plan

Page limit: typically 2 pages — verify against the NOFO.

Data Management Plan

State what data will be shared, where it will be deposited or otherwise made available, in what format, and on what timeline. If the NOFO has specific public-sharing requirements, comply with them explicitly and explain any restrictions.

• What data, instruments, code, or products will be shared publicly, and what will remain restricted?
• Where will the data be archived or posted for access by the public or stakeholders?
• In what format and on what schedule will data and documentation be released?
• Are there privacy, confidentiality, or other restrictions affecting interview or survey data?

[DRAFT] Share de-identified interview summaries, survey instruments, codebooks, and analytic outputs in a public or stakeholder-accessible repository, subject to confidentiality protections.

[DRAFT] Explain the timing for release of final datasets and documentation after project completion, and specify any embargoes or restrictions needed to protect respondents.

[DRAFT] Note how the final products will be formatted for community and industry users, such as plain-language summaries or decision-support briefs, to improve reuse in recovery planning.

CVs and Current & Pending

Page limit: typically 2 pages per person — verify against the NOFO.

CVs and Current & Pending Support

Provide abbreviated CVs for senior personnel and complete current & pending support disclosures. Make sure roles, expertise, and commitments clearly support the proposed disaster-recovery work.

• Who are the senior personnel, and what expertise do they bring to this project?
• What current and pending support could overlap with the proposed work?
• How will each person’s role support the interviews, survey, analysis, and stakeholder engagement?
• Are there any conflicts, duplications, or effort commitments that need to be disclosed?