How to Use This Forecast Window
These forecasts give you a rare chance to get ready before the clock starts on a full NOFO. Here are practical steps you can take now.
1. Confirm fit and pick your priorities
Start by checking basic eligibility and focus areas for each forecast you’re interested in—rural status, required partners, target populations, and priority activities.
Then narrow to one or two top opportunities where you have both a strong need and a realistic path to delivering what SAMHSA or HRSA is likely to require.
2. Line up the right partners
For RCORP and many SAMHSA opportunities, your competitiveness depends on a strong consortium, not just one organization.
Use this window to confirm who should be at the table (e.g., hospital/clinic, BH provider, EMS, schools, courts, peers) and sketch clear roles so letters of commitment and MOUs are not a last‑minute scramble.
3. Build your data and story in advance
Competitive applications tell a tight story about need, gaps, and what will change over the life of the grant.
Begin assembling shared data now—local overdose and suicide trends, ED utilization, maternal health indicators, youth MH/SUD data, workforce shortages—and translate that into three to five “anchor” data points you can re‑use across narratives.
4. Sketch the project before the NOFO drops
You do not need the full NOFO to draft a working concept.
For each high‑priority forecast, create a short concept memo that outlines target populations, core services, geography, partners, outcomes, and a high‑level staffing/budget picture; when the NOFO is released, you’ll be refining, not starting from zero.
5. Tune up your internal grant “infrastructure”
Finally, make sure the mechanics won’t slow you down when the window opens.
Confirm that registrations (SAM.gov, Grants.gov, and eRA Commons for SAMHSA) are active, and refresh your boilerplate language, resumes/position descriptions, and budget templates so your team can focus on strategy and writing instead of chasing documents.
If you’d like a working session to walk through these forecasts and develop a realistic game plan, Resurgens Impact Consulting can help.
Fill out a Work With Us form today.
