Current Realities:

• There is no single point of contact for resources development - North Carolina (11 th largest state rank 40 th in states receiving Federal Dollars) fails to receive its fair share of federal discretionary grant funds because there is no single group to coordinate and develop important sources of funding and resources that exist in the public, private and private non-profit sectors.
• There is a lack of resource development expertise at the local and state level – Potential discretionary grant applicants - don't know about many of the funding opportunities that are available, and/or they don't have personnel who are trained to apply for grants.
• There is a lack of technical assistance for resources development – Cumberland County has no coordinated strategy to provide grant applicants with information, technical assistance, collaborative guidance and linkages with appropriate federal agencies in Washington.
• There are significant missed opportunities for funding – There are at least 400 separate funding entities with the federal government alone.   These agencies' websites and publications need to be scanned and grant solicitations relayed to eligible applicants on a daily basis.