Denied Superwoops - Grant Application

[Superwoops]

Firm Name
Alexandrian News

Which grant pool are you applying for?
News and Media

How do you plan on using your grant funding?
We are dedicated to rebuilding trust with our readers. This is why we plan to hire and train new players (interns) to become reporters, granting them an initial job to get started.
Alexandrian News has a new Editor-in-Chief to ensure interns are being educated appropriately.
We have learned that good pay for employees is key for high-quality articles. This is why grant funding will be used for salaries as follows: (note these are all starting salaries, pay bumps are expected to be frequent)
Intern: $500 p/w,
Reporter: $1,200 p/w,
Editor: $1,500 p/w,
Rate per article: $500-$1,200 depending on length and quality of article (decided by Editor-in-Chief).

With 3 interns, 2 reporters and one editor, the cost for 5 weeks is as follows: (note that we expect 5 weeks to be our runway period, from then on we hope to self-sustain)
Interns' salary p/w: $1,500
Reporters' salary p/w: $2,400
Editor's salary p/w: $1,500
4 articles p/w: ~$2,550
Total cost p/w: $7,950

Total cost for 5 weeks: $39,750

Ideal Grant Amount $39,750

If awarded, I intend to use the grant money allocated to me for its intended purpose on which it was approved for, and provide a breakdown in my application thread of how the funding was used.
Yes

 

[xSyncx]

Hi @Superwoops can you please lay out how you plan to become a self-sustaining operation?

 

[Superwoops]

Of course:

1. Build partnerships with local small businesses (sponsors). In exchange for a small fee, we can advertise them in our website. For this, we have enabled a banner at Alexandrian News where these businesses can get more information and contact us.

2. Monthly premium article up for grabs: We will create a program where businesses can purchase a dedicated article about their company, founder, future, etc. This will still be valuable journalism but dedicated to a specific business, giving them a spotlight and allowing us to continue operating. (Note that this second program will take a bit more time to develop, as we still need to produce quality articles for a couple of weeks before we become a known, reputable news source)

We believe these two approaches will make it so our revenue can at least equal our expenses, if not surpass them, all the while adding value to the market by producing quality articles and training new reporters. If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

 

[xSyncx]

Denied

The Department has chosen to deny your application at this time. Conditional on a turnaround of the image & quality of Alexandrian News, you may re-apply in a month.

 

[Superwoops]

Hi
Thanks for the quick turnaround. We understand the decision, but we ask that we're allowed to reapply within two weeks, which seems to be standard for denied applications. While it's true that our quality could have been better before, it's improved greatly since.
Furthermore, our reputation has taken a blow, and without funding for a month, we're afraid it could prove very detrimental for our firm (economically).
If we reapply in two weeks and haven't improved, you can still deny it again if it doesn't meet your standards.

 

[xSyncx]

Hi
Thanks for the quick turnaround. We understand the decision, but we ask that we're allowed to reapply within two weeks, which seems to be standard for denied applications. While it's true that our quality could have been better before, it's improved greatly since.
Furthermore, our reputation has taken a blow, and without funding for a month, we're afraid it could prove very detrimental for our firm (economically).
If we reapply in two weeks and haven't improved, you can still deny it again if it doesn't meet your standards.

Two weeks contigent on solid work being published within that timeframe.