Client: The City of Cooper City

Location: Cooper City, Florida

Date: 2020

Client Goal:

In recognition of the economic impact that COVID-19 is having on our community, Broward County has recently approved and allocated emergency CARES relief funds to the City of Cooper City to be used for utility, mortgage, and small business relief for Cooper City residents and businesses located in Cooper City.Specifically, the Cooper City Cares Program is intended to help Cooper City residents who have been financially impacted as a result of COVID-19. Relief funding will be provided for utility, mortgage and business efforts.

The application window is 12 days, from October 26, 2020 through November 6, 2020. Assistance will be provided on a first-come, first qualified, first-served basis to eligible applicants. Application decisions are expected to be made before December 1, 2020. Checks to eligible residents/business owners will be mailed before December 10, 2020.

Approach:

Strategic Philanthropy, Inc. (SPI) was hired to create the program and assist with the day-to-day management of the overall project.  The approach included:

• Assisting in creating/finalizing a strategic rollout of the Cooper City CaresProgram. This included providing recommendations on best practices for timeline and process and assisting with solidifying the criteria and guideline requirements
• Assisting with the creation of an online application portal
• Working with Client Marketing/Communication team to discuss key goals for external website
• Managing overall budget
• Organizing the residents’ applications and conducted due diligence on all documentation submitted
• Coordinating report for Client team with applicant recommendations; Client would validate utility account / amount transfer
• Communicating to applicants with acceptance / decline messages
• Managing the administrative aspects of this project as it relates to achieving the stated outcomes
• Managing the appeals process
• Assisting Client with data points for public relations coverage on community efforts

Results For Utility/Mortgage Program:

• A total of 253 submissions were received
• Through the eligibility quiz created, a total 183 applications were qualified to be reviewed by a team of grant readers.
• A total of $220,863.62 was awarded to business owners in Sunrise through both the application and appeal process; serving 107
• Results For Utility:
  • Utility Applications Received – 156
  • Utility Applications Approved – 94
  • Utility Amount Awarded – $23,500

• Results for Mortgage:
  • Mortgage Applications Received – 153
  • Mortgage Applications Received – 95
  • Mortgage Amount Awarded – $197,363.62

• We used data to breakdown the following information on the type of applicant so we could target key groups in the future:
  • Property Type:
    • Apartment – 3 / 2%
    • Condominium – 2 / 1%
    • Multi-Family home/Duplex – 8 / 4%
    • Single Family home – 139 / 76%
    • Townhouse – 31 / 17%

• Marital Status:
  • Divorced – 22 / 2%
  • Married – 126 / 69%
  • Prefer Not to Answer –  8 / 4%
  • Single – 25 / 14%
  • Widowed – 2 / 1%

• Age Breakdown:
  • 18-24 Years Old – 1 / 1%
  • 25-34 Years Old – 15 / 8%
  • 35-44 Years Old – 56 / 31%
  • 45-54 Years Old – 49 / 27%
  • 55-64 Years Old – 43 / 23%
  • 65-74 Years Old – 16 / 9%
  • 75 years or older – 1 / 1%
  • Prefer Not to Answer – 2 / 1%

• Race:
  • African American/Black – 12 / 7%
  • Asian – 26 / 14%
  • Asian Pacific Islander – 1 / 1%
  • Multiracial – 5 / 3%
  • Other – 9 / 5%
  • Pacific Islander White – 1 / 1%
  • Prefer Not to Answer – 13 / 7%
  • White – 113 / 62%
  • White Multiracial – 2 / 1%
  • White Other – 1 / 1%

• Ethnicity:
  • Hispanic or Latino – 46 / 25%
  • Non-Hispanic – 116 / 63%
  • Prefer Not to Answer – 21 / 11%

• Zip codes:
  • 33021  1 / 1%
  • 33024  24 / 13%
  • 33026  55 / 30%
  • 33328  67 / 37%
  • 33330  36 / 20%

Results For Business:

• • A total of 140 submissions were received
  • Through the eligibility quiz created, a total 32 applications were qualified to be reviewed by a team of grant readers. Of those 32, did not meet the specific criteria and 21 were ultimately approved through the application process.
  • A total of $1,462,478.56 was awarded to business owners in Cooper City, serving 21
    • This was broken out by:
      • Applications:
        • # of Employees Per Company Breakdown
          • 0-1 – 10 / 31%
          • 2-5 – 16 / 50%
          • 6-10 – 6 / 19%
        • Gross Revenue of Applications
          • $250,000 or below – 22 / 69%
          • $250,000-$500,000 – 7 / 22%
          • $500,000-$750,000 – 3 / 9%
        • Reason for Applying
          • Experienced economic injury due to Covid 19
            • 17 / 53%
          • Temporarily forced to close (deemed non-essential) by the government due to COVID-19
            • 12 / 38%
          • Voluntarily closed on a temporary basis to support social distancing due to COVID-19
            • 3 / 9%