Request for Proposals: Independent Evaluation of CCI’s InSPIRe Pilot in Western North Carolina

Posted: October 2025
Deadline: November 17, 2025

The Institute of Consumer Money Management (ICMM), in partnership with Carolina Community Impact (CCI) and the NC CDFI Coalition, is seeking proposals for an independent, mixed-methods evaluation of the InSPIRe pilot program in Western North Carolina.

About the InSPIRe Pilot

The Insurance Supplement Program for Inclusive Recovery (InSPIRe) is a new initiative designed to help small businesses recover from the economic effects of Hurricane Helene. The program provides supplemental, insurance-style grants—ranging from $3,000 to $5,000—to fill critical coverage gaps left by traditional insurance and disaster assistance.

With a focus on equity and inclusion, InSPIRe prioritizes rural, low- to moderate-income (LMI), and minority- or women-owned small businesses in affected communities. The pilot will distribute 30–50 grants, with some participants receiving combined grant-plus-technical assistance or loan support.

Evaluation Purpose

ICMM is funding an external evaluation to assess the program’s impact and document lessons for scaling inclusive recovery models. The evaluation will:

• Measure the extent to which InSPIRe grants close insurance coverage gaps
• Assess how funds are used to support recovery and continuity
• Evaluate business and employment outcomes (e.g., jobs retained, operations sustained)
• Analyze equity in outcomes across community, demographic, and business types
• Capture participants’ experiences with recovery and financial resilience
• Identify design lessons for future supplemental insurance models

Funding and Scope

• Funding range: $35,000–$50,000 (fixed-price contract)
• Timeline: Approximately 12 months (data collection, analysis, and reporting)
• Deliverables: Work plan, interim memo, final report (conference-ready), presentation slides, and de-identified dataset

Who Should Apply

Proposals are invited from universities, research institutes, evaluation firms, and independent researchers with experience in:

• Program evaluation using mixed methods
• Small business, disaster recovery, or LMI equity contexts
• Working with community-based partners or CDFIs
• Conducting applied, translational research relevant to financial resilience

Proposal Submission

Proposals should be concise (no more than 8 pages, excluding appendices) and include:

1. Cover letter and summary of team, timeline, and budget
2. Technical approach and data collection plan
3. Team qualifications and relevant experience
4. Deliverables and timeline
5. Budget (narrative and spreadsheet)

All proposals must be submitted electronically to InspireResearch@ccifund.org by November 17th at 5:00 pm EST.

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Download the Full RFP

For questions or clarifications, please contact InspireResearch@ccifund.org.
Responses to all inquiries will be shared publicly to ensure transparency and fairness in the review process.

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RFP Questions & Responses as of 11/6/25

1. What is the allowable indirect cost policy?
   Indirect costs in the range of 15-25% (but preferably below 20%) are allowed. See ICMM indirect cost policy.
2. Small cash grant programs tend to operate immediately after a disaster. Is it correct that these have not yet been distributed and so will be going out more than a year after the flood? Would love to hear more about what type of losses the program is hoping to cover with these and thoughts on that timing.
   The funds have not yet been distributed. Funds are intended to cover any business recovery purpose including working capital, operating expenses, equipment, repairs, etc.
3. With only 30-50 grants, there will be limitations to what variations in businesses can be detected with statistical significance. How will those businesses be chosen (will it be random selection)? It would also be important to have a control group. Is that possible in the research design?
   Eligible businesses will be evaluated based on the estimated losses that were not covered by business interruption and other disaster insurance policies. Claims will be evaluated on a first come, first served basis. Businesses that do not receive funding in this limited pilot round could serve as a control group.
4. As noted, this would need to be done through surveys, which can be expensive to administer and the grant is quite small. Will the agency help distribute surveys and solicit responses from grant recipients and a control group?
   Businesses will fill out a registration form and a supplemental claim. CCI and ICMM can work with the research partner to administer any additional surveys that the researcher deems necessary.
5. Presumably, the researchers would be free to publish results as an academic paper in addition to the report deliverable?
   Yes.
6. Is participation in baseline and endline surveys an explicit condition for receiving the grant?  If not, can it be?  What about as a condition for just applying, even if a firm is not awarded a grant?
   Organizations will be asked to fill out a form to register for the program, which could serve as the baseline survey. The form will ask them to certify that they agree to participate in follow-up surveys as a condition of registering for the program. CCI and ICMM can work with the research partner to administer any additional surveys that the researcher deems necessary.
7. Do the organizers already have a dataset of potentially eligible firms from which evaluators can determine the grantees? In general, what firms are eligible for a grant and how are they identified or informed? Is there an application process or do the organizers already have a set of potentially eligible firms? Is there a set mechanism in mind for evaluating and awarding grants? Or are all of these points up for discussion as part of the proposed research design?
   The program & registration form are slated to launch on December 1. Eligibility will be confirmed using the information filled out on the form (following up with the organization as needed to confirm details). CCI and ICMM are currently finalizing those eligibility criteria and form details. Eligible firms will later be invited to submit a ‘claim’ to the portal, which will involve submitting multiple documents. The claims will then be analyzed to decide if they are approved and at what amount. If timing aligns, the research partner may have input on what is required for the claim submission process and how claims will be evaluated.
8. What firm-level data from the organizers will evaluators have access to? For instance, does one have to gather data on firms and figure out which ones qualify as small businesses that are LMI or minority-/women-owned?
   On the registration form, we will ask the organizations to certify that the information they have submitted can be shared with our research partner, so the research partner will have access to all data that is collected as a part of the registration and claims process. The form will ask questions related to race, ethnicity, gender, and annual household income on the registration form, with an understanding that those items will be collected for research purposes only and do not affect program eligibility or grant amounts, if awarded.
9. Does the RFP suggest two periods for data collection or three – i.e., baseline, endline, and 3-month follow-up? Is it just baseline and endline, or is there a later follow-up data collection period?  And if there is a third period, then it sounds like this occurs at months 11-12 and then the final report is due at month 15, is that correct?
   The RFP suggests 3 data collection time periods, baseline, endline, and 3-month follow-up. Our request is to have all of the data collection and reporting completed by month 12 but we are open to seeing timelines that extend to 15 months based on whether the anticipated endline dates of 8 months can be met. This timeline is an estimate by ICMM.
10. Would it be possible to obtain more details on the registration form? This will help us determine whether we need another baseline survey. Or, would it be possible for the research team to offer suggestions on the registration details?
    CCI is co-developing the registration form with research experts at ICMM to ensure that it can serve as a sufficient baseline survey. Due to our funding timeline, that form will be launched soon, likely prior to onboarding a research partner. There will be another opportunity for the researcher to collaborate on the subsequent full claim application if they discover that additional baseline information is needed. CCI and ICMM can work with the research partner to administer any additional surveys that the researcher deems necessary.
11. The RFP mentions that “evaluators may publish derivative analyses with written approval.” Can you clarify what the general process is for requesting and granting approval?  What criteria go into evaluating and approving an analysis for publication?
    This statement refers to subsequent analyses and publications on the work outside of the grant scope. ICMM is happy to discuss this topic more formally and arrive at a mutual agreement before signing the contract.
12. Can some of the grant money be spent on purchasing data from external sources? I was wondering since that may enable us to generalize our findings to a bigger population of small businesses in western NC. That would help comment on the program’s scalability.
    Yes

About the Partners

The Institute of Consumer Money Management (ICMM) is a nonprofit research foundation dedicated to improving the financial wellbeing, resilience, and equity of low- to moderate-income (LMI) households.

Carolina Community Impact (CCI) is a North Carolina CDFI committed to expanding equitable access to capital and financial solutions that strengthen communities across the state.