ACCEPTABLE USES OF ACCOUNT FUNDS

The commission or the State Commission on National and Community Service, in accordance with the terms of a contract or grant, as applicable, may: (1) directly, or through agreements with one or more entities serving faith- and community-based organizations that provide charitable services to persons in this state: (A) assist the organizations with: (i) writing or managing grants through workshops or other forms of guidance; (ii) obtaining legal assistance related to forming a corporation or obtaining an exemption from taxation under the Internal Revenue Code; and (iii) obtaining information about or referrals to entities that provide expertise in accounting, legal, or tax issues, program development matters, or other organizational topics; (B) provide to the organizations information or assistance related to building the organizations' capacity for providing services; (C) facilitate the formation of networks, the coordination of services, and the sharing of resources among the organizations; (D) in cooperation with existing efforts, if possible, conduct needs assessments to identify gaps in services in a community that present a need for developing or expanding services; (E) work with the organizations to identify the organizations' needs for improvements in their internal capacity for providing services; (F) provide the organizations with information on and assistance in identifying or using practices with demonstrated effectiveness for delivering charitable services to persons, families, and communities and in replicating charitable services programs that have demonstrated effectiveness; and (G) encourage research into the impact of organizational capacity on program delivery for the organizations; (2) assist a local governmental entity in creating a better partnership between government and faith- and community-based organizations to provide charitable services to persons in this state; and (3) use funds appropriated from the account to provide matching money for federal or private grant programs that further the purposes of the account as described by Section 550.0103(b).