rob's favorites 175.jpg
•Grant Writing
•Test Review
•
•
•
•
¡

¡Bounty, contribution, gift, or subsidy (in cash or kind) bestowed by a government or other
organization (called the grantor) for specified purposes to an eligible recipient (called the
grantee). Grants are usually conditional upon certain qualifications as to the use, maintenance of
specified standards, or a proportional contribution by the grantee or other grantor(s).
Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com
¡

¡http://www.ceetrust.org/grants-database/in-country-grants/czech-republic.html
¡http://www.ceetrust.org/grants-database/cross-border-initiative.html
C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\LC7V5Y3B\MP910221024[1].jpg

¡Step One: Setting Funding Priorities
¡Step Two: Drafting the Basic Proposal
¡Step Three: Packaging the Proposal
¡Step Four: Researching Potential Funders
¡Step Five: Contacting and Cultivating Potential Funders
¡Step Six: Responding to the Result

In class, we discuss the grantwriting as being a process – much more than the actual composing of a
grant at the computer and the mailing it off to potential funders. In fact, the Foundation Center
discusses grantwriting as being comprised of six equally important steps. Some of these the other
panel member have already discussed or will be discussing. I’d like to focus my attention on the
first three of these steps – setting the funding priorities, drafting of the basic proposal and the
packaging of the proposal in a way that will achieve results.
No less important is the process of researching potential funders and finding the right fit between
your project and the mission/objectives of a potential funder. Contacting and cultivating the
potential funder through e-mail, telephone, visits, presentations and the like. And then,
responding to the result of the grant request – whether it be positive and you are concerned with
meeting the terms and budget of the grant contract – or negative and you are obtaining feedback to
improve your submission the next time around.

But the first step is really setting funding priorities.
It’s interesting because invariably when I teach this class, many if not most students come in with
an organization they want to write a grant for and right away they want to start researching
funders that support the kind of organization they are – and they really have given little thought
to what are their funding priorities within their overall organization.

¡Set funding priorities
¡Identify the need within your community that your organization wants to meet and that is in line
with the organization’s mission.
§Research grant funders that have an interest in funding that need.

•There are in fact two approaches that organizations can take to seeking a grant.
•Rule number one in my book is that you don’t start an effective grant search by asking who is out
there that might give money to my organization.
•To do so leads your organization down a path of programming that follows the money rather than
programming that meets an identified community need. The end result for the former approach is that
organization suffers from some mission drift as a result of grant awards that are ill-targeted to
real needs.

¡Who will be helped?
¡Why do they need your help?
¡What are the consequences of not providing help? Is need acute?
¡What outside support can you provide that this is indeed a problem?
¡What are the benefits of providing help? Is there hope for improvement?
¡

So, the first step is really an inventory of the most pressing community needs that the
organization wants to address and a prioritization of those needs based on the acuity and urgency
of the need, the level of funding needed and the ability of the organization to adequately address
the need.
As a result of prioritizing those needs, the organization then is in a position to prepare the
needs statement.
In my mind, the needs statement is the most important grant element that an organization must
prepare. So, it’s worth the extra time and effort to get this component right.
In the needs statement, an organization is answering the following questions.

Once a comprehensive and compelling needs statement is prepared, the organization can set about
drafting the other elements of the proposal.


¡Organizational Statement
¡Project Description
§Fundable Idea
§Goals/objectives
§Methods
§Budget
§Sustainability

The other proposal components that are typical of most grants are the organizational statement and
the project description.
The project description includes a simple, direct statement of the project idea, the goals and
objectives that the project strives to achieve, the methods the project will use to get there,
The budget in as little or as much detail as prescribed by the grantor and a sustainability
section.

¡Standard information required in most grants that does not need to be customized for any
particular grant
§General description of the organization
§Organizational mission
§Organizational history
§Leadership/organizational chart
§Clientele served
§Qualifications of project team members (bios)
§

•Quite often I have organizations that say to me, “We hired a consultant to prepare a standard
grant for us and then we cut and paste and send it out to all the various funders that we think
might fund it.”
•There is some merit and some drawbacks to this approach.
•There are, in fact, some materials that tend to be pretty standard in most grants – boilerplate
materials should be prepared that pertain to your organizational statement.
•So prepare a good general description of the organization, its mission, history,
leadership/governance, clientele served and the qualifications of key leaders and project team
members.
•Do a good job in drafting these materials as they can be fairly standard from grant to grant.

¡Different projects, different audiences, different voices
§Writing for lay leaders, managers and program staff
§Knowing your audience: interests, biases, history, knowledge, linkage

But beyond that, be mindful that grants involve targeted writing – no two grants are likely to be
the same because you are dealing with different projects or fundable ideas, different audiences
(different types of foundations and level of professionalism and type of reviewer)
As a consequence you will be using different voices or approaches in your writing content and style
for each grant.
It is imperative that you know your grantor audience – what are their interests, biases, history,
knowledge and linkage – in fundraising terms, we talk continually about capacity, interest and
linkage – and these are equally important in the grantseeking world. You’ve got to appeal to your
audience on that basis.

¡Briefly describe:
§Organizational history
§Organizational mission
§Clientele/need served
§Resources: staff, board, volunteers, knowledge base, etc.
§Programs offered
§Unique capacity to successfully address the problem

As we’ve said, the organizational statement will address the organizational history, mission,
clientele you’ve served, your resources to be applied to the project, the programs and services you
currently offer. The most important thing you are trying to convey with the organizational
statement is the unique capacity your organization has to successfully address the problem. You are
establishing your credibility and your credentials to tackle what you’ve already described as a
tough problem.

¡Most ideas are fundable – but not by all funders
¡Match between funder and idea is the key
¡More fundable:
§New/innovative approaches
§Addresses acute and recognized need
§Results will be apparent
§Direct client benefit
§Minimizes administrative support
§Not duplicative of other programs
§Can serve as a model for future efforts
§

So, the first step is to provide a clear statement of your idea.
What makes for a fundable idea – in other words, one that funders are likely to get behind and
support.
In truth, most ideas are probably fundable by somebody…..its a matter of finding the correct match
behind the potential funder and the idea.
But research has shown that the more fundable ideas tend to have the following attributes (not
necessarily all of them, but one or more of them).

¡Meals on Wheels Consortium
¡
C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\8MB0504Z\MCj02333320000[1].wmf

¡Give a clear picture of the anticipated results
¡Outline the outcomes of the plan
¡Goal: broad-based statement of ultimate result of change
§The homebound elderly in Main County will live with dignity and independence in their own homes.

Having stated the idea, your next step is to outline what you hope to achieve. This involves
drafting goals and objectives.
Very important – funders are interested in results and the outcomes of their support.
In grant-seeking terms, we make an important distinction between goals and objectives.
Goals are the broad-based statement of the ultimate result of change.
So if we were offering a caregiving support program for seniors in our community -- a goal with our
program might be:

¡Objective: measurable, time-specific result that the organization expects to accomplish
§There will be a five percent decrease in the number of frail older adults going into convalescent
homes during the first year of the social services referral program. (Outcome objective).
§There will be an increase in social services referrals and follow-up for 75 percent of the
individuals served by the Meals Consortium during 2010-2011. (Process objective).

Objectives, on the other hand, are the measurable, time-specific results that the organization
expects to accomplish.
Goals are generally very limited in a grant project – you may have only one or two. But objectives
are more numerous and specific.
Outcome objectives are more impactful and important than process objectives – outcome objectives
point to the type of long-range impact that will result from the program. Process objectives tend
to be the activities or tasks that you will achieve in working toward the outcome.

¡Goals and objectives tie to needs statement.
¡Activities/methods distinct from objectives.
¡Objectives are feasible and targeted.
¡Objectives are action oriented: to reduce, to increase, to decrease, to expand…..
¡Objectives and change are measurable.
¡At least one outcome objective included.

What are some things to keep in mind in writing good goals and objectives.

¡Describes the specific activities to achieve the objectives
§The How – What will occur from time project begins until it is completed?
§The When – When and in what order will tasks occur?
§The Why – Why will the planned work lead to outcomes you anticipate?
¡

So within the project description, we clearly stated our idea, our goals and objectives and now we
will describe the methods we will use to get to our objectives.
Here, we are essentially answering the how, when and why.
 Timelines are sometimes good tools to use to chronologically display how you will go about the
grant work.

¡Review project description.
¡Estimate agency’s ongoing expenses to be charged to projects as well as new costs (i.e. salaries
for personnel not yet hired).
¡Obtain relevant costs from person in agency responsible for keeping the books.
¡

Grantors are also looking for a feasible, sufficiently detailed budget for your project. Most grant
budgets tend to be fairly straightforward line item budgets as opposed to program or performance
based budgeting classification.  Depending on the funding source, you may be asked either for a
very detailed budget or for a general outline of income and expenses. Usually government funding
sources require considerable detail and provide instructions and budget forms that you will use.
Foundations and corporations typically require less detail, but they still rely on your budget to
help them evaluate the merit of your proposal.
If a funder’s guidelines specify a format for the proposal budget, be sure to follow those
guideslines.
How do you go about preparing the budget. Well it isn’t a terribly complicated process. First, you
review the project description and identify all the personnel and non-ppersonnnel cost items
related to project implementation and operation. You will likely have to go to the financial person
in the agency to obtain relevant costs – in other words, if the project call for the hiring of an
additional social worker, go to your financial person to get an idea of standard salary and fringe
benefits associated with hiring of this position.
In addition to the new costs associated with the project (i.e. the hiring of new personnel), you
will also want to consider what portion of the agency’s ongoing expenses should be charged to the
project – so if you’ve decided to start a new children’s grief program in your hospice- you may be
hiring a new social worker, but you will also want to consider what percentage of your existing
social services director’s time should be allocated to the supervision of this new children’s grief
program. Also, consider such  things as space and equipment uses, etc.
If your project has revenue sources associated with it – whether it be in-kind contributions, or
fees for service – be sure to account for these in your budget display of revenues.

¡Most expense budgets include “overhead”
¡Rationale: project should bear a portion of the administrative costs of the host organization.
¡Formulas used for allocating overhead costs.
§Based on size of total project budget as percentage of total organizational budget or of total
salary line.
¡Funders have policies regarding overhead.

Might also be labeled as indirect costs, administrative costs or just other.
Government agencies generally have an established percentage that they will allow for overhead
costs. Corporate funders or foundation funders may not. Unless specifically prohibited by the grant
application from doing so, you should include a percentage for overhead expense. Most foundations
will allow administrative costs of at least 10-15%.

¡Used to explain any unusual line items; may not always be needed.
¡Structure:
§Notes to the budget: footnote-style numbers on line-items with corresponding explanations
§Straight text
¡Answer any outstanding questions posed by funder

A budget narrative may not always be needed. But if you have unusual line items (unusual in the
sense of the type of item or the level of expense), use a budget narrative to explain it.
There are two options for the budget narrative. The funder may specify which they want. Notes to
budget or straight text.
The point of this is to answer any questions that the funder might have in just looking at the
budget table. Be mindful of red flags! Administrative expense in general, travel, consultants,
training, etc. all tend to be areas that get padded in budget preparation and grantors are on the
look out for that.

¡Future funding to sustain your project.
¡Funders don’t want your organization’s project to fail once initial grant is over.
¡Sources for future funding:
§Continuation grants
§Annual campaigns
§Fees for service
§Sales of items or activities

•Even though funders do not always ask for this section, it is important to include some
information on sources of money for the project’s future.
•A one-line sentence explaining that future funding will be sought is not enough information for
funders.
•More specific you are, more confidence you will inspire in funders that project will continue
after they go away.

¡Future funding to sustain your project.
¡Funders don’t want your organization’s project to fail once initial grant is over.
¡Sources for future funding:
§Continuation grants
§Annual campaigns
§Fees for service
§Sales of items or activities

•Even though funders do not always ask for this section, it is important to include some
information on sources of money for the project’s future.
•A one-line sentence explaining that future funding will be sought is not enough information for
funders.
•More specific you are, more confidence you will inspire in funders that project will continue
after they go away.

¡Process that determines the effectiveness and efficiency of the project (quantitative or
qualitative)
¡Evaluations answer these questions:
§Did the project do what was expected?
§Were objectives met?
§Was there an impact made on the need?
§How was the project perceived by the target group?
§What was learned and what adjustments should be made?

An evaluation is a process that determines the effectiveness and efficiency of the project.
Decisions made during this process help an organization plan for the project’s future and reassure
funders that their financial commitment is being well spent.
How a program or project will be evaluated must be determined prior to implementation. Bear in mind
that funders expect to know the ways an organization defines and measures the success of a project.
If you do this section well, your evaluation methods can strengthen the proposal in the eyes of the
reviewers. The evaluation methods also serve as early warning devices to determine what is going
well and what is not. Essentially, the evaluation methods should be focused on answering these
questions relative to your project:
Many grantors are specific in the type of approach that want you to take to your evaluation.
•How can you conduct evaluations? You can use qualitative or quantitative methods.
•Qualitative – rooted in direct contact with the people involved in a program and consist of three
kinds of data collection: interviews (group or individual), direct or field observation, and review
of documents. Qualitative methods are most appropriate when your questions involve: understanding
feels or opinions about a program among participants, staff or community members.
•Quantitative methods – most appropriate when your questions involve understanding the quantities
of frequency of particular aspects of a program (i.e. number of dropouts), determining cause and
effect relationships, comparing two different methods seeking to achieve the same outcomes or
establishing numerical baselines. Quantitative methods translate experience into units that can be
counted, compared, measured and manipulated statistically. Use of descriptive statistics –
averages, means, percentages, etc.) and inferential statistics – linear regressions, chi-square,
etc.
•Both methods have value. You want the right fit between the methods you choose, the questions you
want answered and information needs of those asking the question.

Once a comprehensive and compelling needs statement is prepared, the organization can set about
drafting the other elements of the proposal.


¡Clear, one-page abstract of the proposal
¡Elements:
§Identification of the applicant
§Specific purpose of grant
§Qualifications to carry out purpose (the project)
§Anticipated end result
§Amount of money requested
§Total project budget

The executive summary should essentially contain these elements and be no longer than one page in
length.
Don’t bury your request. First paragraph.

¡Make a specific request ($)
¡Indicate why you are applying to the grantor – why this problem and why them?
¡Mention prior discussions of the proposal
¡Describe contents of proposal package
¡BRIEFLY explain the project
¡Offer to set up a meeting to provide additional information

In general, your cover letter should contain the following:
Who should the cover letter be addressed to: The contact person listed in research materials on the
funder (may be CEO of foundation, may be program director, may be board president, refer to RFP).
Who should letter be signed by: Generally by both the executive director of the nonprofit and the
president of the board of directors.




Once a comprehensive and compelling needs statement is prepared, the organization can set about
drafting the other elements of the proposal.


¡ Online sites: Type in search phrases, such as public charities or private foundations.
§Grants.gov
§Foundation Center
§National Endowment for the Humanities
§National Endowment for the Arts
§From the Heart Productions
§Jeannette Rankin Foundation
§The Puffin Foundation
§The Haven Foundation
¡Public Library
¡Academic Databases
¡

Once a comprehensive and compelling needs statement is prepared, the organization can set about
drafting the other elements of the proposal.


¡Pick up the phone……
¡Send an e-mail…….
¡Send a letter…..
¡
¡
¡To the program director at the foundation
C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\LC7V5Y3B\MP900438722[1].jpg

Once a comprehensive and compelling needs statement is prepared, the organization can set about
drafting the other elements of the proposal.


• Large % of all grants are not funded on first submission
•Learn why grant was not funded – go beyond the rejection letter
•Identify ways could be strengthened in future
•Determine if funder would be open to future submissions
C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\Q4MBQO75\MCj04415250000[1].wmf

It’s important to keep in mind that a large percentage of all grants are not funded on the first
submission. So rejection should be expected….but don’t stop with just accepting the rejection
letter.
You need to learn why the grant was not funded. If the rejection letter doesn’t give you specifics
– ask for a copy of the rating sheets on your grant. This is acceptable practice and you can learn
a lot from this. In general, there are three reasons that a grant won’t get funded:  They don't
have enough funds to accept every request (and there are higher need priorities), the request falls
outside of the funder's giving interests.
the applicant didn't follow application guidelines.
Identify ways that your grant can be strengthened in the future.
And determine if the funder would be open to future submissions (provided the need is in line with
their funding priorities).

•Thank the donor
•Pat yourself on the back
•Thank and acknowledge all who have had a part
•Build the relationships
•Submit timely reports
•
•
C:\Users\Rob\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\Q4MBQO75\MPj04434510000[1].jpg

You have just heard the good news that your proposal has been successful. The donor is happy with
your proposal. It was clearly a job well done. Congratulations! Is this the end of the process?
No. In fact, it is the beginning. From now on you need to work at building up a strong relationship
with this donor so that, when the time comes, you have a good chance of having other successful
proposals and of forming an ongoing relationship with the donor that is beneficial to both parties.
Here are some of the things you need to do to build a strong relationship with a new donor:
 Thank the donor for the favorable response. By approving your proposal, the donor has shown that
your work is valued. You need to respond in a way that shows that you value the donor’s commitment
and support.  Keep the donor up-to-date on what is going on in the project and/or the organization.
This means sending regular reports and information that may be of use or interest to the donor. If
you have done your homework properly, you should be able to personalize this process of keeping the
donor up-to-date. For example: “As we know you are involved in supporting similar work in other
developing countries, we thought you would be interested in this case study on our AIDS orphans
project.”
 Invite donors to your events – even if you think they may not be able to come.
 Meet the reporting requirements of the donor. This means providing the right  information
(narrative and financial), in the right format, at the right time. As soon as you sign a contract
with a donor, diarise when reports are due. Make a note in your diary for a month before the
reports are due so that you have them ready on time.
Set mechanisms in place for collecting the information that will be required. You need a monitoring
and evaluation system (See the toolkit on Monitoring and Evaluation). Keep the documentation that
is required. Be available for meetings with representatives of the donor. Be ready to answer
questions, organize field trips, and/or explain details. Wherever possible, get donor
representatives into the field where they can meet the people whom the donor contribution is
actually helping.  Keep communication open at all times.
Make sure that you know what the donor is hoping to get from the relationship, and then provide it.
If you have done your homework well, you will know what the donor is interested in. You can also
ask: “What can we do or provide that will help you in your work?” It may be information, it may be
participation in conferences, it may just be the sharing of experiences. In this way, the
donor/project relationship becomes a real partnership.REMEMBER THAT, BY SERVICING YOUR DONORS, YOU
CREATE THE POTENTIAL
FOR LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS.

¡The Grantwriting Process
§Step One: Setting Funding Priorities
§Step Two: Drafting the Basic Proposal
§Step Three: Packaging the Proposal
§Step Four: Researching Potential Funders
§Step Five: Contacting and Cultivating Potential Funders
§Step Six: Responding to the Result
§
¡
¡

¡