Grant Writing DeMYSTiFied - Softcover

Payne, Mary Ann

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071738630 ISBN 13: 9780071738637

Publisher: McGraw Hill, 2010

Synopsis

Create the perfect proposal to win funding for your ideas and plans

Need money for your charity or project but do not know the first thing about writing a grant? Let this DeMYSTiFied book unravel the secrets of this process. It will take you step-by-step through the fundamentals--from writing a letter of inquiry to outlining and drafting the proposal. Each chapter concludes with a self-test that allows you to track your progress, and a comprehensive final exam at the end of the book gives you instant feedback on your new skills. Work at your own pace, and soon you will be able to craft a grant and win the precious resources you need.

• You'll learn how to:
• Write letters of intent
• Develop action plans and outlines
• Apply for government and foundation grants
• Avoid common grammatical errors
• Polish sentence structure

About this title

About the Author

Mary Ann Payne is an experienced wordsmith. She has helped many nonprofits successfully through the grant process.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Grant Writing DeMYSTiFieD

By Mary Ann Payne

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-07-173863-7

Contents

Preface
CHAPTER 1 Exploring Grantsmanship Basics
CHAPTER 2 Defining Your Project
CHAPTER 3 Creating a Budget
CHAPTER 4 Proving the Need
CHAPTER 5 Establishing Your Credibility
CHAPTER 6 Considering Ethical Issues
CHAPTER 7 Refining Your Program Design
CHAPTER 8 Focusing on Foundations
CHAPTER 9 Demystifying Government Funding
CHAPTER 10 Cultivating Corporate and Individual Gifts
CHAPTER 11 Reading Guidelines and RFPs
CHAPTER 12 Writing the Narrative
CHAPTER 13 Submitting Your Proposal
CHAPTER 14 Following Up and Starting Over
Glossary
Resources

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Exploring Grantsmanship Basics

The man on top of the mountain does not fall there.

Chinese Fortune Cookie

Ofelia teaches third grade in an inner-city school with a large immigrantpopulation. She asks each child to read aloud to their families every night for20 minutes. Recently three parents have shyly thanked her and admitted theydon't read English as well as their children. They read too well to enroll inthe literacy program at the library but not well enough to help their childrenwhen they stumble with a word. One mother said she was afraid she didn't alwaysunderstand the information that came with medicines for her child's asthma andasked Ofelia to read it for her. Another mother asked if she would considerteaching parents how to help their children with homework. Ofelia would love todo this, but she'll need teaching materials, training for herself, and money forchild care if this is going to be an ongoing project. Her classroom budget hasno money for programs like this, and she doesn't want to charge the parents.Maybe she can get a grant to at least try out the idea.

Michelle is a pre-med student interested in finding ways to help her grandmotherwho is having increasing difficulty moving around because of her arthritis.Michelle is not sure if she wants to go into research or clinical work, butshe's being encouraged by a favorite faculty member to write a grant proposaland explore some options.

Boyd is a junior faculty member at a land grant college; he wants to establish asmall but significant place for himself. He concentrated on corn breeding ingraduate school, but an infestation of corn borers played havoc with some of hisexperiments. Now he's wondering if he should shift his focus a bit andconcentrate on controlling or at least managing his enemy. To do that, he'llneed to find money outside the department's current budget.

You and thousands of other people like Ofelia, Michelle, and Boyd have bothpersonal and professional reasons for considering writing an application for agrant. You may have some reservations about your chances of getting money thisway, but a persistent project that needs funding keeps swimming just outsideyour consciousness. You've seen the ads that promise easy money, and you're morethan skeptical about their promises. You may have heard that grant writing isdifficult, and you wonder if you have the skills that are needed. In spite ofthese hesitations, however, you've decided it's time to at least explore theidea of finding a grant to underwrite a project that is important to you.

Congratulations! You've taken two important steps toward writing a successfulgrant proposal.

1. You have a passion for solving a problem, helping someone else, orfilling a gap in either services or knowledge that won't go away.

2. You are looking for a guide because you know this is new territorythat shifts quickly, and you want to follow basic steps without any falsepromises.

As you browse, and later read this book and complete the suggested activities,your passion will be needed to complete the myriad small, but time-consumingtasks that are part of the proposal-writing process. Your idea will become thekernel of a research or social service project that forms the core element inseeking and receiving a grant award.

Let's start with some of the common assumptions and misperceptions about thewhole field of grantsmanship. We'll concentrate on fleshing out your ideas inChapter 2.

Anyone Can Write a Grant Proposal

This is true. If you are comfortable with a computer, can organize your thoughtsin writing, know how to follow directions, and are patient, you have the basicskills needed for completing a funding request. It helps if you're curious, ableto work under tight deadlines, and have access to a copy of Adobe Acrobat Suite(the expensive version), which is helpful in filling out the increasing numbersof online submissions.

Anyone Can Receive a Grant

This is not true. The vast majority of grants are reserved for nonprofitorganizations, including colleges and universities, school districts, medicaland research centers, youth groups, and other community-based agencies. You'llhear and read the phrase "proof of 501(c)(3) status" until you want to scream.This IRS tax-exempt designation is required by most funders. In addition, eachfoundation and government entity has detailed guidelines on who can receivefunds and for what purposes they are to be spent. We'll explore how to decidewhether you are eligible for specific funds or not in Chapter 11. Fornow, let's look at broad groups of people and their relative chances forobtaining a grant.

• Faith-based organizations are now eligible for many federal and foundationgrants. This is a relatively recent development and more funds are availableeach year.

• The same holds true for private and charter schools—and individualteachers within schools.

• It's more difficult to get money if you're an individual. Limited funds areavailable for writers, photographers, musicians, and others in the fine arts,and for research purposes for people connected with a university, medicalcenter, or research institute. Money also exists for individual scholarships andfellowships, which are not technically considered grants but follow a verysimilar application pattern. Many self-employed people enter into a partnershipwith a nonprofit organization to do a joint project.

• There are even fewer grant funds available for small business firms. Contraryto the ubiquitous ads, the federal government does not provide money forstarting or expanding a business. Contracts are available, however, throughstate and local governments for such things as expanding child-care centers,creating energy-efficient technology, retraining unemployed workers, as well asfor specialized research and other forms of economic development. In addition,the Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov) provides a variety ofloans for small, women-owned, and minority business firms. Finally, governmentsat all levels procure products and services through a bidding process. Each ofthese funding streams requires documents that have some similarities to thegrant proposals this book covers.

• If you are a charity, but do not have 501(c)(3) status, you will need toimmediately apply to the IRS and your state's attorney general. Informationabout how to do this is covered in Chapter 5.

• Finally, if you have less than three years' experience as an organization orhave not received a research grant on your own, chances of foundation and/orgovernment money are very slim. Chapter 10 offers some options toexplore, but it's wise to know that the odds are stacked against you.

Grants Are a Fast Way to Get Money

This is not true! Obtaining a grant is probably the slowest way to raisemoney you can imagine. If you've forgotten to fill in all the blanks, missed thedeadline, or committed another obvious error, you may get a postcard within aweek or two saying your proposal has been denied. Otherwise, you'll wait untilthe foundation board or review panel acts before you hear anything. Manyfoundation boards meet quarterly so it will be three to four months at theearliest before you hear from them. Federal and state governments arenotoriously slow. Even after the award has been made, contracts must benegotiated and signed before you receive a check. Some government grants,especially in social services and mental health, reimburse you after youhave performed the services.

Grant Writing Is Simply Filling in a Form

This is F-A-L-S-E in capital letters. Although that is sometimes the last stepin applying for funds, writing is the smallest part of preparing a grantproposal. My first Head Start proposal took more than 200 hours to prepare. NowI estimate a proposal for a new client or a government grant will still takebetween 75 and 80 hours. That's because there's a lot more to asking for a grantthan the writing. Even the one-page ads that promise an easy path to fast cashlist several steps in the process. As the chapters in this book demonstrate, thebasic parts of "writing a grant" include:

• Defining a fundable project

• Demonstrating a need for the project and justifying its expense

• Showing that you or your group is the appropriate agent to implement theresearch or program

• Refining the proposal with details of objectives, activities, staffing,partners, and evaluation

• Researching and prioritizing funding sources

• Creating a realistic budget that supports the goals of the project

• Writing the narrative

• Preparing a presentation that meets the funder's requirements

It's wise to estimate your first submission for a major grant will take aminimum of three months and may require even more time if critical elements arenot in place. For example, if you have a clear picture of projects you want tofund, have a reputable connection with potential collaborators, and haveidentified a handful of funding sources, two months may be enough to prepare aletter of intent or a simple proposal. If, however, you've operated solo upuntil now, have no idea of how many teens will show up for a drumming workshop,or haven't done a literature search to see how many other people are working innanotech drug delivery, you'll want considerably more time to collect theinformation and connections you need.

Grants Are Free Money

This is another false statement. In addition to the energy, time, andmiscellaneous expenses involved in securing grant funds, all grants come withstrings attached.

• First, you have to use the money in the manner spelled out in your request. Ifyou write in your narrative that you will use the money to add music, art, andwriting experiences to a senior nutrition program, you can't use the funds torepair the roof when it leaks. Similarly, if you receive money for roof repairsand you find someone to donate time and materials to do the job, you can't usethe funds to pay the receptionist's salary. Occasionally, you can negotiate abudget adjustment but it is usually limited to a 10 percent variation andrequires serious negotiations and approvals.

• A corollary is that grant funds must be segregated in separate accounts withrigorous attention to accounting procedures and strict adherence to the approvedbudget. The penalty for playing loose with funds is the very real possibilitythat you will need to return the entire grant, including money already spent,when the irregularities are discovered.

• Record-keeping and reporting is often more complex when a grant is involvedthan when the funds come from other sources. People who attend a golf tournamentare content to know their money goes to provide swimming lessons and summercamps for low-income kids. Your board wants to know if the grant covered thecost of the swimming and camp as predicted. A foundation is interested in howmany kids took swimming lessons, how many attended camp, and how many more kidslearned to swim or went to camp because of their contribution. The federalgovernment will ask how many unduplicated kids between the ages of five andtwelve attended six or more swimming lessons, what specific skills they gained,and how their new self-confidence and friendships had an impact on the level ofviolence at summer camp. This is not a particularly good example, but you getthe idea and can use your imagination to see similar levels of reporting forresearch projects.

• Many costs will not be covered by grant funds. Some you may know about inadvance, such as administrative overhead, the annual audit, or the agreed-uponmatching funds. Some may appear because you forgot to include something in thebudget, and some will occur because situations change. Unless you're verycareful, your grant can cost you more money than you expected.

Grant Money Will Sustain Your Program

The answer to this statement is yes and no. While some child-care, mentalhealth, juvenile justice, substance abuse, and research programs rely heavily ongovernment grants, it's unwise to count on grant funds or government contractsto operate your entire agency or research effort. You probably can't even make asignificant dent in a major project with grants. It doesn't matter whether youraward is $500, $50,000 or $5 million, you will need funds to supplement anymoney you receive from grants to implement your proposal.

Why? Reasons include:

• Grants are awarded for specific activities for a specific period of time. Theyhave a beginning and an end. Although an increasing number of grants are madefor three to five years, most awards are for a single year. Sometimes you canreapply each year. Most often, you can't.

• Individuals, foundations, and government agencies like to see you have astrong enough commitment to your project to garner and invest local resources inits success. People who give money to others like to be partners, not sugardaddies.

• All funders report receiving many more requests than they can fund. The ratiovaries from foundation to foundation and even between programs within governmentdepartments. In 2005, the National Institutes of Allergies and InfectiousDiseases (NIAID) that is part of the National Institute of Health (NIH) received43,069 applications and was able to fund 23.3 percent of them. If you do themath, you'll realize over 33,000 proposals were rejected. As more people applyand less money is available, this kind of percentage is becoming increasinglycommon. To stretch the money as far as it will go, some funders will also giveyou less than you requested so they can support more organizations and projects.

• Even if you receive everything you ask for, you are responsible for sustainingthe project after the grant funds expire. Just as it's easier to find a new jobwhile you're still employed, it's easier to raise money when you don't need itfor survival.

• Most importantly, funders want to give away money. They don't want to conductresearch or provide direct services themselves. They want to help many groupsworking in a field that advances their mission rather than operate a lab oragency on their own.

We'll look briefly at ways to efficiently and effectively gather additionalfunds in Chapters 8 and 10. In the meantime, keep an eye openfor ways to address this fact of life. Now let's look at two assumptions thatare a bit more subtle.

Grant Writers Speak Their Own Language

Again, this is a true and false statement. Every field has its ownlanguage that quickly becomes jargon. Grant writing is no exception. If you area purist, you don't write grants. You write proposals for grants. A grant ismoney given for a specific purpose that doesn't need to be repaid. Those of uswho "write grants" don't print the checks or even sign them. We define aproject, collect appropriate materials to justify the need, and write anapplication requesting the awarding of that money. We "propose" opportunitiesfor a foundation, corporation, or government agency to give away its funds.

There is an extensive glossary at the back of the book, and Chapter 9lists abbreviations for government divisions that make grants. Since I don't useabbreviations when I write a proposal, I try not to use them in the book. A fewacronyms and some unfamiliar words are sure to creep in, however. To aid yourreading, here is some of the most frequently used jargon I share with othergrant seekers, philanthropists, and the government, listed in the approximateorder of frequency with which you'll hear and eventually use them yourself.

• RFP—Request for Proposal. This is the formal, printedannouncement in the Federal Register that describes federal government fundsthat are open for applications. Over the years, it has become synonymous withany notice of available funds from all levels of the government and public andprivate foundations. Since all the rules and regulations for a particular grantare contained in this single document, the RFP will be your indispensible guideto applying for each grant. Also, because people can't leave a good thing alone,a host of variations have appeared. RFA (Request for Funding Assistance), NOFA(Notice of Funding Availability), SGA (Solicitation for Grant Applications), FFO(Federal Funding Opportunity), and FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement) are afew current ones.

• NPO—Nonprofit Organization. Databases of funding sources andbrief announcements of RFPs often abbreviate the types of organizations that canapply for funds.

• AVO—All Volunteer Organization

• CBO—Community-Based Organization. Sometimes the same as an NPO;sometimes AVOs, FBOs, and NPOs grouped together

• FBO—Faith-Based Organization

• LEA—Local Education Agency. Usually a school district or countyoffice of education

• IHE—Institution of Higher Education. Colleges, universities,trade schools

• 501(c)(3)—Section of the IRS code that designates anorganization as charitable and tax exempt. The vast majority of foundationsrequire grant recipients to be 501(c)(3) organizations.

• LOI—Letter of Intent. A brief, often one-page, lettersummarizing your grant request that is increasingly requested as a preliminaryscreening step by foundations. Since it's often difficult to write a summarybefore you have written the entire proposal, an LOI requires all the planningand decisions regarding a project are in place before you send it.

• Program Office. A staff member of a government agency, foundation, orcorporate-giving program who administers the application process. This isusually the person who has practical answers to questions about a fundingopportunity you are researching.

• Collaborators. Partners who have come together from differentorganizations or disciplines to work on a mutually beneficial project orprogram. The vast majority of government grants require some form ofcollaboration, and once again, foundations are following the trend. Members caninclude public and private organizations, government agencies, and individuals.In Chapters 2 and 7, we'll explore a variety of possiblepartnership arrangements

• Sustainability. The expectation that ongoing funds to continue theresearch or project will be raised from other sources when the grant expires.Both government and foundation applications often ask for a sustainability plan.

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Excerpted from Grant Writing DeMYSTiFieD by Mary Ann Payne. Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
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Edition details

• Publisher: McGraw Hill
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0071738630
• ISBN 13: 9780071738637
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240