1. Writing A Grant—From Start To Finish
Workshop 5:
Submitting Your Proposal—And
Beyond!
Educational Resource Development
& LCC Foundation
April 17, 2018

2. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Last week we discussed
Working with collaborative partners
Planning and running effective meetings
Documenting grant proposal work
Evaluating the grant
preparation process
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

3. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
This week we’ll discuss
Submitting your grant application:
Prepare the proposal for submission
Plan to implement the project if funded
After you’ve submitted the application:
Follow up with the potential funder
Discuss grant process with LCC and LCC Foundation
when your proposal is funded
Track the project and prepare grant reports
Build and maintain relationships with funders
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

4. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Personal reflection
Has there been any forward motion
with developing a grant-related project
idea?
Have you applied any
workshop information
in your day-to-day work?
If so, what were the
outcomes?
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

5. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Preparing to submit an application
Check all application requirements carefully-
Table of contents
Narrative, budget, budget narrative
Sequence
Acceptable font
Spacing or page limits
Headers/footers
Page numbers
Other forms and attachments
Signatures
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

6. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Federal grant format requirements sample
Limit the application narrative, including the budget narrative, to no more than 65 pages
A “page” is 8.5" x 11", on one side only, with 1" margins at the top, bottom, and both sides. Page numbers and an identifier may be within the 1" margin.
Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch) all text in the application narrative, including charts, tables, figures, and graphs. Titles, headings, footnotes, quotations, references, and captions may be singled spaced.
Use a font that is either 12 point or larger, or no smaller than 10 pitch (characters per inch).
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

7. Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!
Typical private foundation blurb
BECAUSE OF THE EXTENSIVE NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS TO BE REVIEWED,
APPLICATIONS NOT FOLLOWING ALL INSTRUCTIONS CANNOT BE CONSIDERED.
Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!

8. Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!
Preparing a project summary
Often required in foundation or corporate grant applications
On the cover page
At start of application narrative
Follow word number, space, or length requirements
If no requirements, keep to one paragraph (roughly
6 sentences):
Project goals and objectives
Project delivery area/population served
Project partners
Use the same language as in the narrative
Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!

9. Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!
Preparing a cover letter
Cover letters are not often used in grant applications,
but if needed
Provide a brief (1 page) synopsis including:
¶ 1. Applicant name, project name, which grant
you’re applying for project name, project
goal (sometimes $ amount requested)
¶ 2. Overview or project highlights
¶ 3. Project partners—internal and
external—and their roles
¶ 4. Thanks for considering us; your contact person.
Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!

10. Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!
Preparing a project abstract
Usually required in federal grants
Are a separate document from the narrative
Provide a brief (typically 1 page) project summary
use the same language as in the
narrative
Required info will be laid out in the RFP
May have format requirements
May count towards page limit
Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!

11. Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!
Submission package examples
Capital Region Community Foundation: Impact Grant
%20Grant%20Application%20%20Final.pdf
Michigan Humanities Council: Submit a draft proposal
draft-proposal/
Kellogg Foundation: Are you eligible to apply?
=24bf f b7a7-96bd78992f62&LanguageID=0
Department of Education: TRIO Student Support Services
(Click on Federal Register Notices)
Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!

12. Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!
Submitting the application
ERD Process
Need LCC review and approval to submit
ERD circulates entire package for review and
approval at least a week before the due date
ERD finalizes and submits the grant package
LCC Foundation Process
Dean knows but no
institutional approval
needed
No commitment of college
resources
Submitting Your Proposal– And Beyond!

13. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Follow up with potential funders
Foundations and Corporations
Some funders post a grant decision timeline on their website
Many funders will respond to an or call about an application's status
Wait at least three months after submitting
an application to contact them
Many boards of directors don’t meet monthly or have separate application review meetings
Beverly A. Browning, Grant Writing For Dummies, 5th edition
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

14. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Follow up with potential funders
Federal Agencies
After submitting, applicants receive two separate grants.gov s
1) Acknowledge receiving the application
2) Confirm the application was received
Government departments discourage, and often prohibit, contacting their staff during grant review
Applicants are encouraged to let their legislators know the application was submitted
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

15. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
If a grant is awarded
Thank the funder (foundation and corporate grants)
Contact government legislators (federal grants)
Review, complete, and submit required forms and contracts on time (all grants)
Federal and state grant acceptance documents need college approval before submitting (ERD)
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

16. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Additional grant award process steps
ERD will:
Contact the Center for Data Science if they are involved with the project
Hold an award start-up meeting
Attend periodic grant expenditure review meetings
led by Grants Finance
The LCC Foundation will:
Complete any required paperwork
Coordinate ongoing information exchange with the
funder
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

17. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
If your grant proposal isn’t funded…
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

18. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
…Take these steps
Thank the funder for considering your request
(foundation and corporate)
Ask for feedback on why it wasn’t funded
Some funders will not provide this
Some federal agencies provide reviewers’
comments or follow-up with the program officer
Use as an opportunity to build a stronger connection
Notify project partners
Follow up with legislators, if appropriate
Never be argumentative!
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

19. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Challenges of project delivery
Need to hire new project staff for start-up
Need to replace project staff who leave
Project partner withdraws
Unforeseen organizational
problems arise (department
reorganization, change in
leadership, etc.)
Project start is delayed
Project isn’t working as anticipated
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

20. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
When a good grant goes wrong
Despite your best efforts, sometimes things go wrong. If so
Do: Call the funder to report project deviations
Do: Seek funder approval to change how you spend the grant funds
Don’t: Wait until project ends to reveal problems
Legal and ethical implications
Credibility with funder
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

21. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
What if you don’t spend all the $$s?
Some funders will extend
the funding period
You may lose any unspent
funds
You may weaken the
funder relationship
Regular grant finance meetings can help
prevent this scenario
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

22. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Preparing grant reports
Required information for all reports includes
Project
Is project delivery on track with the proposed activities and timeline?
Finance
Are funds being used as budgeted?
Evaluation
Is quantitative and qualitative information being collected?
Additional information may be requested
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

23. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Preparing grant reports
Track project implementation and outcomes
Know who will prepare and submit reports
The LCC Foundation will help with grants
they submitted
Follow funder’s requirements,
formats, and deadlines
Work with Grants Finance and
Center for Data Science
as needed
Send ERD a copy of federal grant reports
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

24. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Dr. Samuel Johnson, to an aspiring writer:
“Your manuscript is both good and original; but the part that is good is not original, and the part that is original is not good.”
Using skills from these workshops can
help your project plan, case statement,
and grant application be both good
and original—
and also
Secure funds that can support your work and
the work of the college
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

25. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
What next steps might you take to
Develop a project idea
Integrate grant-related practices into
your daily work (seeking project partners, facilitating meetings, tracking project delivery, etc.)
Optional Workshop 6
will provide time and assistance
to work on these steps
There will be no formal
presentation
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!

26. Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!
Contact ERD and the LCC Foundation:
ERD
Jeanne Donado, Grant Development Coordinator
ext. 1307
Vivian Keeney, Grant System Coordinator
ext. 1581
LCC Foundation
Dan McKean, Executive Director, ext. 1987
Retta Parsons, Scholarship and Operations Coordinator, ext. 1989
Submitting Your Proposal—And Beyond!