1. Diana Bowman National Center for Homeless Education D EVELOPING S TRONG G RANT P ROPOSALS A N O VERVIEW FOR B EGINNERS NAEHCY 2013

2. Slide 2 Q UESTIONS W E ’ LL A DDRESS 1. What is a grant? 2. How do you select a grant to apply for? 3. How do you review a request for proposals? 4. How do you develop a strong proposal? 5. How do you become an successful grant writer?

3. Slide 3 W HAT IS A G RANT ?  Funder  Funder’s idea or priorities: Purpose or vision for how the funder wants the money spent  Entities eligible to apply  Requirements the recipient must meet (contractual relationship) The funder calls the shots!

4. Slide 4 W HAT IS A G RANT ? (C ONT.)  Requirements  Application  Timeline  Allowable expenses  Reporting and evaluation  Usually competitive

5. W HAT IS A GRANT ? (C ONT.) Grant  You write to the funder’s idea  The proposal is what sells  Not as much relationship building  You follow the funder’s requirements  Your job is to convince the funder that  you will bring his/her vision to reality  you will be a good steward of the money  your idea is the best idea among other applications Philanthropy  You have an idea (need) that you want a funder to support  More awareness needed  Relationship sells  Personal approach  More face-to-face  Funds often have fewer requirements National Center for Homeless Education Hhtp://www.serve.org/nche SLIDE 5

6. Slide 6 H OW DO YOU F IND G RANT O PPORTUNITIES ?  Online – research education grants from chains (Target, Wal-Mart, Office Depot) and from local businesses and foundations  Read the local newspaper for where organizations are getting funding  Look for “sponsor” information for events

7. Slide 7 H OW TO D ETERMINE IF YOU S HOULD A PPLY ?  What is the purpose of the grant?  Will the grant meet a need of my program?  Are you (your organization) eligible to apply?  How many grants do they award?  What have they funded in the past?  Do I have time and support to complete the application?

8. Slide 8 H OW TO D ETERMINE IF YOU S HOULD A PPLY ?  Consider cost-benefit analysis: what are the chances of winning if I put in the time and effort on an application?  Consider: is there a good intersection between the funder’s idea and my program’s need?  Don’t force fit your need into the grant purpose (mission creep)

9. Slide 9 U NDERSTANDING THE A PPLICATION  What are the requirements?  Deadline for submission  Page/word limit, spacing  Allowable expenses (salaries, indirect, equipment, office support, transportation)  If in doubt, ask

10. Slide 10 M EET YOUR R EVIEWERS

11. Slide 11 R EVIEWERS  Their job is to get through a lot of applications is a short amount of time  Initial screening for one missed instruction usually means that your proposal will be rejected Tip: Make a checklist of all requirements; provide to your internal reviewers.

12. Slide 12 D EVELOPING THE P ROPOSAL  Clear, EROR-FREE, succinct writing  Make it readable, don’t try to save space with a smaller font or dense text.  Provide all the information requested  Don’t make reviewers dig for information  Logical order (reflected in the rfp)  Section headers  No unexplained abbreviations or jargon

13. Slide 13 D EVELOPING THE P ROPOSAL  Use good judgment for what you need to create awareness and keeping the application tight  Use data  Use charts, graphs, flow charts, and visuals that communicate a lot of information quickly

14. Slide 14 S IZZLE AND SPARK It’s all about persuasion:  You bring energy and creativity that will make the funder look good.  Your outcomes are the funder’s outcomes; your agency is committed and excited about achieving them.  Your program is well-conceived, doable, and will achieve the expected results.  Your staff has excellent qualifications and will get the job done efficiently and effectively.  The funds will be managed carefully and used wisely.

15. Slide 15 R ED F LAG P HRASES  “We will make every effort to …”  “Research has proven that …”  “We will collaborate with …”  “We hope that …”  “TBD”

16. Slide 16 L OGIC AND A LIGNMENT OF I DEAS Your proposal must be logical and explicit. “I think you should be more explicit here in step two.”

17. A LIGNMENT OF A LL P ARTS National Center for Homeless Education Hhtp://www.serve.org/nche SLIDE 17 Funder PrioritiesNeed Goals/Objectives Activities ResultsBudget

18. Logic Model Thinking For information on logic models, download the Logic Model Development Guide from W.K. Kellogg Foundation, www.wkkf.org Apply “if-then” test to all components of the proposal

19. Slide 19 A RTICULATING THE N EED  Problem statement that relates to funder priorities  Based on data, not rhetoric – focus on local data  Visual and understandable (tables, graphs, charts)  Include only what’s most important; avoid “data overload”  Show the gap between “what is” & “what should be”  Provide context  Describe challenges, but be positive about potential  Only discuss needs that your project will actually do something to address

20. Slide 20 P ROJECT O BJECTIVES  Results that beneficiaries will exhibit, not activities that the project will carry out  Clearly connected to the needs – by meeting its objectives, the project will reduce the gap described between “what is” and “what should be”  Concrete, realistic, achievable  Can be measured credibly and reliably

21. Slide 21 I DENTIFY THE A PPROPRIATE O BJECTIVE S TATEMENT ( S )  Objective 1: Set up three computers with reading and math tutoring software at the Pathways Shelter for middle school students.  Objective 2: Ninety percent of the middle school students who participate will demon- strate at least a five-point increase in reading and mathematics achievement.  Objective 3: Get reluctant learners excited about mathematics.

22. Slide 22 P ROJECT A CTIVITIES  Focus on obtaining the results stated in the project objectives  Specific plan – who, what, when, where. Can the funder tell how the money will be used?  Project management, personnel, and partners. Does the project have the capacity (experience, expertise, time commitment) to execute its plan?

23. Slide 23 B UDGET  Itemized, detailed budget (including explana- tion of how calculated figures were obtained)  All budget items are explicitly connected to project activities  All expenses are allowable in the funding guidelines  Costs are reasonable; no “padding”  Include and explain any other support for the project (in-kind or matching funds)

24. Slide 24 P ROJECT EVALUATION  How will you know if your activities are having the desired results?  Directly linked to project objectives – evaluation is the measurement of the results listed in the objectives.  Describe what data will be collected, when, and who will do it.  What data will be used to keep the project on-track (formative evaluation)?

25. Slide 25 H OW TO B ECOME AN E FFECTIVE G RANT W RITER  Write proposals – work with experienced grant writers when possible  Take a grantwriting workshop (look into free offerings); explore online resources  When not accepted, ask to see reviewer comments  Volunteer to review proposals  Cultivate your “cranky reviewer” alter ego to review your own proposals

26. Slide 26 Y OUR P ROPOSAL ’ S J OB IS TO A SSURE THE FUNDER THAT :  You understand their interests and priorities  Their money will meet a real need related to their interests and priorities  You are experienced, credible, and can do what you say you’ll do  You have a clear focus on results; they will get “bang for their bucks”  You are fiscally responsible; their money will be spent well

27. Slide 27 P RESENTER I NFO Diana Bowman, Director National Center for Homeless Education dbowman@serve.org 336-315-7453 www.serve.org/nche