WRITING CENTER "INFORMATION PICK-UP" (S.S.C.C.)

GRANT WRITING:

• WHAT IS A GRANT? WHAT PARTS ARE THERE TO A GRANT? WHAT ARE CATEGORIES OF SUPPORT?

• WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO WRITING A GRANT?

• WHAT CHARACTERISTICS MAKE A GRANT APPLICATION STRONG?

• WHAT IS A GRANT? WHAT PARTS ARE THERE TO A GRANT? WHAT ARE CATEGORIES OF SUPPORT?

A grant is a proposal submitted to a funding agency (U.S. or state or local government, private organization, individuals, companies, and other sources) which requests financial support for a set purpose.

The parts of a grant include the following:

Cover Letter: This briefly describes the proposal, is written on letter head, gives a contact name and "humanizes" the application with some additional information.

Summary: This briefly provides an overview to the grant like an "abstract" to a paper. (This is usually written last.)

Introduction: This describes the applicant organization's history, qualifications for achieving certain stated goals (usually in line with the stated grant objectives), and establishes its credibility to carry the project/ work/ daily operations through (if funded).

Need Statement: This documents the needs or demands to be met by the proposed funding. This may deal with daily operations, or it may address a special project.

Objectives: This states exact, utilitarian, measurable and time-phased outcomes or results. Underlying these objectives is a social value, some benefit or payoff provided to the community through the project or actions of the organization.

Methods: This describes the strategies, programs, activities and actions to achieve the desired results. This shows the practical approach of how ideas are translated into actions with projected (positive and measurable) results. These must be not only logical but doable (practicable) and supportable by the past research in this subject.

Evaluation: This describes a strategy for deciding how well the methods are followed and the objectives are met.

This must clearly describe who will be evaluated and how (if applicable) ; what will be measured; methods of data collection; any testing instruments used; who will do the evaluation; the frequency of the evaluations; and how these evaluations will benefit the program.

(This provides a way for the grant which is a "paper ideal" to be tested as it is translated into action upon funding.)

Future Funding: This describes how the organization will fund or continue the proposal after the end of the grant period. Organizations which fund want as much impact for the dollar as possible, and they want to know that the applicant organization is committed to the worthwhile project it is proposing.

Budget: This details each expense and the general "income summary" of the projected plan. This may include the program staff salaries and benefits, necessary supplies and equipment, program-related travel or rent, printing costs, and so on.

Prices used should be at market value at contemporary prices. There should not be any "grant-padding" or extraneous charges, yet the budget should be as comprehensive as possible with consideration for any possible extenuating circumstance or need. Foresight is of crucial importance in formulating this.

THREE GENERAL TYPES OF PROPOSALS

1) LETTER OF INTENT: 2-page summary mailed to a potential funder to describe the project and in particular show how it fits the priorities of the funding organization

2) LETTER PROPOSAL: 3-page description of the proposal, brief information about the organization requesting the moneys and the actual request

3) LONG-PROPOSAL FORMAT: includes the cover letter, proposal summary, budget, and all the major components of a grant proposal

CATEGORIES OF SUPPORT:

Categories of support address the various types of funding which may be applied for in grants. For operating, special projects and capital/equipment, the funding is defined by the destination of the moneys. Endowments tend to be longer term and apply to the applicant organization's general budget.

OPERATING: This involves funds used to cover the running of programs.

SPECIAL PROJECTS: This deals with moneys for starting a new program or undertaking a project with a restricted time frame. Special projects often follow certain themes.

CAPITAL/EQUIPMENT: This aspect of fund-raising deals with "funds for construction, remodeling and renovation, building expansion, and the purchase of land or equipment."

ENDOWMENTS: This type of support comes as part of a gift in which the principal of the endowment is held as a long-term investment for the organization with the interest income used for operating needs.

• WHAT ARE THE STEPS TO WRITING A GRANT?

1) Develop a clear plan on what it is your organization would like to do realistically (given the group's size, scope, staff, history and expertise), how that fits in with the organization objectives, how that would fit in with the potential funding organization's goals, and so forth.

2) Research the funding organizations thoroughly and show the "mesh" between their goals and the applicant organization's proposal.

3) Target your proposal carefully.

4) Write a concise proposal which clearly expresses the above and is well-revised and well-edited.

• WHAT CHARACTERISTICS MAKE A GRANT APPLICATION STRONG?

1) The proposal should be easy to read (in plain language), informative, visually-pleasing, and well-edited. Jargon and highly-specialized language should be avoided. Acronyms should all be explained. Colloquialisms should be avoided as well. A level of formality should be maintained in a grant application.

2) Be sure that every assertion made is supported by well-documented (and well-cited) facts, statistics, research, expert testimony and other evidence. If you assert a cause and effect, make sure that the "linkages" between the two are clearly established and logically-supported.

3) Get to the point. Omit any extraneous information. Grant readers must plow through much written material. Present your points well only.

4) Use an energetic and positive writing style. Show conviction in the goals and methodology of the project.

5) State your goal (a broad-based statement of the ultimate result of the change being undertaken--a result that is sometimes not reachable in the short term). This may be an ideal.

State your objective which is "a measurable, time-specific result that the organization expects to accomplish as part of the grant. It is much more narrowly defined than a goal. Like the goal, the objective is tied to the need statement." (Carlson)

6) Modify the proposal each time it is mailed to a potential funding source. (Remember that the grant must show knowledge of the funding source and should be tailored to that organization's objectives.)

Source:

Carlson, Mim. Winning Grants Step by Step" Support Centers of

America's Complete Workbook for Planning, Developing, and

Writing Successful Proposals. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

Publishers, 1995. (Revised 1998)