1. HELP ME HELP YOU
WRITE A GRANT
A primer
By Dena Gould
San Jose State University
FALL 2012
Patty Wong

2. OUTLINE
 GRANT & FUNDING VOCABULARY
 ASSESSING THE NEEDS/WANTS
 DETERMINING FUNDER GOALS
 PROGRAM READINESS AND PREPARATION
 PREPARING TO SUBMIT TO FUNDER
 ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
 INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS
 ALTERNATIVE RESOURCES AND APPROACH PRIORITIES

3. GOALS
Ethics & confidentiality, integrity of the
process for the client and the
funder, intellectual freedom issues
 Integration of mission and vision of
organization with funder priorities
Environmental scan of existing and
immediate local resources

4. VOCABULARY
Types of Grants
• 11 Private
• 3 Government
Useful terms

5. GRANTS
 Capital-Building=funds used to purchase land and
construct, renovate, or expand buildings and facilities. Major equipment
 Capacity-Building=Helps agencies and NP strengthen their internal
operations, to be more effective/efficient in their missions
 Challenge=requires grantee to generate additional funds from other
sources
 Demonstration=implement an innovative project or program
 Research=made to support specific project that has primary purpose
of inquiry or examination into facts, studies, or investigations

6. GRANTS C O N T.
 Emergency= To assist an agency through extraordinary short-term
difficulties
 General Operating Support= General purpose
 Matching= Requires awardees to provide certain amount and funders
provide the rest
 Project/Program=Used for specific initiative or new endeavor
 Seed=Designed to help start a new project or new organization
 Technology= Provides funding for technology

7. GOVERNMENT
 Discretionary= Federal or state grants for which individual
libraries, community organizations, schools, and local governments are
eligible to apply.
 Formula= Federal or state government to a lower of level of
government where specific monetary amount is determined based on a
formula
 Block=Federal grant awarded to state or local governments for
specific need or issue.

8. USEFUL TERMS
 Duns & Bradstreet number=unique 9-digit number used to
keep track of more than 70 million businesses worldwide.
 Environment Scan=survey the neighborhood of possible donors
and supporters.
 In-kind support=a non cash donation of labor, facilities, or
equipment to carry out a project.

9. DUN & BRADSTREET
 D-U-N-S® Number - Data Universal Numbering System or D-U-
N-S® Number is copyrighted, proprietary means of identifying
business entities on a location-specific basis.
EX: 77-038-9565

11. IN KIND BUDGET
Non-cash donation of
labor, facilities, or equipment to carry
out a project. Always included in
budget at fair-market value

12. CONTINUED
PEOPLE
 Grant coordinator=The individual responsible for all activities
involved in the grant, including
planning, submission, evaluation, implementation, and follow-up.
 Grant team= comprised of representatives from library
leadership, community advisors, grant researchers, grant writers, subject
matter experts, staff members who will plan and implement the grant

13. GRANT PROPOSAL
COMPONENTS
 TITLE SHEET COVER LETTER
 TABLE OF CONTENTS PROPOSAL SUMMARY
 STATEMENT OF NEEDS PROJECT DESCRIPTION
 APPROACH / METHODOLOGY BUDGET
 EVALUATION PLAN LETTER OF INTENT
 LETTER OF SUPPORT REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
 PROPOSAL
 ORIGANZATIONAL OVERVIEW

14. KNOW YOUR CLIENT
YOU ARE THE CLIENT
 We will assess the Library’s needs and wants:
mission, vision, existing and future programs and services
 We will identification key potential grantors
 Grant Coordinator will then research grants and alternative
funding sources. Begin funding priorities template.

15. DETERMINING FUNDER
GOALS
Learning about the funder organization
Preparing for the first contact
Documentation accumulation

16. PROGRAM READINESS AND
PREPARATION
Internal Library team development
Gathering supporting documents.
Goals and objectives for the program including
implementation and evaluation criteria

17. PREPARING TO SUBMIT TO
FUNDER
Writing, editing and preparing the
proposal/grant request/application and
implementation
Obtain proofreader~either internal or
external

18. ANALYSIS OF RESULTS
Is more research needed?
• Annual IRS information
• Annual reports
• data mining of like organizations
• partnerships and joint ventures

19. INGREDIENTS FOR
SUCCESS
 Marketing and promotion
 Program/project management
 Documentation of success
 Communication with funder
 Community and staff
 Evaluation and success metrics

20. A LT E R N AT I V E R E S O U RC E S
WEBSITES
 Grant Seekers’s Handbook by Harvey Chess
http://www.cnmsocal.org/resources/fundraising-and-
marketing/grant-seekers-handbook-intro.html
 Foundation Directory Online
http://fconline.fdncenter.org/

21. MORE RESOURCES
BOOKS
MacKellar, P. & Gerding, S. (2010). Winning Grants.
New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishers.