This document provides tips for applying for grant funding from the Tennessee Energy Education Initiative. It advises applicants to determine eligibility, understand the goals of the grant and grant administrator, understand their own project and how it meets the grant's goals, commit necessary resources, and secure additional support like financing partners and letters of commitment. Key steps include checking eligibility, reviewing the scoring criteria to understand what the grant prioritizes, clearly articulating the project and its impacts in terms of energy savings, jobs, and other benefits, and making the application easy for reviewers to evaluate.

1. Grant Program Application Tips
Tennessee Energy
Education Initiative

2. ARiES ENERGY
Alternative, Renewable, innovative, Economic Solutions for Energy
Turnkey Energy Solutions
• Energy Business Plans
• Renewable Energy
Design & Installation
• Grant Writing
• Service and Maintenance
• Reporting

3. Help your clients go from…..

4. $1.65
…… To this. Over $1.65 Million received in grant
funding for clean energy investments since 2009.

5. Grant 101
• Determine Eligibility
• Understand the Goals of the
Grant /Grant Administrator
• Understand your Project
• How does your Project Meet the
Goals of the Grant?

6. Commitment
• If you are working with a client, get an upfront
commitment
– Financial deposit
– Three years of financial statements
– Feasibility study
– Access to an internal person that is dedicated to the
project

7. Determine Eligibility
• Before beginning any work, make sure that you
are eligible for the grant
• Eligibility is often determined by:
– Geography
– Type of Entity (non-profit, municipality, business, etc.)
– Organization/Business Size
• Annual Revenue
• # of Employees
• Do not hesitate to contact the grant administrator
to confirm eligibility

8. Understand the Goals of the Grant and
Grant Administrator
• If you don’t understand the goals of the grant, your
chances for success are slim
– Examples:
• Clean Energy
• Economic Development
• Education
• If the goals are not readily apparent to you: Work
Backwards
– Find or request the grant scoring sheet
• Determine all of the ways your project achieves the
goals of the grant based on the scoring criteria
– Make a checklist

9. Make a Checklist based on
the Scoring Criteria
• Include all of the Paperwork
• Evaluate your grant proposal before submitting
– Include all of the information the grant administrator
needs to make an informed decision
• Energy offset, financial estimate, size, cost, certification

10. Understand your Project
• Clearly articulate what you are doing
– a picture is worth a thousand words
• Do not assume the grant administrator knows
what your project is (technology, process, etc.)
• ONLY include relevant details
– Refer to scoring criteria and goals of grant
• Think bigger picture. How is your project
significant?
– Technology
– Costs
– Location / who and what you are impacting
– Benefits of project

11. • The paper work is half the battle
• Understand your project & be able to
communicate it to others
– Build confidence
• Be prepared and ready to submit your
application when programs open!
• One of the keys to your success is:
Readiness
Understand your Project

12. How does your Project Meet the Goals
of the Grant?
• Make it easy for your grant administrator to determine
why grant funding invested in your project will have
positive results
• $$$ invested here = what
• Quantify as much as possible
– $$$$
– kWhs saved
– kWhs clean energy produced
– Emissions reduced
– # of jobs created

13. How does your Project Meet the Goals
of the Grant?
• Think bigger picture
• Will the project/investment provide indirect
benefits to the community?
– Are matching funds federal and/or state dollars that
you are bringing into your community?
– Other Expenditures?
• Local permitting costs
• Hiring local labor
• Supporting local hotels & restaurants
– Visible application of your technology?
– Is your project replicable, is the impact long-term?

14. Additional Support
Secure a Financing Partner
– Financing Partners / Matching Funds significantly
strengthen your application
Over $210,000 awarded in grant funding since 2010

15. Additional Support
Letters of Commitment / Support
– Build confidence with third-party support.
– If other credible individuals/entities understand the
value of your project and want to do business with
you, why wouldn’t the grant administrator?

16. Make it easy.
• Grants are competitive.
• Follow Directions.
• Answer the questions.
• Be Clear & Concise.
• See Results.
Take care of
the
paperwork.

17. Thank You!
Alternative, Renewable, innovative, Economic Solutions for Energy
(first name)@ARiESEnergy.com
www.ARiESEnergy.com
865-309-4NRG
• Mary Shaffer Gill
• Harvey Abouelata
• Patrick West
• Stefan Partin
• Brandt Womack