Grant writing is part science, part art. While most people prefer dental surgery to grant writing, the process is fairly painless if you follow a few of the simple steps discussed in this seminar. While this seminar focuses on federal grant applications, the same process can apply to state, foundation, corporate or other types of response to a request for proposals.

1. Grant Writing 101 - Preparing a Successful Proposal
John Izzo
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3. Today’s Speaker
John Izzo
Co-Founder,
Community Grants Associates, Inc.
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5. Grants
Grants Are Grants are NOT
• Competitive • Formula-Based
• Time Sensitive • Continual
• Project Based • For things or general
support
• Conditional
• “Free Money”

6. Preparing to Write
“When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers”
- Oscar Wilde

7. Issues
• Most Grants are lost • Power of Data
before writing begins
• Organizational • Collaboration
Issues
• Mission Driven $$
• Branding

8. Power of Data
• Rule: Funders increasingly demand
measurement
• Collection of data is meaningless without
management of data.
• Best Practices
• Longitudinal Data

9. Branding
• Rule: Run like a
business
• What is your
community profile
• Social Media

10. Collaboration
What it Means? What it Does?
• Want big $$- collaborate • Raises profile and shows
community buy-in
• Power of Synergy • Specialization & Cost
Saving
• Selection of Partners
• Reputable
• Add Value
• Play Nice with Others

11. Mission Driven $$$
Rule: Do not chase $$$- let your
mission lead to funding

12. What Do Funders Look For
• Social Research and Development
• Innovation is not scary!
– E.g. “Repeat”
• Reputable and Dynamic
• Need is OK – Results are Better

13. Finding Funders
continued
• Technology and Change
• Glass Pockets Initiative
• www.glasspockets.org
• Transparency in Funding and
What it Means

14. “Have you even seen how complex these things are? If
Einstein had to fill one these things out, God only knows
if we’d know what E equals”
Josiah Bartlett (as played by Martin Sheen on T.V. Show “The West
Wing”)
REVIEWING THE RFP

15. Approach
• Read critically
– What is mission and purpose?
– What about program design?
• Measurement
• Scoring Criteria
• Layout
• Read Conditional Language Unconditionally
• Review Scoring Criteria
– This will help set up the narrative

16. “Money often costs too much”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“A fire drill does not require a fire”
Bartholomew J. Simpson
FOLLOW THE MONEY?

17. Writing the Narrative
The Rules

18. The basics
• Follow the Directions (no matter how illogical)
• Good Writing is Good Writing
– Write to win, not to impress
– Simple sentence structure is better
• Data
– Current and relevant data please

19. Let the RFP Do The Work
• Contains all questions,
sub- questions and
scoring
• Organizing Principle &
Narrative Outline
• Scoring = How Much of
Narrative to Devote to
each section/question

20. Hemingway is Dead
• Answer the question……
• ….directly
• You are trying to convince people to give
you money!

21. The power of G*O*A*M*s
Grant Writing Pyramid
• Goals
G
O
• Objectives
A • Activities
M
s • Measures of Success

22. Goals & Objectives
Goals Objectives
• Typically One of Two • Align under goals
– E.g. Reduce Truancy in – Reduce truancy by at least
Minority Youth in East 20% in target population
Moncton
• Big Think but Be Real • Flesh out the steps to get
to goals
• While not Quantifiable- • Quantifiable
Believable

23. Activities
• The specific steps undertaken
– E.g. Identify 300 youth who meet project criteria over three year
life of project
– Provide after school programs/summer programs for 100 youth
per year.
• When, Where, Why, How
• Each activity is quantifiable when ever
possible

24. Measures for Success
• Below Activities • Cumulative- i.e. if met
for activities and
objectives likely will
reach goal
• Quantifiable
• Longitudinal – i.e.
how you met Goal
• Measure Against
Baseline Data
• MUST HAVE

25. Benefits of Approach
• The Process Builds on Itself
• Should Use in Project Design
• Makes Writing Evaluation Easy

26. Why Limit Goals
Goal #1 Goal #2
G G
O O
A A
M M
s s

27. Program Narrative = Story Telling
• The Funder Has Never Heard the Story
Before
– Grab Him or Her Quick Before Interest Lost
• Supported with Specific Data
– Your organization (annual report)
– Prior Proposals
• Walk me Though the Process
– Especially for Comprehensive Programs

28. Saving Space & Consistency
• Consistent Messaging
– Typically 2 -3 key messages in narrative
• Need for creativity
– E.g. if only 50% of a population has a high school diploma,
that means at least 50% have no college degree
• Importance of Page Limits
– Remember the limitations in the RFP
• Space Saving Devices
– Signals
– Tables, Charts, Footnotes, etc.

29. Evaluation
• A well- written proposal
should generate data
• Funders Demand It More
Often
• Qualitative vs. Quantitative
Measurement

30. Evaluation – cont’d
• Hiring and Outside Evaluator
– Credentials = Data/Statistical Expertise
– The evaluator should be involved in writing the
proposal
• Costs
• Evaluator can cost up to 10-15% of project budget
• Negotiate up front
• Do Your Homework

31. Evaluation and G*O*A*M*S
• Sets the basis of an evaluation
• Typically use it to set up evaluation table
• Power of Repetition
• Remember confidentiality protocols
– If applicable

32. Project Staff
• Appropriate people doing appropriate
things
• Percentage of time dedicated to the project
• Cultural Competency

33. Narrative
• Must be consistent with the rest of the
application
• Be persuasive
• Prepare Multiple Drafts & Have Someone
Review .

34. Budgets
• Very Important – Often
Overlooked
• Financial Road Map
• Involve Budget Folks Early

35. Sustainability
• What happens after the $$ is spent
– It is OK to talk about fundraising strategy
– Nobody likes to pay for everything
• Program Design

36. Support
• Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU)
• Letter of Commitment
• Letter of Support

37. MOU
• A Contract
• Each Party Specifies What They Will Do
• Usually Involves Legal Review
• Takes the Longest

38. Letter of Commitment v. Support
Letter of Commitment Letter of Support
• Written by Project • Provided by
Partner Politician or Other
Senior Official
• Partner Agrees to • Encouragement
Specific Tasks
• Stronger • Usually Weaker

39. Budgeting Pitfalls
Overselling Gold Plating
• Overly Competitive • Grant = Lottery Ticket
• Grant as Loss Leader • Red Flags
– Excessive Travel
– Entertainment
• Victory?
– Lifestyle Audit
• Consequences • Consequences

40. Matching
• Cash Match
• Usually Spend with Grant Funds
• A Variety of Sources
• Can Match Grants with Grants
• Limitations
• Sustainability
• In-Kind
• Fair Market Value
• Time CAN Equal Money
• Rule: No Such Thing as 110%

41. Winning and Losing
• Winning
• Thank You
• Kick-Off Event/Recognition
• Alert the Media
• Manage Well
• Losing
• How do I Improve
• Ask Why
• Schedule Phone Call/Meeting if Possible

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Chris Dumas
Chris@NonprofitWebinars.com
707-812-1234
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