This active writing workshop will teach participants to prepare competitive proposals for exhibitions and general operating support grants. Learn how to describe projects with language that INSPIRES funding. Attendees will write a Letter of Inquiry, create a Logic Model, write a Goal and Objectives, and prepare an Evaluation Plan. We will give and receive constructive feedback. You can bring a proposal in progress or a previous grant application to work on.

1. Grant Writing Workshop to
INSPIRE funding for your
museum
with
Ariel Weintraub
Associate Director, Institutional Giving
Oakland Museum of California
and
Pomai Toledo
Director of Development and Communications
Iolani Palace

3. Outcomes
• Grant Proposal Basics
• Writing Practice
• Learn about individual writing strengths and
challenges
• Know and feel comfortable with what it takes
for your organization to submit successful
grant applications

6. Mission:
The Oakland Museum of California inspires all
Californians to create a more vibrant future for
themselves and their communities.

7. Mission:
E malama, hoihoi hou, wehewehe, kaana a hoohiwahiwa i
keano laha ole o ka moomeheu, ka moaukala a me ka mana o
ka Hale Alii o Iolani a me kona pa no ka pono o ke kanaka oiwi
a me ka poe o Hawaii nei a me ko ke ao nei.
To preserve, restore, interpret, share, and celebrate the
unique cultural, historical, and spiritual qualities of Iolani
Palace and its grounds for the benefit of native Hawaiians, the
people of Hawaii, and the world.

8. THE FACTS (Oakland Museum of CA)
• Average of 175,000 visitors annually
• Over 50,000 school children, teachers and families each
year served by school and family programs
• 750 volunteers participate as docents, community
guides, and serve on museum boards, guilds, and
councils.
• More than 1.9 million objects pertaining to California.
• Three collections exhibition galleries devoted to
California art, cultural history and environment
• 3 large temporary exhibitions each year plus smaller
exhibitions
• Over 200 educational programs presented annually
including Friday Nights with Off the Grid with half-price
admission from 5pm to 9pm weekly
• $15 Mil. Budget

9. THE FACTS (Iolani Palace, Honolulu, HI)
• Former residence of Hawaii’s reigning monarchs (King Kalakaua
and Queen Liliuokalani prior to the overthrow of the Kingdom of
Hawaii) built in 1882, restoration began in 1969
• Had electricity, 1886, before the White House in Washington, DC
• Cultural epicenter of the native Hawaiian people
• Average of 200,000 visitors annually
• 7,024 school children from Hawaii, continental United States,
Japan and Hong Kong visited in 2017
• 150 volunteers assist the Guest Services, Special Events,
Administrative, Curatorial and Education departments annually
• Oversees a little over 5,000 objects from the Kingdom of Hawaii
• $2.9M annual budget approved for FY2018-19

10. GRANT APPLICATION ELEMENTS
I. Organization/Project Description WHO? And WHERE?
Mission, Attendance, Audience, Collection, History, Geography
II. Goals and Objectives WHY?
Tell us the goals of the project and how they align with your mission, describe
the activities you will undertake, indicate the population served.
III. Desired Outcome of Project Success WHY?
Please tell us in your own words what this project intends to accomplish.
Define the need in the community. When applicable, please present
data/evidence that documents the significance of the issue.
IV. Project Description and Workplan WHAT and HOW?
Specify the resources (personnel, partnerships, funding, time, etc.) that will be
used, provide a timeline of events as appropriate.
V. Evaluation HOW?
How will you define programmatic success? Describe the evaluation
process(es) or method(s) you will use to measure your success.(i.e., pre and
post surveys, annual polling, focus groups, etc.).

11. Who, What, Why, Where, and How?
Project Title

12. WHAT?

13. Coming For Land Gallery Rotation
Summary of Project Description:
WHAT? The Marvelous Museum requests $20,000 from The
Most Fabulous Foundation to support the physical adaptation of
the “Coming For Land” section in the Gallery of California History.
This section highlights the stories of Californians involved in the
agricultural transformation that occurred between 1848 and the
1920s when the state's population grew from 380,000 in 1860 to
almost 3.5 million in 1920. In it, the Museum discusses both the
agricultural lives of people who lived on Ranchos in Southern
California, as well as the State sanctioned wars of extermination
of Native Californians, and the people who were losing their land
(and their lives) at that time. This section focuses on issues of
land ownership and use, the effects of agricultural practices from
the times of Native People through the 1920s, and the
foundations of the agricultural industry in California.

14. WHY?
Goal:
To use collections to curate an experience in the
Coming For Land section of the Gallery of
California History which catalyzes dialogue on the
California issues highlighted in this section,
inspiring action for the state’s future that is
grounded in an understanding of our history and
heritage.

15. Goals and Objectives

16. Measurable Objectives
Objective OMCA will complete the physical rotation of the Coming
For Land section both for conservation and reinterpretation.
Objective OMCA curators will work with the Native Advisory
Council to tell a more comprehensive story of the California Native
experience of the mid-1800s.
Action (Verb), Units (How Many?), Population, Description
Sample: Build – Gallery Rotation – Native History
Sample: Partner – 10 – Native Californians – Contemporary Stories
Sample: Serve – 500 – school children- school tours

17. Ariel’s 10 Writing Tips
(HANDOUT)
1. Vary your sentence length
2. Say your sentences to yourself out loud—if you trip over it, you need
to rewrite it
3. Vary the first words of your sentences.
4. Use active verbs
5. Count your prepositional phrases—cut them out as much as possible.
6. Choose a compelling thesis statement and move it to either the
beginning or the end of the paragraph.
7. Circle all the 2 and 3 letter words—make sure you aren’t over-using
one or two of them. Try cutting them out if you can.
8. Use interesting words.
9. Find a Style Manual you like and use it when you have grammar
questions.
10. Read award-winning fiction.

18. BREAK

19. Review of Morning
• Basic Grant Application Components
• Writing Exercises: Who Where What Why How?
• 10 Writing Tips

21. Visitor Feedback
• Goals and Objectives
WHY?

22. Evaluation

23. GRANT APPLICATION ELEMENTS
I. Organization/Project Description WHO? And WHERE?
Mission, Attendance, Audience, Collection, History, Geography
II. Goals and Objectives WHY?
Tell us the goals of the project and how they align with your mission,
describe the activities you will undertake, indicate the population
served.
III. Project Description and Workplan WHAT and HOW?
Specify the resources (personnel, partnerships, funding, time, etc.)
that will be used, provide a timeline of events as appropriate.
IV. Evaluation HOW?
How will you define programmatic success? Describe the evaluation
process(es) or method(s) you will use to measure your success.(i.e.,
pre and post surveys, annual polling, focus groups, etc.).

24. Writing Pairs