Grant Writing Workshop June 4, 2014

Research the grant-making organization’s mission and funding interests NOTES: Do not change or manipulate your idea to meet the funders priorities. You cannot fit a square peg in a round hole. If you are unsure make a phone call to the organization before wasting your time writing the grant. Check the organization’s web site for previous grant recipients NOTES: By reviewing previous recipients you can see the funders areas of interest as well as trends Pay close attention to the guidelines NOTES: Write the grant EXACTLY as requested. Odds are high you will be “thrown out” for extra words, pages, etc. Pay very close attention to these details. Follow deadlines- don’t wait until the last minute NOTES: Many applications need to be done online. Excuses are not acceptable to funders – so submit a day or two in advance just in case you have technical problems. Have someone else review the proposal NOTES: Have someone who knows nothing about your project review the proposal. If they do not clearly understand your request and concept a funder will not understand either. Pay attention to acronyms, educational jargon NOTES: Do not use acronyms. There are many acronyms in education. But people outside of education have no idea what they mean so do not use them. Do not be too intellectual or technical. Keep the writing clean NOTES: Short and to the point is far better than repeating a fact or statement in different ways. Clear and concise should be your goal State your case NOTES: Be clear and concise in both your mission and request. Think of it as a 30 second commercial. Stick with attainable goals NOTES: It is good to have reach goals but when submitting a grant proposal think about all aspects of the project and outline clearly how your organization will meet those goals Things to DO:

Try to make the funding opportunity bend to fit your project NOTES: this is really important. If a grantor says they only fund projects in a specific town but you are 10 miles away and think “we are close enough maybe they will fund us”. Do not bother. They have already stated who they will fund and for what. And don’t change your project to be more appealing. Stay true to your vision. The funder will see through it and will not grant you funding Hesitate to get in touch with point of contact NOTES: Program Officers want good projects just as much as you want to be funded. They are usually very happy to answer any questions you may have. Take the time to call and talk to them. If you are unsure about the types of projects they fund call and ask. Wait until the last minute Give up NOTES: There is no magic bullet. And you never know what projects you are up against or who knows who. You may be sure you are a good fit for something and not get the funding. This is not a reflection of your proposal or your project. Do not take it personally. Try again. And again. And again. Things to NOT DO:

Create a living document spreadsheet to update/track/store information NOTES: Research can be time consuming and you do not want to do it twice. Create a spreadsheet as you research possible funders. For example if you find a funder who funds arts in K-12 but you are looking for science. Put this funder on your spreadsheet. Then when a teacher says they need arts funding you start by reviewing your spreadsheet. Include deadlines. Have your necessary documents handy: board lists, 990, annual report NOTES: You will be asked for the same information over and over again. Scan, create a set of documents and keep them at the ready. When you find a good fit – look at the entire proposal and make a list of all the items you need. If you need documents from other people collect them immediately. You do not want to write the entire proposal and then find you need something from the Superintendent who is out of the office. By collecting all documents first you can be sure to submit the proposal in a timely fashion and not be panicking waiting for others to get you information. Success stories- personalize- invite funders to see projects NOTES: Connect with your funder even after you have received the funding. They will be more likely to fund you in the future if they can see their money put to good use. Invite them to meet students, see an art show, talk to a teacher. Share photos and thank you notes. If you do not receive thank you notes ask for them. The words used by teachers and students carry a lot of weight. Not only should you share with the funder for that project but save them for use in future proposals and documents. If there is photo of a student double check with school that it is OK for you to use image. Generally it is but never hurts to ask. Other Helpful Hints

Grantstation 360 Center for Nonprofit management Web searches NOTES: Also read your local paper. Check other large non-profits in your community (hospitals are a good one). Those donors are already investing in your community. Wealth management firms NOTES: Wells Fargo has a good one. Local businesses National businesses with local ties Where can I find grants?

You will need to create a budget for each proposal. Do the best you can. Funders understand that it is very difficult to present a perfect budget in advance of a project. If you receive funding and something changes with the project (ie you received funding for an art project that was fully dependent on a specific teacher and that teacher left the school). Notify the funder. Odds are very low they will want the money back. They will appreciate your open approach. You may not use the funds for something else. You will have to do a project evaluation. Including budget. Most funders do not require receipts but they do want to see how the money was spent so keep those figures as you move through the project. Thank you letters and photos can also be very useful in an evaluation as many projects can be hard to measure. These “extras” will help you to demonstrate successes. Do not be afraid to say what did not work. Just be sure that you do so in a way that demonstrates growth and learning on your end. Making a checklist helps to keep you organized. Be sure to note any future dates (ie when is evaluation to funder expected?) Make the proposal down to earth and relatable. If Ms. Smith will be the lead teacher. Mention her by name and give a one sentence comment about her skill set. Many foundations have a list of funding exclusions. Read it. Most funders are going to have a form for you to complete but if not you will need to do the following: (1) a summary, which is 2-3 sentences about your mission and your request (2) An introduction, which is your mission statement and how you fulfill it (3) Statement of need. What are you asking for and why. Use statistics. One thing of note. In NJ many school districts are small if applying to a foundation who may not understand this then state the number of kids in the district in one area but also use the percent of kids impacted by the project. If your district has 300 kids it sounds more impressive to say 50% will be touched by this project vs 150 kids. This is really only applicable when applying to corporations who may not understand this is the case in NJ. (4) Objective which will state how this project will impact the goals of your organization. (5) Method. Be brief but be specific in describing how you will execute the project. Including a timeline. Let the funder know when the project is expected to begin (including planning) and conclude. Notify the funder if the timeline dramatically changes. (6) Evaluation, how will you evaluate the success of the project. (7) Budget and future funding Create budget (I often use an excel table). If possible address how the project will be funded in the future and/or who else you have approached for funding. And what would happen if you got partial funding (in a proposal I just submitted I stated “this project is scalable by x,y,z, dependent on funding) General Notes from Discussion