Grants: Finding them and writing them Karin Cotterman & Leslie Lombre March 5, 2015

Funding Sources: Consider your options Consider your options Foundation grants are just one avenue for funding your project/ program/ nonprofit Foundation Grants Corporate Grants Individual Donors City, County, Federal Grants Other

The Foundation Center Foundation Center San Francisco 312 Sutter Street Ste. 606 San Francisco, CA (415) foundationcenter.org/sanfrancisco/ The majority of these resources are courtesy of The Foundation Center.

Before you apply Relationships…Relationships...Relationships.. Gather your information- both about the funder and about yourself and the community you serve. Context. Context. Context. Talk with program officers. Play the long game.

Proposal Writing Components Executive Summary Statement of Need Project Description Budget Organization Information Conclusion Today- focus is on Statement of Need and Project Description

The Statement of Need 1)Use accurate data. 2)Say that your solution can work. 3)Only say you are a model if you think what you do can be replicated- and explain where and why. 4)Be accurate in stating how serious the problem is. 5)Collaboration is much stronger than competition. 6)Don’t explain the need for your program by stating that the absence of your program IS the need. Explain why.

The Project Description 1)Objectives 2)Methods 3)Staffing Administration 4)Evaluation 5)Sustainability

Objectives Objectives are the measurable outcomes of the program They must be: Tangible Specific Concrete Measurable Achievable in specific time period Objectives are not Goals. Goals are more abstract. i.e. “Our after school program will help children read better.”

Sample Goal, Sample Objective Goal: Our after-school remedial education program will help children read better. (This is abstract.) Objective: Our after school remedial education program will assist 50 children in improving their reading scores by one grade level as demonstrated by standardized reading tests administered after participating in the program for 6 months. (This is achievable and measurable.) Make your objectives clear and visible in the proposal. Also, be realistic.

Methods Methods explain the How When Why This convinces the funder your agency knows what it is doing.

Staffing/ Administration Explain who will do what with your project. This can be a few sentences in when you describe your methods. It can also be included in an appendix.

Evaluation An evaluation plan should be built into the project. You can measure the product or the process/ strategies you’ve adopted. Most evaluations determine the impact on the audience. Also share how your evaluation and results will be shared. (e,g, internally, with the funder, to a larger audience)

Sustainability Explain how your project or program is sustainable beyond their grant. Is this project finite? Is it focused on capacity building? Or is it part of a longer-term funding plan? Be specific about current and future funding streams.

What we didn’t talk about Budget Organizational information Conclusion Alternative proposal scenarios: Letter proposal

Overall Takeaways Be Flexible: You must adapt to the proposal requirements for your audience. Be Concrete: Talk about measurable impact. Be Relational: Talk with program officers. Play the long game. Be Contextual: Know the information about the community you are working with and who else is doing the work. Be Collaborative: The funders know who is doing the work. We are stronger if we work together.