Today, we’ll:
Go over the procedures for the editing workshops that we’ll be doing.
We’ll read, write, and discuss each person’s draft in a workshop style: everyone will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the draft, and then the person can ask questions or respond to comments at the end of a session. You’ll also receive written feedback from people about your drafts.
To participate in the workshops:
- Download the workshop feedback sheet.
- Open the grant proposals that you receive via email or in class.
- Read and complete a workshop evaluation sheet for each grant proposal.
- Bring the sheets to class with you.
Discuss and practice writing summaries/abstracts.
Summaries
- Summaries are sometimes also called: abstracts or executive summaries.
- Summaries should provide a short (one paragraph to one page
- depending on guidelines) description of the contents of the entire grant proposal. They are similar to the copy on a book jacket.
- The summary includes
- “a description of the applicant
- a definition of the problem to be solved
- a statement of the objectives to be achieved
- an outline of the procedures to be used to accomplish those objectives
- a description of the evaluation design plans for the project at the end of the grant
- a statement of what it will cost the funding agency.” (From “Creating A Grant Proposal“)
- Summaries are important because they are often used by funding agencies to determine the first round of qualified applicants. Your summary needs to demonstrate that your proposal meets all of the guidelines.
- Summaries should be written last (or close to last), since they should be reflective of the contents of the actual grant proposal and not the ideal grant proposal.
- Have people outside of your team read your summaries for content (what can they predict about the proposal from reading it?) and edit your summaries to ensure that they use correct English.
Summary Activity
Take a moment to write or revise a one-paragraph summary of your proposal.
Discuss formatting concerns for grant proposals.
Headings
- Headings are used in documents such as grant proposals to create and signal transitions between different sections or subsections of a document.
- Headings allow readers to easily skim parts of a document looking for required information; they’re essentially a floating outline.
- Some grant proposals provide headings as part of their instructions or as part of the form. Or, questions asked by the granting agency should form headings. In these cases, use the exact headings or questions specified by the agency.
- If you have a chance to create your own headings, here are some guidelines.
- Headings and subheadings can be created to signal different types of divisions. Common divisions are:
- By Part: Indicating the different functional parts of the narrative, such as Summary, Introduction, Agency Description, Problem Description, Project Description, Etc.
- By Subject Matter: indicating the content expressed in a part of the document.
- Combination: Combinations of part and subject matter.
- Headings should use parallel structure — they should all be the same type of phrase, clause, question, or sentence, or begin with the same type of word.
- Headings should be set off from the body text by any combination of space, bold/italics, or font size.
Headings Activity
Take a moment to either list the headings required in your grant application or create a set of headings (either subject, part, or combination) for your grant. Do the headings use parallel structure? Do they help you navigate the document? Are there any places where you need subheadings?
Have time to ask questions about grant propoosals.
Assignment for Next Class
Draft of entire proposal due.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Why do you think that granting agencies have such stringent formatting requirements?
Do you agree with the granting agency’s decision?
Review strategies for oral presentations.
Oral Presentations
In your oral presentations, you’ll be presenting their project as if you were presenting it to the funding agency. The class will be playing the role of the funding agency and will ask questions and give brief written feedback on the proposals. The purpose of your oral presentation is inform your audience about your project and persuade them that they should fund your project.Since your presentation will be persuasive and informative, you’ll want to think about:
- What information your audience needs to know in order to understand your project (as well as what information that they already know)
- What appeals will best convince your audience that your project needs to be funded
- Logos: fact or information based appeals
- Ethos: character based appeals
- Pathos: emotion-based appeals
Please take a moment and write down what appeals you’ll be using in their presentations. Provide an example for each appeal.
PowerPoint Presentations
- PowerPoint presentations should contain a summary of your argument – not your entire argument. They’re there to complement your speech, not supplement your speech.
- The rule of seven: PowerPoint presentations should not present more than seven lines with seven words per line. Exceptions to this rule can be made for more academic presentations that may need to include quotations.
- Graphical elements should only be used if they contribute to the purpose of your argument. They should enhance your argument and not just be “filler.” They should also match the tone of your speech – you don’t want to use cartoon-like, humorous graphics when you’re making a serious point, and vice versa.
- Make sure that visuals such as charts or graphs are large and easy to read.
Be consistent (make the same choices) for the following elements of your presentation:
Color- Use a color palette of five or fewer colors.
- Use dark text on a light background for presentation in a bright room.
- Use light text on a dark background for presentation in a darkened room.
- Use dark text on a light background for transparencies.
- Avoid light text on a light background e.g., yellow text on a white background.
- Avoid dark text on a dark background e.g., red text on a blue background. (Taken from “How to Prepare A Slide Presentation“)
Fonts- Sans-serif fonts (such as Arial, Helvetica, or Verdana) are easier for audiences to read at large point sizes.
- Use the same font on all of your slides. You can use a different font for headings and a different font for body text, but make sure that all slides use the same fonts.
- Don’t use a font size under 20 points in a presentation. Generally, font sizes between 28-40 points are the best sizes to use.
Animation/Transitions- Avoid over-using animation and transitions. They can be effective if used simply and consistently. Pick one effect and apply it to all slides.
Alignment- Use left alignment by default, since people read from left to right.
Ensuring Consistency- You can make all slides look the same by editing the slide master (View Slide Master) . This allows you to customize colors, fonts, transitions, animations, and header and footer information. This will save you a lot of time and ensure that your slides have a consistent appearance.
- Consistency makes your slides easier to read and presents a unified appearance. Make your presentation reflect your organization –use their logos, pictures, or color choices as part of your scheme. Include information about the organization on the last slide and on your handout.
Handout Guidelines
On your handouts, make sure that you provide:
- A summary of the necessary information and visuals that you have spoken about.
- Contact information for you and your agency.
- More than just a printout of your PowerPoint slides. You can re-use the same information, but don’t just print out the slides.
When creating handouts (and any type of document) pay attention to:
- Contrast: the creation of difference between elements in a document. For example: the difference between text color and background color, the difference between different types of fonts, the difference in space between headings and text
- Repetition: choosing to make the same design choices consistently throughout a document. This is the most important principle of design.
- Alignment: left, right, or centered. Generally documents are left-justified.
- Proximity: placing related elements close together and non-related elements farther apart.
Assignments for Next Class
NO CLASS MONDAY: Take the time to work on your presentations and grant proposals.
Presentations start on Wednesday, November 12.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Review your budgets.
Discuss some ethical issues in grantwriting, including ones that emerge when creating budgets.
Ethical Decisions in GrantmakingGranting Agency’s Ethics
- Fair and honest accounting practices
- Making and keeping committments
- Founding principles and overall mission
- Fairness in evaluation and response
- Being accountable for their actions
- Avoiding conflicts of interest
Grant Seeker’s Ethics
- Mission and principles
- Aligning with agencies that support mission/principles
- Being honest and truthful in representing the agency
- Fair and honest accounting practices
- Fair and honest spending practices
- Being accountable for their actions
- Avoiding conflicts of interest
Grant Writer’s Ethics
- Creating an accurate budget
- Creating an accurate representation of reality in the grant
- Using the work of others appropriately
- Maintaining privacy and security of information
- Being accountable for their actions
- Avoiding conflicts of interest
Questions
- What is a conflict of interest? How can you spot one before you’re involved in one?
- What do you do if the agency changes its mission or needs after you’ve received the grant?
- How do you fairly and accurately report on what you’ve done with the money?
- What do you do if you discover that you’ve made a mistake after you’ve submitted the grant application?
- What do you do if you discover your agency is not spending money fairly or trying to expense non-grant related expenses on the budget?
- How do you make sure that your agency would pass an audit?
Scenarios
- You submit an application to a large philanthropic agency. After you do so, you find out that your aunt is actually employed as a reviewer by the granting agency. You didn’t know that she was employed there. Is this a conflict of interest? For whom is it a conflict of interest? What do you do?
- You’re facing a tight deadline for a very large grant. The person who was supposed to get you estimates for some key budget items hasn’t gotten back to you. When you check in with him, you discover that he’s gone to a conference and won’t be back until the deadline has passed. “Just create some numbers and put them in the budget. They won’t look seriously at it anyways,” he says when you finally get ahold of him. What do you do?
- You are working for a non-profit agency who have just received a grant to implement a specific program. As you are preparing the final report, you discover that money has been used from the grant to pay for the personal expenses of several employees. The budget did not allow for this kind of expense. What do you do?
- You are a new grant writer for a non-profit agency that is seeking funds for construction of a new building. You underestimate the amount of money that it will take in your budget and run out of funds halfway through the project. What do you do? Have you or the agency behaved unethically?
- You are a new grant writer for a non-profit agency. Your boss asks you to apply for a grant that you don’t qualify for, because your agency doesn’t serve that type of population. Your boss tells you to invent data or include data from another agency that does serve the population so that you can get the money and spend it on other programs. What do you do?
- You are searching for grants for your church and you discover a great grant opportunity from a philanthropic agency. The only problem is that the agency’s mission statement contains religious values that are completely opposite from the ones that your church professes. However, the grant application doesn’t ask for a statement of belief or values from your church, so there’s no way for them to know that your values conflict unless you say so. What do you do?
Assignments for Next Class
Read “No Mercy from the Margin Police” and “Tip: Tell A Story”
Printable Version
(Printer-Friendly Version)
Since some aspects of seeking funding require you to present ideas to an audience in oral form, this assignment asks you to present your argument in the form of an oral presentation that includes handouts and visuals (such as a PowerPoint presentation).
You will give a short (5-10 minute) oral presentation to the class about your grant proposal. The scenario is this: your granting agency has invited you and other grant seekers to “pitch” your proposals in person. This will involve adapting your grant proposal into the form of an oral presentation. The instructor and the class will play the role of the granting agency and give you feedback.
In the presentation, you will:
- Describe your agency (or the role that you are playing if the grant is for you or your business)
- Present your problem and situate it within an appropriate context
- Present your solution, including
- desired outcomes
- methods of assessment
- relevant financial details (as appropriate)
- Explain how the grant will help you implement your solution
- Argue for why you or your agency deserve the grant
You will be expected to provide a handout to the class and use a presentation aid such as PowerPoint to help make your points.
Grading Criteria
You will receive written feedback from your classmates and the instructor that evaluates the quality of your arguments and presentation of information. The instructor will also grade your PowerPoint presentation (or other visuals) and handout for their quality of information delivery and arrangement of information.
You can earn a total of 150 points for this project.
Due Dates
Presentations will take place on November 12, November 14, and November 17. Please sign up for a day and time with the instructor.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Discuss terms used for budgets.
Budget-Related Terms
- Program budget: The budget for a specific program (usually funded by the grant)
- Agency or Overall Budget: The budget for all expenses and revenues related to an agency or group (of which the program is just one part).
- Expected revenue: sources of income or money for your project. This includes:
- Fee-for-service (Money paid by clients)
- Unrelated income (Money earned by activities)
- Grants
- Fundraising
- Contributions
- Endowment Income
- In-kind expenses (the monetary value of goods and services donated to your agency)
- Expected expenses: where and how you spend money. This includes:
- Salaries: money paid to employees or contractors
- Fringe benefits: insurance and other benefit costs for employees
- Rent: cost related to property or space for the agency
- Equipment: new equipment, upgrades to existing equipment
- Supplies: material goods necessary to the program (or the agency)
- Other costs: depending on what you’re doing
- In-kind expenses (the monetary value of goods and services donated to your agency)
- Overhead percentage: the amount of overhead costs that can be allocated to the program budget from the agency budget
- Estimated costs: how much you think something will cost
Sample Budget
How do the sample budgets use these terms? How can we see what the grant would cover?
Begin planning your budgets.
Begin documenting the various revenues and expenses for your project in a narrative or chart form.
Assignments for Next Class
Draft budget for your project.
Printable Version
Monday, November 3
Today we’ll go over the guidelines for the project presentation and then discuss the principles of budgeting and examine sample budgets. You’ll then begin working on creating a budget for your project.
Assignments for Next Class
Sign up for presentation date. Draft budget for your project
Wednesday, November 5
Today we’ll review your sample budgets and begin working on oral presentation strategies..
Assignments for Next Class
Read “No Mercy from the Margin Police” and “Tip: Tell A Story”
Friday, November 7
Today we’ll work on designing your presentation materials.
Assignments for Next Class
Prepare to give your presentation.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Discuss the characteristics of dissemination sections.
- Verbal and/or visual
- Active and/or passive
- Conferences
- Demonstrations
- Site visits
- Webcasts/internet presence
- Teleconferences
- Papers/articles
- Staff presentations
- Courses/seminars
- Displays/poster sessions
- Vendor partnerships
- Instructional materials
- Books
- Newsletters
- Promotional materials
Plan and/or write your dissemination sections.
- What are the products of your solution?
- How will you let people know about your solution?
- What’s imaginative or original about how you’ll publicize these products?
Work on conciseness exercises and practice applying them to your grant proposals.
Assignments for Next Class
Read chapter 12 in your textbook.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Workshop your evaluation sections.
Practice rewriting for length and conciseness.
Useful Tips for Conciseness
Practice #1: Take the ECRM evaluation section and distill it down to 100 words. What did you have to cut? What did you decide to keep? Why?
Practice #2: Conciseness Exercise (given out in class)
Assignments for Next Class
Read Chapter 11 in your textbook.
Read selection from Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace given out in class. You do not have to do the exercises.
Bring a draft of your grant proposal with you to class.
Printable Version
Monday, October 27
Today we’ll discuss and analyze the creation of evaluation sections.
Assignments for Next Class
Draft your evaluation section.
Wednesday, October 29
Today we’ll workshop your evaluation sections and go over the guidelines for the presentations.
Assignments for Next Class
Read chapter 11 in your textbook.
Friday, October 31
Today we’ll work on creating and discussing dissemination sections, and look ahead to budgeting.
Assignments for Next Class
Read chapter 12 in your textbook.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Go over the weekly agenda.
Discuss the characteristics of evaluation sections.
The last section of a grant proposal (before the budget and other materials) is usually called the evaluation section.
In these, you:
- Explain how the program will be evaluated in terms of outcomes and methods for assessing those outcomes.
- Explain your plans to make the program self-sustaining (if necessary)/ offer a plan for future funding
- Offer a vision for the future
- Justify (again) how the grant will be worth the agency’s investement.
Useful Web-based advice about evaluation sections:
Analyze and discuss some sample evaluation sections.
http://www.ulm.edu/gradschool/Girls_ROC.pdf
http://www.sinclair.edu/about/offices/grants/pub/SinclairCCAMPISProposal.pdf
ECRM Grant
Assignments for Next Class
Draft evaluation section and bring to class.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Workshop methods sections.
Work on assessing the progress of your grant proposal so far.
We’re going to use the project/program planning model worksheet to do some comparisons.
Please complete the project/program planning model sheet for your trant.
Then, exchange grant drafts with someone else. Read someone else’s grant proposal and complete the project/program planning model for THEIR grant. Note parts that you find to be missing or incomplete.
Compare the differences and similarities. What’s missing that you thought you had included? What is your audience seeing (or not seeing) that you are not?
Assignment for Next Class
Read chapter 10 in textbook.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Go over the weekly agenda.
Discuss the construction of methods sections.
- Goals, objectives, outcomes, and methods relate the ways in which you will solve the problem set up in your needs statement.
- Methods are how you will accomplish objectives (which fulfill your goals) and achieve outcomes.
- Methods should be detailed, clear, and specific plans that can be directly connected to goals, objectives, and outcomes.
- Writing Hints - METHODS
Examine some sample methods sections.
EPA Grant-Writing Tutorial
http://www.ulm.edu/gradschool/Girls_ROC.pdf
Work on drafting your methods sections.
How to Write Winning Grants Using the Five ‘W’s’ and the ‘H’
Developing And Writing Grant Proposals
Assignments for Next Class
Draft your methods section.
Bring in questions for guest speaker.
Printable Version
Monday, October 20
Today we’ll discuss the development of methods sections for grant proposals.
Assignments for Next Class
Draft your methods section.
Bring in questions for guest speaker.
Wednesday, October 22
Today Denise Rivers will speak to the class.
Assignments for Next Class
Continue to work on your methods section.
Bring methods section plus other drafted sections to class.
Friday, October 24
Today we’ll workshop and discuss methods sections as well as your progress through the grant so far.
Assignments for Next Class
Read chapter 10 in your textbook.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Workshop your goals, objectives, and outcomes statements.
Discuss the articles you read.
Assignments for Next Class
Read chapter 9 in your textbook.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Workshop your problem statements.
Discuss goals/objectives/outcomes statements.
Terms to Know
- Goals: “the ultimate result that an agency hopes to achieve” (Clarke 63) Goals are large sweeping statements about what you hope to accomplish. These are often related to an organization’s mission statement. For example: “to extend services to underserved target populations” (Miner & Miner 98)
- Objectives: specific, measurable, quantifiable changes that you hope to achieve that allow you to achieve your goals. Objectives should be SIMPLE: Spectific, Immediate, Measurable, Practical, Logical, and Evaluable (Miner & Miner 98-99) For example: “Midwest Home Shelter will reduce the number of homeless during the next 24 months by 15 as noted in the Department of Social Welfare Homeless Survey Report.”
- Outcomes: the changes that you will see and how they will be measured. Outcomes “express project results in humanistic terms; they are the desired changes in people’s knowledge, skills, attitudes, or beliefs” and describe what will happen as the result of a process (Miner & Miner 99-100).
- Methods are how you will achieve your outcomes.
Ways That Goals, Objectives, and Outcomes Are Presented- Preparing a timeline. This can be as simple as creating a list, or you can create a project plan table or Gantt chart. The timeline can be presented in the application, attached as an appendix, or used to help you keep track of what you’ve written and what you need to write.
- Preparing bulleted lists which use parallel structure. Each point can represent a goal, objective, outcome, or method.
Ways To Organize Objectives Sections
If the grant application hasn’t given specific instructions as to how to separate goals, objectives, and outcomes, you should present them in a way that they feel makes the most sense. You can choose to:
- List goals and objectives/outcomes first, and then discuss methods
- List goals, then objectives, and then outcomes for each objective
- Create other combinations as appropriate
Examining Sample Grant Proposals
Please examine the goals/objectives/methods sections (as available) in the sample grant proposals and take notes on how they were implemented.
Work on your objectives/goals/outcomes statements.
Assignment for Next Class
Draft your goals and objectives statement.
Read:“In Search of Outcomes” andSo What?: How Not to Kill a Grant Application, Part Three.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Workshop introductions.
Discuss the characteristics of problem statements.
A key (if not the key) part of your grant proposal is when you describe your problem. Without being persuaded that your problem really exists and can be solved by your agency, a granting agency will not give you funding. Describing the problem answers the question: “What is the problem or need that’s being addressed by the nonprofit agency?” (Clarke 50) This description demonstrates a need for funding.
Miner & Miner describe problem statements as “filling the gap”: your problem should be expressed as a “discrepancy between the way things are and the way things ought to be” (Miner & Miner 90). Part of your job in reporting the problem should be in demonstrating exactly where this gap is and what it is like. The problem should be described in “human terms” as much as possible: this means focusing on the populations who will be helped and describing their needs. You should also focus on the causes and consequences if this problem goes unsolved.
Describing the problem can be done by thinking through the traditional “W-questions” and also by thinking about the social forces that contribute to the problem and how the organization works to combat the problem. A good problem description can also identify other agencies that are working to help solve the problem and distinguishes your organization’s unique role in the process. A good problem description is focused on the people’s needs, not the agency’s needs: it expresses needs in “human terms” (Miner & Miner 95).
Problem statements also match up the need of the applicant with the need of the sponsor: see the table in Exhibit 32 of Miner & Miner for more.
Things to avoid:
- “circular proposal logic” (focus on the people rather than on the acquisitions)
- focusing on the needs of the organization rather than the needs of the people it serves
- failing to connect your need to the granting agency’s needs/mission
- appealing too much to ethos or pathos without grounding your problem with facts (logos)
Analyze and revise a problem statement.
SFC- Government Grant Sample #1
Discuss what needs to be present in your problem statements.
(Adapted in part from Clarke 51-52):
- What is the gap?
- Who are the people who have the need or problem?
- What is the problem or need?
- When is the problem or need evident?
- Where do the people with this problem or need live?
- Why does this problem or need occur?
- What are the causes of this problem?What social forces, circumstances or conditions contribute to or create this problem?
- How does my group or agency work to solve this problem?
- What other agencies work to solve this problem?
- How is my agency or group different from these agencies — what makes us unique?
- What facts or information do I need to situate this problem?
- What will happen if this problem remains unsolved? What are the consequences?
Assignments for Next Class (Wednesday, October 15)
Read Chapter 8 in your textbook.
Draft your problem statement.
Printable Version
Monday, October 6
Today we’ll finish up our discussion of proposal organization and move on to discussing the different types of introductions that proposals call for.
Assignments for Next Class
Read chapter 7 in textbook.
Draft introduction.
Wednesday, October 8
Today you’ll workshop your introductions with others and then we’ll discuss writing problem statements by examining and analyzing different ones.
Assignments for Next Class
Read chapter 8 in textbook.
Draft problem statement.
Friday, October 10
CLASS IS CANCELLED TODAY.
Assignments for Next Class
Read chapter 8 in textbook.
Draft problem statement.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Review the reverse outlining activity we started in class on Friday.
Reach for the Stars
- How is information organized in this proposal?
- How is the argument presented in this proposal?
- Do you notice any deficiencies in the organization?
Discuss strategies for writing introductions.
Miner & Miner suggest that there are four types of introductory statements:
- summaries
- philosophy
- historical
- crisis
. They also note that introductions can be seen as “credibility statements” about the organization and can be built from boilerplate.
Questions:
- What type of introduction is your RFP calling for? (Or, do they not want an introduction at all, or some combination?)
- What do you already have that can go into your introductions? Make a list.
Clarke, in Storytelling for Grantseekers, discusses: “establishing characters and place in your narrative” and using the introduction as a place to start doing that — but also that this development happens throughout the proposal. For Clarke, “characters” can include the organization itself and the populations that will be helped by the suggested program. A sense of “place” provides a sense of the community as well as the organization’s place within it.
Questions:
- How do the example introductions in Miner & Miner establish a sense of characters and place?
- How could grant proposals effectively present characters that the reader can empathize with and give the reader a sense of place?
- What techniques might they use? How do you do so effectively within a tight word limit?
Thinking About Your Proposals
Please meet in groups of 3 or 4 and talk about the characters and place that you’ll need to establish within your proposal. Please choose one person’s characters and place to talk about with the class.
Assignments for Next Class
Read chapter 7 in textbook.
Draft introduction.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Discuss the parts of a grant proposal.
Examine some sample RFPs and discuss the different parts and requirements they have.
What parts does your RFP call for?
Examine some sample proposals and reverse outline their organization.
Work on outlining or mapping your proposal.
Assignments for Next Class
Read Chapter 6 in your textbook.
Printable Version
Monday, September 29
CLASS IS CANCELLED TODAY. Please bring your initial proposals to class on Wednesday. Email me if you have questions.
Assignments for Next Class
Prepare questions for guest speaker; please read these RFPs:
http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/landmarks.html and http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/library/researchres.htm
Wednesday, October 1
Today we’ll have a guest speaker in grant writing.
Assignments for Next Class
Read sample proposals given out in class.
Friday, October 3
Today we’ll discuss organization for proposals by examining the organization of some sample proposals. Then you’ll work to outline your proposals.
Assignments for Next Class
Read Chapter 6 in your textbook.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Review what needs to be covered in your initial proposals.
Work in groups to discuss and give feedback on drafts of your proposals.
Necessary parts to check for:
- Problem
- Solution
- Resources Needed
- Description of granting agency
- Description of grant proposal and proposal process
- Discussion of “fit” between grant need and grant proposal/granting agency.
Help people brainstorm ideas to fill in parts that aren’t present and improve parts that are.
Questions to be answered:
- What are the strengths of the proposal?
- What are the weaknesses?
- How could the weaknesses be improved?
- Are there any problems with focus, organization/structure, or other writing issues?
Assignments for Next Class
Guest speaker on Friday: please read these RFPs:
http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/landmarks.html and http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/library/researchres.htm
Final draft of initial proposal due on Monday.
Printable Version
Monday, September 22
Today we’ll practice “pitching” your grants to help you consider how to present them in a proposal, and we’ll examine your RFPs to consider what information they provide.
Assignments for Next Class
First draft of initial proposal due; please bring two copies to class.
Wednesday, September 24
Today we’ll have an editing workshop on your initial proposals.
Assignments for Next Class
Work on revising and editing your initial proposal.
Friday, September 26
Today we’ll have a guest speaker (Dr. Tom Chambers) in class to talk about academic grants.
Assignments for Next Class
INITIAL PROPOSAL DUE.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Practice presenting your problem, solution, and justification for funding.
Creating an elevator pitch:
- Take notes on your problem, solution, amount of funding/resources and why you should get funded
- Speech should be two minutes or less
- Pitch to your group members; get feedback.
- Pick one pitch from your group to present to the class.
Examine your RFPs and determine what the audience wants from them.
What can you tell about the audience and what they want?
- Content (priorities for funding, what should be covered in application, structure of application, supporting documents required)
- Formatting (length, forms to be filled out, appearance/design of the document)
- How does what the funding body says it wants on the application compare and contrast with what you know about them from your research?
- How can your problem/solution be made to address the needs and concerns identified in the proposal?
- What information do you already have?
- What information do you need?
- Where can you get it?
Assignments for Next Class
FIRST DRAFT OF PROBLEM/ORGANIZATION REPORT DUE.
Printable Version
NO CLASS TODAY.
1) Please email your grantmaker interview report to the instructor or bring it by her office.
2) The instructor will be in her office from 12:15-1:30 p.m. if you have questions about your grant proposal.
3) Please take the time to do research and investigate the granting agency you’ll be writing for.
Printable Version
Printer-Friendly Version (PDF)
Description
For this assignment, you’ll write a report (4-6 pages for undergraduates; 6-10 pages for graduate students) where you:
- Identify and describe the problem you’ve chosen
- Describe the possible solution that could be implemented
- Explain how a grant would help solve the problem
- Identify, describe, and assess the quality of a granting organization that could provide resources or funds to solve the problem.
- Describe and analyze the grant requirements and how you will meet them
- Explain why this organization is (or is not) a good match from your problem
The report should be written in a professional style that uses descriptive and analytic writing techniques and cites sources when appropriate. When you cite sources, you should use a style system such as MLA, APA, or another field-appropriate style system to give credit to the works of others.
Grad Students: Literature Review
Graduate students will be expected to include a short (no more than 2-3 pages of the total content) literature review as a component of this proposal.
The literature review should cover:
- Research on your problem (causes, solutions, other grants)
- Related problems
Please cite sources using a style system as described above.
You will write two drafts of this report. The first draft will receive feedback from your peers to help you revise. The second draft will be graded.
Grading Criteria
The assignment will be graded based on:
- how well you describe the problem and solution
- how well you describe, assess, and analyze the granting organization and their requirements
- how well you cite research
- how well you pay attention to standards for written English
You can earn a total of 200 points for this assignment.
FIRST DRAFT DUE: SEPTEMBER 24
FINAL DRAFT DUE: SEPTEMBER 29
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
See if anyone still needs help locating a granting organization.
Go over the guidelines for the initial proposal (problem/organization report).
Discuss questions to ask about granting organizations.
- Private or public institution?
- To what other institutions/organizations are they connected?
- How long have they been in existence?
- What do they do?
- Is giving out grants their primary mission, or part of a larger mission?
- How much money do they give out per year?
- What projects have they funded in the last year? How are those projects similar to or different from mine?
- What percentage of applications get funded?
- How legitimate is this opportunity?
What to look at/for:
- Mission statement (may be on Web site)
- Promotional materials (includes Web site)
- Annual report (may be on Web site)
- 990s (for philanthropic foundations): Guidestar
- Grant recipients (for both private and public foundations; most granting agencies of the federal government will list them on their pages)
- Articles about them (library databases/Web searches)
Work on researching your granting organizations.
Assignment for Next Class
Interview with a Grantmaker report due.
Bring at least one RFP document to class with you.
Printable Version
Monday, September 15
Today we’ll work on matching your problems to possible granting organizations and locating possible granting organizations.
Assignments for Next Class
Research possible grants; email instructor list of possibilities.
Wednesday, September 17
Today we’ll work on investigating funding bodies and finding out more about them through outside research and analyzing their Web sites and other materials. We’ll also go over the guidelines for the Problem/Organization report.
Assignments for Next Class
Interview with a Grantmaker report due.
Bring at least one RFP document to class with you.
Friday, September 19
Today we’ll work on analyzing applications and discussing what they reveal about the requirements for a grant proposal and the agency that uses them.
Assignments for Next Class
Work on drafting problem/organization report. (First draft due on the 24th of September.)
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
Make sure that everyone has a topic for their grants.
Review places to research grants.
Work on locating sources of funding.
Niagara University Library: COS Funding Opportunities
Public
Private
Assignments for Next Class
Research possible grants; email instructor list of possibilities.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
1) Continue writing and discussing the problems for your grant proposals.
- What is the problem or need?
- Who are the people who have the need or problem?
- When is the problem or need evident?
- Where do the people with this problem or need live?
- Why does this problem or need occur?
- What social forces, circumstances or conditions contribute to or create this problem?
- How does my group or agency work to solve this problem?
- What other agencies work to solve this problem?
- How is my agency or group different from these agencies — what makes us unique?
2) Discuss and generate possible solutions for these problems.
Solutions:
- Are realistic: can be accomplished using a finite amount of resources.
- Are concrete: can be measured and described.
- Are synergistic: can be connected to larger issues and concerns.
Questions to answer about solutions:
- What are the goals (larger, broader results) of this solution?
- What are the objectives (focused, specific measurable items) of this solution?
- What resources are necessary to solve the problem?
- People
- Labor
- Money
- Materials
- How much will it cost?
- How will the solution be implemented?
- How long will it take to implement the solution?
- What does success look like?
- How will we track and measure progress and success?
- How does solving this problem help with the larger issues that this problem is connected to?
- How is this solution related to the larger mission of the agency/individual?
Assignments for Next Class
Read Chapters 2-3 in the textbook.
Work on interviewing grantmaker/doing research for grantwriting report.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
1) Sum up what we’ve been talking about about grant writing as a process and about the context for grant writing.
Who applies for grants?
- Individuals
- Departments
- Non-profit agencies
- Organizations
- Schools
What are reasons why people and organizations apply for grants?
- Project grants
- Program grants
- Capital/equipment
- Endowment funds
- Technical development
- Seed/start-up funding
- General operating funds (Clarke 5)
2) Brainstorm possible problems for your grant proposals.
Ultimately grants help individuals and organizations solve problems. What problems have you been thinking about that you could solve?
3) Work on defining and describing those problems.
- What categories are these problems in? How are these problems related to larger issues in the community/in the world?
- What are the key terms and ideas related to each problem and how would you define them?
- What resources are necessary to solve these problems?
- Tagmemic perspectives on problems.
Assignments for Next Class
Work on interviewing grantmaker/doing research for grantwriting report.
Email instructor with possible topic for grant.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
2) Discuss audience analysis strategies.
Why is audience important in grant writing?
How do we find out about an audience?
- Research (Web sites, reports about companies, surveys)
- Relationships
- Examining documents they give us (RFPs)
What questions do we have to ask about an audience in grant writing?
- Four filters: subject area, geographic preference, type of funding, dollar range of grants plus personal relationships (usually only for private foundational grants)
- Questions for Audience Analysis: Audience Analysis
3) Analyze the audience for two proposals based on their RFPs.
private rfp
public rfp
- What can you tell about the audience and what they want? How are the demands of both audiences similar/different?
- How do the proposals address the audience’s questions/concerns? How do they not? How might you suggest that they be improved to better work for the audience?
4) Begin brainstorming possible topics for your grant proposals.
Assignments for Next Class
Read Chapter 1 in Storytelling for Grantseekers (given out in class)
Work on interviewing grantmaker/doing research for grantwriting report.
Printable Version
Monday, September 8
Today we’ll discuss how audience plays a role in grant writing, and do some sample audience analyses.
Assignments for Next Class
Read Chapter 1 in Storytelling for Grantseekers (given out in class)
Work on interviewing grantmaker/doing research for grantwriting report.
Wednesday, September 10
Today we’ll discuss how to define problems for use in grant writing and you’ll work on developing and defining a possible problem that you could find a grant to solve.
Assignments for Next Class
Work on interviewing grantmaker/doing research for grantwriting report.
Email instructor with possible topic for grant.
Friday, September 12
Today we’ll continue working on defining problems and possible solutions and deciding how to match them up with funding agencies.
Assignments for Next Class
Read chapters 2-3 in the textbook.
Work on interviewing grantmaker/doing research for grantwriting report.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
2) Discuss reactions to or questions about Wednesday’s guest speaker.
3) Review and discuss terms for talking about grant writing as a process and a product.
Grant writing as a process:
- Pre-proposal: gathering information, researching, acquiring information
- Proposal writing: producing the proposal
- Proposal review/award: responding to requests, comments, finding out if you have received the grant or not
- Compliance/reporting: providing information to the funding body
Contexts for grant writing vary based on several things:
- Funding body: private/philanthropic, public (county, state, federal)
- Grantseeker: individual, non-profit organization, school, municipality
- Type of funding being sought: ongoing funding (earmarks/program funding), project funding, start-up funding, capital/endowment funding
The demands that granting organizations will vary based on the complexity of the project and the organization. Some organizations will want a “letter proposal” – others will want an elaborate multi-part proposal. However, they all tend to want the same “parts” in terms of what information is provided:
- Organization information/capabilities
- Reasons for applying
- Problem
- Solution (Objectives, Methods, Impact)
- Evaluation methods
- Budget
- Supplementary materials
We often refer to these as the “project narrative.”
These parts may have different names depending on what field the proposal is being written in. Some funding agencies may not require all of these parts. Most funders want the same basic information, even if they use different words or ask questions in a different order.
4) Discuss letter proposals and letters of intent and practice revising a sample one.
Chapter 5 in the textbook discusses the “letter proposal” (sometimes also called a letter of intent, although that differs a little), which is one of the shortest forms of grant proposals.
What specific changes were made to Letter Proposal #2? How is it more clear?
Plese read the sample LOI/letter proposal and write down suggestions for revision. How could it be made more clear to the reader? How could the document design be improved?
Assignment for Next Class
Please read chapter 2 of Storytelling for Grantseekers (given out in class)
Graduate students: above plus please read: Rhetoric II: Sample Literature Reviews and Writing Literature Reviews.
Printable Version
Printer-Friendly Version(PDF)
As we’ve been learning in class, the grant writing process is both complicated and diverse. To help you find out more about it, you will identify someone involved in the grantmaking process (here at Niagara or elsewhere), and conduct a short interview with them about their role in the grantmaking process and their experiences with grant writing.
You can interview anyone associated with the granting process, including:
- Someone who writes grants (full-time; part-time; as volunteer work)
- Someone who works for an agency which receives grant funding or who has received a grant personally
- Someone who reviews grants or gives out grants as part of their job
Many of your professors are probably involved in the grant writing process, so they might be a good place to start.
You’ll then write a be 3-5 page (for undergraduates) or 5-7 pages (for graduate students) paper where you:
- describe the person you interviewed and what they do
- recount the interview; what do they do, and what is the grant process like for them? What advice do they have?
- reflect on what you learned from the interview, including how the interviewee’s experiences matches (or doesn’t match) with the readings you’ve been doing for class.
- cite the readings you used using an academic style system such as MLA or APA, and include a works cited list
Please put your name, the date, and the section in the upper left hand corner of the first page.
Graduate Student Component
Graduate students will be expected to incorporate additional research and readings into this assignment. Please locate two to four additional sources that provide background to your interview (such as background about the organization for which the person works, background about the type of grants they write or receive, or any other relevant information) and provide a brief literature review before writing about your interview.
Grading Criteria
You can earn a total of 150 points for this assignment. It will be assessed on how well you:
- provide background about the interviewee
- provide detailed information about what the grantwriting process is like for them and their advice
- reflect on what you learned and compare and contrast it with your readings and current experience (if any)
- cite the readings for class and pay attention to conventions for writing
DUE DATE: SEPTEMBER 19
Printable Version
Chapter 5 in the textbook.
Minnesota Council on Foundations - Writing a Successful Grant Proposal
Also, disregard the grantmaker interview deadline in the syllabus; I’ll issue a new deadline on Friday.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
1) Answer questions about the readings or course content so far.
2) Review the rhetorical situations for three grant proposals.
- purpose
- genre
- audience
- stance
- medium (which often has design requirements)
3) Compare the generic features of three grant proposals and synthesize a working description of grant proposals as a genre.
Please work in groups to produce a document/presentation to the class that:
- Lists the parts of the proposals.
- Describes how each proposal organizes and presents information: What information is presented in each part? How does each part contribute to the whole proposal?
- Lists the differences and similarities between the three proposals.
- Provides a description of what a grant proposal is and should contain (based on what they know so far).
Assignment for Next Class
Begin considering possible grantmakers to interview; prepare questions for guest speaker.
Printable Version
Today, we’ll:
1) Discuss what grants are and how and why people and organizations apply for them.
Please write down some answers to the following questions, based on your reading and experience:
- What is a grant?
- Why do people apply for grants?
- How do people get grants?
- Who applies for grants? To whom do they apply?
- Why do organizations and foundations give out grants?
2) Discuss genre and the rhetorical situation.
Please write for a few minutes on the following questions, based on your reading and experience:
- What is a genre?
- What do genres do?
- How does classifying types of writing help us to understand how to create them?
Genre is part of a larger concept called the rhetorical situation:
- purpose
- genre
- audience
- stance
- medium (which often has design requirements)
3) Analyze a sample rhetorical situation.
Please use the criteria given out in class to analyze the rhetorical situation that the class has decided on.
If there’s time, we’ll then apply the criteria to a rhetorical situation related to a grant. (If not, we’ll pick that up on Friday.)
Assignment for Next Class
Read:
Printable Version