Are You Grant Ready?: Laying the Foundation forSuccessful Grant Seeking

Are You Grant Ready?: Laying the Foundation for

Successful Grant Seeking

October 2014

Facilitated by Rachel Werner, MPA, GPC, PMP

Agenda

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Introductions

Overview of grants

Grants lifecycle

Additional grants considerations

Common pitfalls and challenges

Hands-on: Completing Grant Readiness Scan

Summary Q&A

Introductions

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Name

Organization

Position

Current grants program

Challenges concerning pursuit of grant funding

What do you hope to gain from this class?

Facilitator Introduction

Rachel Werner, Founder of RBW Strategy, LLC

Based in Washington, DC metro area

11 years of grant seeking, grants management and project management experience with government, non-profit and corporate entities

Grants Management Certificate, Certified Grants Professional, and Project Management Professional

Provides grants and project management support to clients with issues related to grants lifecycle issues from pre-award to post-award, as well as strategic planning, project management and operations improvement activities

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Overview of Grants

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Discussion Questions 1:

Why do you seek grants for your organization? Is

this part of a larger organizational strategy or

fundraising strategy, a board member/executive

leader’s focus, or is this what you have always

done?

Overview of Grants

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Grant = a sum of money given by a governmental agency,

or private funding source, for a particular purpose.

What do grant funds typically support?

General operating budget

A specific project or program

Capital improvements

Capacity building

Special event

Meeting or conference

Sponsorships or scholarships

Overview of Grants

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What types of entities award grants?

Government agencies (Federal, State, Local)

Private foundations (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation)

Corporate foundations (AT&T Foundation)

Family foundations (Bezos Family Foundation)

Community foundations (Northern VA Community

Foundation)

Corporations (through the corporation itself not the

foundation arm of the business)

Overview of Grants

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Funding Instruments

Discretionary Grant = Competition-based to secure an

award through a specific funding stream. Typically

applications requested through a Request for Proposals

(RFP) or Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)

Formula Grant = Government funding directed towards

a specific group based on a formula for how funding

should be distributed (i.e. Food Stamps)

Cooperative Agreements = Typically awarded through

the Federal government and request substantial

involvement of grantor, as this is a partnership

between grantee and grantor

Grants Lifecycle

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Discussion Questions 2:

Do you understand the requirements to manage

a grant throughout its lifecycle? Do you spend

most of your time on a particular phase? Do you

know why it is important to be a strong grants

manager, and how this relates to grant seeking?

Grants Lifecycle

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Funding Research

Application Development

Award and Project Start-

up

Award Management

and Monitoring

Project Closeout

Grants Lifecycle

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Prospect Research

Review grantors’ requirements and create list of prospects

Determine potential fit with grantors’ priorities

Alignment of potential grantors (government, private) to

organization’s fundraising strategy, and grantors’

deadlines

Proposal Development

Compile financial, programmatic, and organizational data

required to complete proposal

Prepare proposal(s) in advance of deadlines and review for

accuracy

Grants Lifecycle

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Award and Project Start-up

Grantor notifies grantee of grant through written

communication (typically notice of award)

Grantee begins to expend funds and implement grant as

indicated in the proposal

Establish internal controls to manage and track

programmatic and financial components of grant

Award Management and Monitoring

Provide grantor with financial and programmatic reports,

meeting attendance and/or other requirements specified

in the notice of award

Gather data to effectively evaluate success in how grant

funds are expended, and ensure quality control

Grants Lifecycle

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Project Closeout

Expend all grant funds provided by the grantor

Provide final reports as requested

Ensure alignment of actual and budgeted expenditures

Maintain files on all grants for 5 years

Additional Grants Considerations

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Discussion Question 3:

Besides the common activities required

throughout the grants lifecycle, what other

external factors and internal (organizational)

factors influence the grants process?

Additional Grant Considerations

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External

Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently

updated its cost circulars/administrative guidelines to

establish the “Super Circular.” This greatly impacts how

organizations who receive federal funds track and

manage their grants and financial information, including:

o Allowable costs

o Administrative requirements

o Financials for Transparency.gov website (tracks each

grant dollar)

Funding landscape to determine areas of interest,

industry focus, and external factors impacting grants

Additional Grant Considerations

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External

Relationship building with potential grantors and

determining best fit – is there a plan for outreach and

communication?

Collaboration with other similar organizations to work

jointly on grants (typically multi-year and large award).

Collaborative grants are looked at favorably by grantors,

since funds can be expended to multiple organizations

through one funding source

Additional Grant Considerations

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Internal

Strategic plan that maps organizational goals with

fundraising goals (both short and long term), and

includes defined tasks and deadlines

Methods and systems to evaluate financial and

programmatic data to ensure that the funds will be

judiciously spent and tracked. This also include quality

control measures

Qualitative and quantitative data that can provide

evidence of programmatic and/or organizational success

Additional Grant Considerations

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Internal

Prospect research calendar with details on each potential

grantor, and when opportunities are sought

Standard operating procedures and policies that outline

how grants activities are carried out within the

organization

Assigned individuals tasked with managing aspects of the

grants lifecycle and related activities

Common Pitfalls and Challenges

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Discussion Questions 4:

How do you prepare for a grant submission? Do

you have a standard process you follow or does

this vary depending on the opportunity? Do you

have the capacity to fully prepare for grant

opportunities?

Common Pitfalls and Challenges

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What are some factors that can make or break an

organization’s grant readiness

Resource capacity (personnel, funding, materials, etc.)

Strategic planning/fundraising planning

Alignment of goals to activities to outputs/outcomes (i.e.

logic model)

Financial controls/internal controls

Continuous quality improvement/evaluation

measurement

Adherence to grant award requirement

Others?

Completing Grant Readiness Scan

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Grant ready organizations should be prepared with

the following:

All information required in the application

Organizational information

Financial information

Project/Program information

Internal controls and capacity to manage grant once

funded

Summary Q&A

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Review implementation of grant readiness

Have all topics been addressed?

Additional questions?

Resources

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Foundation Center: http://foundationcenter.org/

Grant Space: http://grantspace.org/

Annual Report of Philanthropy in America:

http://www.givingusareports.org/

OMB – Federal grant forms:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/grants_forms

The Grantsmanship Center:

http://www.tgci.com/resources

Contact Information

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Rachel Werner, Owner and Founder

RBW Strategy, LLC

Ph: (301) 325-8552

Email: [email protected]

www.rbwstrategy.com