Patricia F. Edmiston, Ph.D., NBCT. A Grant is a conditional gift or a conveyance of funds with strings attached. The funding source identifies a benefit.

GRANT WRITING

Patricia F. Edmiston, Ph.D., NBCT

A Grant is a conditional gift or a conveyance of funds with strings attached.

The funding source identifies a benefit it is willing to provide to achieve a particular goal.

What is a Grant?

Not enough timeo Reality – some grants are

very short. Start small and work your way up to the larger grants

Fear of rejection◦ Reality – not writing the

grant means you are automatically rejected

What keeps us from writing a grant

Can’t get a grant unless you write one

Professionally fulfilling

Requires you to focus your thoughts

Prompts you to look for other sources of funding.

The grant process is never wasted

Just Do It!

Quality of the idea and its appeal to the funding source

The ability to communicate clearly and concisely

Qualities of Effective Grant Writing

Keys to SuccessInnovation and Creativity is importantLooking for new solutions to old problemsHow do you create creativity?

Demonstrating a need is importantExplain why this need is importantWhat is it you are trying to fix?

Grant - Assistance◦ purpose is to transfer money, property,

services, or anything of value to recipient in order to accomplish a public purpose

◦ No substantial involvement is anticipated between the sponsor and the recipient

Cooperative Agreement - Assistance◦ substantial involvement between sponsor

and recipient

Types of Funding

Who Gives Money Away?

National Organizations State and Local Organizations

•National Endowment for the Humanities•National Science Foundation•NEA Foundation•NASA•NCTM•NSTA

•QSM•LATM•LSTA•LCTE•FFA•PTSA

Private Foundations Kelly Cook

Foundation Brown Foundation Andrew Mellon

Foundation Gates Foundation

Corporations Washington-St.

Tammany Electric AT & T Foundation Toyota Kellogg Foundation AOL Time Warner

Who Gives Money Away?

In addition to the organizations mentioned previously I have found these websites helpful to finding grant funding.

Teacher Tap http://www.eduscapes.com/tap/topic94.htm

Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/business/grants.html

Grants Alert http://www.grantsalert.com/

Finding a Funding Source

A good idea! Read the Guidelines Be specific about

what you need/want and why you want/need it

Match the idea to the guidelines

Plan in detail

Develop the budget from your detailed plan

Read the Guidelines again with narrative in mind.

Write the grant!

The Process

An idea is something that onlyexists in your mind.

Your task is to present theidea in a fundable proposal.

Take a vague idea and identifya specific problem or need associated with it.

Idea

Focused FreewriteQuickly write down:• What is it you want?• What goal are you trying to

accomplish?• How will obtaining what you

want help you accomplish that goal?

• How much will it cost?• Where will you get the items

from?• How will you evaluate the

effectiveness of the grant in accomplishing your goal?

What significant needs are you trying to meet?

What is the current status of the needs?

Will this project help meet the need?

What really needs to be done?

What services will be delivered? To whom? By whom?

Is it possible to make some impact on the problem?

What gaps exist in the knowledge base?

What does the literature say about the significance of the problem, at a local, state, regional, national level?

Is there evidence that this project will be fundable in the future.

What previous work has been done to meet this need? Was it effective?

What will be the impact of this study?

Questions to Ask, Things to Know

Writing a Grant is Like Playing a Game

GET the guidelines

READ the guidelines

FOLLOW the guidelines

You have to Play by the Rules

You must follow the guidelines exactly. Respond to all sections. Adhere to any format restrictions. Topics must be covered in order

presented in guidelines. Use headings that correspond to the

guidelines.

Following the Guidelines

Goals and Objectives

Both the goals and objectives should flow logically from the statement of need.

Goals convey the ultimate intent of the proposed project, the overarching philosophy, A CONCISE STATEMENT OF THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT.

The opening statement of this section should begin with “the goal of this project is to…”

The Goal

Critically important, and often poorly written Convince the funding source that you

understand the need and can help them solve the problem◦ Prove the need – This is the “Why”◦ Demonstrate that the problem is an

important problem to be solved or need addressed.

◦ Explain how your project will address the problem and what gaps will it fill.

The Task You Face

Objectives discuss who is going to do what, when they will do it, and how it will be measured.

Discuss desired end results of the project.

They are action oriented and often begin with a verb.

Arrange them in priority order.

Objectives

Helping students to understand the real world applications of quadratic equations. (goal).

Objective: “Students (who) will complete a project

involving the launching of straw rockets (what) after studying quadratics in December (when) and will present their findings on the relationship between trajectory angle and distance and height values. (how it is measured).”

Goal or objective?

Emphasize the significance of the project◦ what will be the result◦ what impact will it have◦ will the impact continue

Always address the priorities of the funding agency

Forecast the usefulness and importance of the results

Ending a Needs Statement

Scannability Make sure that all pages are not just solid text Use bulleted items Use headings and subheadings, bold and

underline, no italics Look at each introductory sentence of a

paragraph, it is the most important part, it is all they may read

Put sentences in logical sequence and use action words

Use type faces with serifs, like Times, they are easier to read

A Readable Style

The Budget

Do the Math!

Provide a list of all items that will be needed to accomplish the goal and objectives of the grant.

Items should be divided into two sections those you already have available and those you still need to obtain.

If the grant does not cover all of your funding describe how you will make up the shortfall.

How much will this cost?

Develop a Title for your Grant

The title is important

It should covey what the project is about

While it should be interesting do not make it too “cutesy”

It is often used to assign review groups

The Title

EvaluationFormative evaluation of objectives - how the project will be evaluated as it progresses

Summative evaluation of objectives - how the project will be evaluated when it is finished

After you have finished your draft:◦ set it aside for a day

Done! What do I do now?

Deadline not met Guidelines not

followed Nothing intriguing Unrealistic goal

and/or objectives Did not meet

priorities of funding group

Unrealistic budget Cost greater than

benefit it provides Poorly written Not complete Evaluation not

concise

Top 10 Reasons Why Proposals Fail

Have someone else read it

Have them tell you what your project is about and any areas of confusion

Edit for clarity and conciseness double check the 10 top list

No jargon No first person

Editing

Grant acceptance•While not every grant will be accepted the more grants you write the more likely you will receive one.

•Once you receive a grant the likelihood that you will receive another increases.

•If accepted write a letter of thanks expressing how excited you are to receive the grant and then again at the conclusion (evaluation) of the grant expressing how well the grant aided in accomplishing your goals and objectives.