Effective Grant Writing

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Effective Grant Writing

• Raymond Veon
• rveon_at_atlanta.k12,ga.us or
• artrev_at_langate.gsu.edu

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HOW TO GET A GRANT

• Get an idea
• Get a funder
• Write a proposal
• Get turned down
• Write a Thank You note
• Write a proposal next year
• Get funded
• Write a Thank You note

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Some Resources

• The Foundation Center
• http//www.foundationcenter.org/
• McCarthey-Dressman Educational Foundation
• VSA Arts
• DonorsChoose.org
• NETWORKtell people to let you know about grant
  opportunities

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What keeps us from doing grants?

• Fear of rejection
• Reality - only one proposal in 5 is turned down
  because the idea wasnt good enough
• Reality - A rejected proposal is worth about
  10,000 of free advice
• Reality - the success rate is higher for
  proposals turned in a second time
• Reality - the success rate on a third submission
  is almost 11

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Just Do It!
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Keys to Success

• Innovation is important
• Looking for new solutions to old problems
• Dont have to reinvent the wheeladapt, extend,
  modify, put a new spin to it
• Calling the Program Officer is the most important
  element
• 85 of all successful grant seekers have had
  contact with the program officer

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Private Giving

• Private Foundations
• give out of goodness of their heart
• advance a particular cause
• 10 billion annually
• only 1 billion to universities
• often fund geographically

• Corporations
• give for enlightened self-interest
• quality of life
• employment pool
• improve image
• Dow helps you do great things

Match the funders interests to Your ideas and
needs!!!!! Dont force a fit!!!
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Types of Grants

• Research
• Curriculum
• Demonstration
• Training
• Equipment
• Fellowships

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Getting started

• Start out small and build a track record

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The Process

• A good idea
• A good institutional fit (yours, funder)
• Assemble a winning team
• Match the idea to the funder
• Read the Guidelines
• Read them again

• Contact the sponsor
• Plan in detail
• Develop the budget from the detailed plan
• Read the guidelines again with narrative in mind
• Be persistent - revise and resubmit

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More Questions to Ask

• Does the funding agency share your goals?
• Have they made awards to institutions similar to
  ours?

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You have to Play by the Rules

• GET the guidelines
• READ the guidelines
• FOLLOW the guidelines

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Following the Guidelines

• TIP Highlight every key word and phrase in the
  guidelines
• Make sure you address it in the proposal

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You are not writing a paper for publication

• Manuscript
• General Statement
• Page 1
• Supporting evidence for your hypothesis
• Pages 2-5
• Goals and Objectives
• Page 6 or 7

• Proposal
• General Statement
• One or two sentences!
• Goals and Objectives
• One or two paragraphs
• Supporting evidence
• Next few paragraphs
• However, you may have to write many, many pages
  before you can condense!

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Best Practice for Beginners

• Produce a mountain of writing and condense it
  into a molehill.

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Best Practice

• Condense with rich detail.
• This is not a novel!!!

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You want to achieve

• The fine balance between wordiness and brevity
  that equals clarity
• Only someone who truly understands their
  discipline, what they want to do, and can put it
  in a logical sequence can do this!
• One of hardest grants Ive received 800
  Characters per Category

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Writing Tips

• NO SLOGANS OR CLICHES!
• NO CUT AND PASTE
• You are an attorney making an argument in front
  of a jury
• Your proposal is like your legal argumentit has
  to be air tight.
• You can not cut/paste an argument from eclectic
  sourcesYOU must THINK IT THROUGH on your own!

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The Next Step after Reading the Guidelines
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Call the Program Officer!

• The major variable in getting proposals funded is
  contact with the program officer prior to
  submission of a proposal.

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Appropriate Writing Style

• Write to the funding source
• Write in the correct language of the field - but
  no jargon
• Never write in 1st person
• Clarity
• 5 Ws

• Write to inform
• dont use language that is biased
• Write to persuade
• data from reputable source
• use current data
• establish credibility
• No unsubstantiated opinions

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Remember.
A Grant is not an Idea.
It is a Plan!
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Parts of a Grant Application

• Cover Page
• Table of Contents
• Abstract
• Problem or Needs Statement
• Goals and Objectives
• Methodology
• Quality of Key Personnel

• Evaluation
• Dissemination
• References Cited
• Budget Narrative
• Vitae
• Appendices
• Forms, Certifications and Assurances

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AbstractIf Required

• Should be able to stand alone
• it may be all the reviewers read
• Publishable quality
• Clear, concise, one page, single space
• Avoid 1st person
• Do not refer to proposal in the abstract
• Cover all key elements in order
• Start by taking first sentence of each paragraph
  in your proposal (test of clarity!)

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The Needs or Problem Statement

• Identify the need or problem that makes it
  crucial for you to be funded.
• Must match interests/goals of funder.
• When writing you problem/need statement, remember

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The Needs or Problem Statement
In God we trust
all others bring data
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The Task You Face

• 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
• cite evidence
• illustrate with graphs, charts (if allowed),
  words
• Demonstrate that the need is pressing
• That the problem is importantmust be solved
• How your project will address the problem and
  what gaps will it fill

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A Good Problem Statement Should

• Show that you understand the problem
• Demonstrate that this is an important problem to
  solve
• Clearly describe the aspects of the problem that
  your project will address, and what gaps this
  will fill

• Describe the theoretical or conceptual basis for
  your project and your knowledge of the issues
  surrounding your proposed project
• Include statistical data, if appropriate
• Demonstrate that your approach is innovative
• Describe how this project fits into the existing
  goals of the organization

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Example
Children are exhibiting violent and disruptive
behavior.
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Check your Assumptions
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Improve this statement by

• Children are exhibiting violent and disruptive
  behavior.
• Clarifying the assumptions
• Anticipating the questions

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Funded Problem Statement
The harsh truth is that growing numbers of
children in America are exhibiting violent and
disruptive behavior or externalizing behavior
(also referred to as antisocial behavior,
challenging behavior, defiance, noncompliance,
aggressive behavior, acting-out, etc.) beyond the
occasional minor incident typical of most
children during the normal course of development.
Such behavior has become one of the most
pressing issues in schools.
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Dissecting a Problem Statement

• The first sentence is the problem.
• Then clarify the problem by defining both the
  behavior and what is normal
• States that this is a pressing need
• which is hopefully the need the funder is
  addressing

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Funded Problem Statement
PROBLEM
The harsh truth is that growing numbers of
children in America are exhibiting violent and
disruptive behavior or externalizing behavior
(also referred to as antisocial behavior,
challenging behavior, defiance, noncompliance,
aggressive behavior, acting-out, etc.) beyond the
occasional minor incident typical of most
children during the normal course of development.
Such behavior has become one of the most
pressing issues in schools.
NEED
CLARIFY PROBLEM
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Documenting the Problem Statement

• Rooted in factual information
• must document that your initial statement is
  correct.
• Show you know whats going on in the field, what
  the basic issues are
• And that you can reason about them
• Use national and local information
• showing that the local problem is also a national
  one

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Show you can think

• AVOID Cut/paste mentality A set up for
  long-term failure and professional irrelevance.

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How would you document your problem statement?
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Ending a Needs Statement

• Emphasize the significance of the project
• what will be the result
• what impact will it have
• will the impact continue
• You might present you project as a model
• Always address the priorities of the funding
  agency
• Forecast the usefulness and importance of the
  results

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Problem Statement

• What is the Gap
• How will you close the Gap
• What data supports the existence of the gap
  and/or your approach to closing it

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Goals and objectives

• The What

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Appropriotic (uh PRO pree ah tick) adj.

• Of or pertaining to the penchant to overuse the
  term appropriate in a proposal when the
  guidelines call for measurable objectives and
  outcomes and the principal investigator hasnt
  the foggiest idea what to do. It produces such
  sentences as the project director will take
  appropriate measures to seek appropriate levels
  of support for the delivery of appropriate
  services.

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The Goal

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

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A Well Thought-Out Project

• Will have
• one or two goals
• several objectives related to the goals
• sufficient methodological steps to achieve each
  objective.

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Objectives

• The objectives state the essence of the proposed
  work in terms of what will be accomplished.
• Break the goal down to specific measurable
  pieces.
• Objectives should be specific and measurable

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Objectives

• 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.
• But not how those results will be accomplished.
  (this is for project design/management)

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Goals, Objectives and Measures

• WARNING! Different granting agencies have
  different words

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Objectives

• Your proposal objectives are sort of like
  learning objectives
• Following this lecture, the participants will
  label correctly the five major organs of the
  female reproductive system.

Condition
Intended audience/group
Desired Behavior or Outcome
Standard
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• The "How To" Grants Manual (ACE/Praeger Series on
  Higher Education) (Hardcover)
• David G. Bauer (Author)

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Bauer 7 steps to Objective

• 1. Determine result areas
• 2. Determine measurement indicators
• 3. Determine performance (10 increase)
• 4. Determine the time frame
• 5. Determine cost frame THEN
• 6. Write the objective THEN REFLECT TO
• 7. Evaluate the objective does it reflect what
  will be accomplished and how the change will be
  measured?

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Good words for Objectives

• To explain To apply To predict
• To identify To evaluate To describe
• To integrate To use To assess
• To contrast To interpret To distinguish
• To categorize To solve To formulate
• To organize To prepare To review
• To construct To develop To create

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Avoid these

• To know
• To understand
• To really understand
• To fully appreciate
• To internalize
• To grasp the significance of
• To have an awareness of

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Avoid overly detailed and vague obj.

• Good The student will be able to correctly name
  the five stages of mitosis.
• There would be no point in stating the objective
  as follows just to meet the requirements of it
  having a criterion.
• The student will correctly (criterion) name the
  five stages of mitosis within 30 seconds
  (criterion).
• TOO VAGUE The learner will be able to prepare
  appropriate presentations.
• The learner will be able to prepare legible,
  comprehensive, and focused new presentations that
  include the following features

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Objectives vs Methods (activities)

• Objectives tells what will be accomplished and
  how the change will be measured.
• Methods/ activities state the means to the end or
  change. They tell how you will accomplish the
  desired change.
• Objective might be attained in a number of ways
  but method is one specific way.

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Project Methods or Design

• The project method outlines the tasks that will
  be accomplished with the available resources.
• It is helpful to structure the project method as
  a timeline. Early in the planning process,
  applicants should list the tasks that will have
  to be completed to meet the goals of the project.
  
• This will provide a chance to consider what
  personnel, materials, and other resources will be
  needed to carry out the tasks.

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Plan of Action, Project Design, or Methodology

• Usually, this is the area allotted the most
  points.
• Often poorly written or missing altogether.
• 25 proposals are turned down because the
  methodology is unsound.

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Questions for Methodology

• Walk the reader through your project
• Describe the activities as they relate to the
  objectives
• Develop a time line and/or and organizational
  chart

• How will the activities be conducted?
• How long?
• 5 Ws
• When?
• Who?
• Where?
• What facilities/materials?
• Why (how the relate to objectives/goals)

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Quality of Key Personnel
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Who Are these People, and Why Should we Give them
our Money?

• This is where you demonstrate that you are the
  right person to do this project.
• Do not simply say See resume.
• Convince the funding agency the you are capable
  of accomplishing what you say you can accomplish
• Highlight the expertise of all key personnel

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Institutions Qualifications

• Not all grants require this
• Why should the award be made to your institution?
  
• The Grants Office (if there is one) will help you
  with the information in this section.

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Evaluation

• Did it go up or down?
• Were they happy?

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Evaluation

• Formative 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

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Evaluation design

• What was the impact? How do you know?
• Descriptions of record keeping, surveys, and
  assessment instruments.
• Consider what would count as evidence that your
  project succeeded or failed?
• If you where someone else who wanted to replicate
  the project what would you need to know to
  determine if you would benefit

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Evaluation Design - Questions To Ask

• Summative
• Did faculty change their instructional practices?
• Did this vary by teacher or student
  characteristics?
• Did faculty use information?
• What obstacles prevented implementing change?
• Were changes made in the curriculum?
• Were students more interested in class work?
• What formative/summative questions would you ask
  for student-centered grants?

• Evaluation for Faculty Development Workshops
• Formative
• Who participated?
• Were they organized and staffed as planned?
• Were materials available?
• Were they of high quality?
• Was the full range of topics actually covered?
• Too few, too many?
• Problems?
• Modification?
• Timing?

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Outside Evaluation

• Hire a third party.
• Someone well known in the field.
• Someone you quoted in the needs section.
• They may often contribute to the writing of the
  evaluation section.

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A Good Evaluation Plan

• Defines the criteria by which the program will be
  evaluated
• Evaluates the achievement of each objective
• Describes data gathering methods
• Explains assessment instruments, questionnaires,
  and other materials
• Describes data analysis procedures
• Relates evaluation findings to a plan for program
  improvement
• Describes evaluation reports to be produced

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Continuation

• What happens when the
• money runs out?

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Project Continuation

• Funding agencies want to have a lasting impact
  and they want to know how that will happen.
• Include how you propose to continue the project
  beyond the funding that you are requesting

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Dissemination
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Dissemination Plan Should Include

• Which results will be reported?
• What audiences will be reached?
• How the results or products will be disseminated,
  e.g., computer networks, video tapes,
  conferences, professional journals, or
  publication of books, chapters, or monographs?

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The Budget

• Do the Math!

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Developing Your Budget

• A restatement in dollar terms of the methods
  section - no surprises
• Realistic, dont inflate
• Realistic, dont inflate
• Realistic, dont inflate

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Developing Your Budget

• Two parts to a budget
• the budget form which breaks the budget into
  specific categories
• a budget narrative that explains how you arrived
  at these figures and why you need the money

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Two Types of Costs

• Direct and Indirect

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How Do we Determine if a Cost is Allowable?

• REASONABLE A prudent business person would have
  purchased this item and paid this price
• ALLOCABLE Assigned to the activity on a
  reasonable basis
• CONSISTENTLY TREATED like costs must be treated
  or costed the same in like circumstances

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Adequacy of Resources

• Review your budget objectively
• Have you requested enough funding to complete the
  project professionally

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Budget

• Notice that I asked you to estimate your budget
  needs AT THE BEGINNING.
• You must think about the budget from the start.

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Appendix

• What additional information will be helpful to
  the reader?
• Vitae
• Letters of Support/Commitment (Grants Office will
  obtain any institutional letters)
• Sample questionnaires, syllabi
• Some sponsors either do not allow appendix
  material or do not require reviewers to read
  anything that appears in an appendix
• Dont waste trees

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Letters

• Letters of Support
• We think its a good idea
• referred to in text, put in appendix
• how does project fit with mission/goals of
  college
• Presents type of support

• Letters of Commitment
• Evidence of interest in project from participants
• if project is funded they are ready with their
  contribution
• what they will contribute
• they will participate at the time that you need
  them

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Review Criteria
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Review

• Application Guidelines contain review criteria
• Peer Reviewed
• Panel Review
• Staff Review
• Board Review

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A Reviewer Friendly Grant
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A Readable Style

• Scannability
• Use bulleted items
• Use graphics in methodology and needs sections IF
  PERMITTED
• Use headings and subheadings, bold and underline,
  no italics IF PERMITTED
• Look at each introductory sentence of a
  paragraph, it is the most important part, it is
  all they may read
• IF NO TYPEFACE IS SPECIFIED Use type faces with
  serifs, like Times, they are easier to read
• Do not justify

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Editing

• The fine balance between wordiness and brevity
  that equals clarity

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Editing your Grant

• After you have finished your draft
• set it aside for a day
• revise
• Have someone else read it without taking notes

• Have them tell you what your project is about
• Edit for clarity and conciseness
• No jargon
• No first person

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Writing in Plain English

• Grant Writing is a form of technical writing
• Put sentences in logical sequence
• Use action verbs
• Never write in first person
• Use lists when you have several items

• Use the active voice
• avoid to be
• subject first
• Use parallel construction
• Avoid noun strings
• Go on a which hunt
• Avoid openers with There is, There are, and It is

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Long Noun Strings

• Here's a fairly simple exampleemployee
  compensation level evaluation procedures
• Tell the truth didn't your brain stick and
  sputter over that phrase a couple times before
  you grasped its meaning? I'd have made your
  reading task easier if I'd written procedures
  for evaluating the compensation level of
  employees
• Now unravel this string military trainee firing
  range regulations orientation manual
• You should have come up with something like
  manual for orienting trainees to the regulations
  of a military firing range

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Parallel Construction

• Whenever a sentence contains two or more items
  linked by "and" or "or," those items are parallel
  and therefore usually need to be expressed in the
  same grammatical forms (i.e., nouns, verbs,
  infinitives, gerunds, adjectives, etc.).
• Faulty parallel construction
• To write well and listening well are important
  communication skills.
• Correct parallel construction
• Writing well and listening well are important
  communication skills.orTo write well and to
  listen well are important communication skills.
• Faulty parallel construction
• Remind Mark to go to the store, the bank, and see
  if the laundry is ready.
• Correct parallel construction
• Remind Mark to go to the store, deposit his check
  at the bank, and see if the laundry is ready.

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Professional Writing Style Website

• http//www.designsensory.com/pws/lesson1/index.htm
  l

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Submitting your Grant
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The Last Minute

• Due Date received by or postmarked
• You cant FedEx to a P. O. Box.
• Make sure you have the correct address
• The Grants Office will facilitate copying and
  mailing, provided the grant is in one week before
  it is due.

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The Very Last Minute

• A crisis on your part does not constitute a
  crisis on my part.

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Formatting and Typing Checklist

• Use margins, type size and spacing as requested
• white paper
• Adhere to page limits
• Address all sections of guidelines and review
  criteria

• Address review criteria
• Make sure the budget balances
• Standard bibliography format
• Complete all forms
• Proofread/spell check
• Check duplication process

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Page Limits

• Can you go beyond them?
• NO!!!

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Page Limits

• Can you go beyond them?
• NO!!!

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Veons Law

• One Hour before the grant needs to go out, the
  copier will break.
• Leave enough time!

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The Final Document

• Readable, neat, easy to handle
• Avoid fancy covers or a slick appearance
• Be sure sections are easily identifiable and
  table of contents is accurate
• Required number of copies
• Necessary signatures in blue ink

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14 Reasons Why Proposals Fail

• Deadline not met
• Guidelines not followed
• Nothing intriguing
• Did not meet priorities
• Not complete
• Poor literature review

• Appeared beyond capacity of personnel
• Methodology weak
• Unrealistic budget
• Cost greater than benefit
• Highly partisan
• Poorly written
• Mechanical defects

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Remember

• Get
• Read
• Follow
• The Guidelines
• Call
• The Program Officer

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Recycle your Rejected Proposal

• Success means having one in three grants funded
• A rejected proposal does not always mean the idea
  was rejected
• Obtain reviewer comments
• Call the program officer
• Rewrite, revise, resubmit

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DOs and DONTs

• DO follow guidelines exactly.
• DONT send videos or binders.
• DO show how you will help the foundation fulfill
  its mission.
• DONT say your project is just what they need.
• DO invite them to help you get sixteen
  below-grade readers interested in
• reading.
• DONT make promises you cant keep like, by the
  end of the school year our
• below-grade readers will have read Moby Dick.
• DO be specific about what you can accomplish. At
  least half of the children
• will have risen a grade level in reading.
• DONT discount the importance of evaluation to
  prove your claims.

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More DOs and DONTs

• DO include pre and post-evaluation.
• At the beginning of the project we will test the
  entire class to
• determine who is reading below grade level. At
  the end of the
• project we will again test the class to determine
  progress among
• both our grade-level readers and those who have
  participated in this
• project. In this way we will determine just how
  effective the project
• is and which children need further intervention.
• DONT think you can get away without a good
  evaluation plan.
• DO think about ways to involve or partner with
  other schools or groups.
• DONT forget to get letters of agreement from
  partners.
• DO use clear and concise language.
• DONT try to make it sound fancy or learned.

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HOW NOT TO GET TURNED DOWN

• Read the guidelines carefully all the way
  through. Also read about the foundations
  priorities and what they funded recently.
• Write down every possible thing you think relates
  to the project, from getting the superintendents
  approval to where youre going to put the waste
  baskets.
• Arrange your points in order of the foundations
  guidelines.
• Write as clearly and simply as you can. If you do
  a good job, anyone can pick up your proposal and
  lead the project.
• To make a good budget, go back to your list of
  everything that relates to the project and put a
  price on it. Dont guess if you dont have to.
  Call the finance office of the school department
  if you need to pay custodians overtime or you
  want to serve a snack. If you write a good budget
  someone should be able to read it and know what
  your project is all about.
• Spell out and demonstrate the benefits of the
  projectnot everyone is as visionary as you.

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WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET TURNED DOWN

• Dont take it personally--youre not a bad
  person.
• Grit your teeth and WRITE A THANK YOU NOTE
  through your anger.
• Dont take it personally they got many more
  good applications than they had money to give
  out.
• Apply next yearmaybe with an improved proposal
  or maybe with an improved idea.
• Dont take it personally.

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WHAT TO DO IF YOU GET A GRANT

• Write a thank you note to the foundation.
• Notify your principal, the finance office and the
  superintendents office.
• Get out your proposal and see what you have to
  do.
• Do the project.
• Spend all the money, keep receipts and work with
  the finance office.
• Write a report.
• Send it to the foundation, the principal and the
  superintendents office.

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• REVIEW

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Remember

• Be problem-focused not resource-focused
• Grants should not just expand on existing human
  resources

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How is it different?

• A description of how this proposal will differ
  from what is currently being done to address the
  problem
• The program must address a problem in a new way

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The Fatal Mistake

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The Biggest Mistake of All

• Is to not write a proposal. It is absolutely
  fatal.
• So - Go ahead and Buy a Ticket!
• www.igniteart.weebly.com
• rveon_at_atlanta.k12,ga.us or
• artrev_at_langate.gsu.edu

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The End