Successful Grant Writing

1
Successful Grant Writing March 14,
2008 Presenter R.V. Rikard Dr. William L.
Carruthers
2
Introduction

• Presenter
• Dr. William (Bill) L. Carruthers
• Senior Director, Grants Administration and
  Compliance Reporting
• Wake County Public School System
• [phone] wcarruthers_at_wcpss.net
• Personal
• [phone] bill_at_GrantProseInc.com

3
Introduction

• Grantsmanship.is both an art and a technical
  skill that involves hard work, and sometimes
  trial and error prior to a successful outcome
  (Gitlin Lyons, 2004, p. 1).
• You do not need to be a gifted writer, but you
  do need to be a determined writer
• Determined to be thorough with your response to
  the funding agencys request for proposal.
• Determined to craft good sentences, orderly
  paragraphs and logical arguments.
• Determined to secure feedback on your ideas, text
  and budget.

4
Introduction

• Characteristics of A Grant
• An award of money
• A contractual relationship
• Specific terms and conditions
• Limited performance period
• Program and fiscal reporting
• May not be renewable

5
PART 1 Using A Logic Model To Develop Grant
Proposals
6
Overview

• Program Objective Part 1
• To understand how a logic model can help to
  organize your conceptualization and under gird
  the grant proposal text.

7
Organizing the Proposal

• Writing a grant proposal is an exercise in
  logicThe main reason proposals fail is that they
  dont make sense. They are poorly conceived, are
  not supported by documented needs, and do not
  have a sound logic backing the request (Ward,
  2006).

8
Organizing the Proposal

• A Logic Model Starts with the Request for
  Proposal
• A request for proposal (RFP) is a means funders
  employ to encourage proposals for a program
  established by the funder (Thompson, 2007, p.
  33).
• AKA Request for Application, Notice of Funding
  Availability and other names.

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Organizing the Proposal

• The RFP is your Most Important Tool for writing a
  competitive grant application. Listen to it!
• Analyze the RFP for
• significant terms to
• develop a Logic Model.

10
Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model
• A logic model is a picture of how your project
  or program will workshowing how the desired
  outcomes will be achieved (NOAA Coastal Services
  Center).
• Logic models illustrate a sequence of
  cause-and-effect relationshipsa systems approach
  to communicate the path toward a desired result
  (McCawley, nd.).
• Clear ideas about what you plan to do and
  whyenhance the case for investment in your
  program (W.K. Kellogg Foundation).

11
Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model
• The RFP will identify a variety of constructs for
  you to address in your narrative some of the
  most common are
• Problem
• Needs
• Goal
• Objectives
• Outcomes
• Strategies
• Activities

Constructs such as these can be organized and
depicted in a logic model.
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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model
• Start with the Goal make your goal identical
  with the Purpose of the grant program as
  indicated in the RFPalthough individualized for
  your context.
• For instance, with an RFP that has a purpose to
  increase the reading proficiency of children and
  youth, your goal statement might be to paraphrase
  the RFPs purpose
• Consistent with the purpose of the Early
  Reading grant program, our goal is to develop the
  pre-reading competencies of disadvantaged 3 and 4
  year old children.

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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model

GOAL
One definition of a goal is The purpose towards
which an endeavor is directed (http//www.thefree
dictionary.com/goal). Notice the use of the word
purpose in the definition of goal!
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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model
• Next, identify your Problem.
• Like the goal, the problem must be consistent
  with the purpose of the RFP, and is essentially
  the opposite of the goal.
• The problem statement should have an human
  interest elementshow that humans are impacted by
  the problem.
• Data must be provided that substantiate your
  problem statement.

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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model
• A significant problem in XYZ school district is
  that many children entering kindergarten are not
  prepared to experience success in the
  kindergarten classroom.
• Children entering kindergarten with poorly
  developed pre-reading skills are especially at
  risk for failure.
• This problem is most prominent among children
  living in low-income families and/or with parents
  who have not earned high school diplomas.
• Provide data that substantiate your problem
  statement.

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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model

GOAL
PROBLEM
???
How will you progress from the problem condition
to the goal condition? By resolving your needs!
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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model
• Determine the Needs you must address if you are
  to resolve your problem.
• Specify a set of needs, with each need uniquely
  different from the other needs.
• Among children and adults in our target
  population, three needs that are most prominent
  are
• A need to prepare kindergarten teachers to
• A need to motivate and support parents to
• A need to create reading rich environments that

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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model

GOAL
PROBLEM
??? ??? ???
Need
Need
Need
How do you plan to redress your needs? By
establishing objectives.
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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model
• For each need, create a matching Objective
• Kindergarten teachers in our district will be
  prepared to differentiate and individualize
  reading instruction for every child.
• In our target population, parents/guardians will
  carry out reading activities with their children
  that supplement and compliment the school reading
  program.
• Children will be exposed to a wide variety of
  developmentally appropriate reading materials in
  both school and home environments.

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Organizing the Proposal
Logic Model
GOAL
PROBLEM
Need
Objective
Need
Objective
Need
Objective
How will you know when you achieve an
objective? By setting measurable outcomes.
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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model
• Develop measurable Outcomes, following SMART
  criteria
• S Specific
• M Measurable
• A Achievable
• R Relevant
• T Time-bound

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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model
• SMART outcomes should state
• Who is involved,
• What are the desired outcomes,
• How progress is measured,
• Proficiency level, and
• When will the outcome occur.

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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model
• By December 2007 when,
• 100 proficiency
• of kindergarten teachers who
• will demonstrate knowledge of reading
  instructional strategies appropriate for
  developmentally delayed children what
• as measured by test and observation how
  measured.
• See, for instance, How to Write Measurable Goals
  and Objectives, Indiana Department of Education.
  http//www.doe.in.gov/sdfsc/pdf/writing-gos.pdf

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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model

GOAL
PROBLEM
Outcome
Need
Objective
Outcome
Need
Objective
Outcome
Need
Objective
Outcome
Outcome
What will you do to make all this happen!? You
will implement strategies and conduct activities.
Outcome
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Organizing the Proposal

• Logic Model

GOAL
PROBLEM
Outcome
Strategies
Activities
Need
Objective
Outcome
Need
Objective
Outcome
Need
Objective
Outcome
Outcome
Outcome
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Organizing the Proposal

• Tips on Using a Logic Model
• When developing your logic model, keep some tips
  in mind
• Limit your goal(s) to one or two, and certainly
  no more than three. The more goals you have, the
  more complicated your project becomeswith needs,
  objectives and outcomes multiplying for each
  additional goal
• In your text, reserve the terms goal, need,
  objective and outcome to the purpose for which
  you use them in your logic model. Do not confuse
  your reader by using these terms to describe
  other things in your narrative.

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Organizing the Proposal

• Tips on Using a Logic Model (continued)
• Include a visual schematic of your logic model in
  the body of your narrative, possibly in a section
  on project design.
• Develop all text and the budget to be consistent
  with the logic model.

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Organizing the Proposal
Logic Model Summary With a completed logic model
you will have an organization of the relationship
among major constructs and terms identified in
the RFP which you can refer back to as you write
the narrative. Different elements of the logic
model will be relevant to different sections of
the narrative.
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PART 2 Tips for Writing Text for Some Common
Sections of Grant Proposals
30
Overview

• Program Objective Part 2
• To identify specific elements of text associated
  with the different sections of a grant that are
  commonly found in an RFP.

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Signature Forms

• Cover Page Assurances
• What form of legal entity is your agency (e.g.,
  state or local government, college or university,
  school district, non-profit)?
• Does your agency have a DUNS number? (see
  separate handout)
• Is your agency compliant with federal
  non-discriminatory requirements?
• Is your agency compliant with drug-free workplace
  requirements?
• Is your agency presently debarred?
• Does your agency conduct lobbying?

32
The Narrative

• Thoughts to Keep In Mind
• Writing the narrative is more of a technical
  exercise than a creative art.
• Your narrative should be precise and narrowly
  tailored for the purposes of responding to the
  RFP.
• Say the right thing in the right place. Minimize
  redundancyspace is too precious to waste.

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The Narrative

• Common Elements of the Narrative
• Abstract or Program Summary
• Problem and Need Statement
• Project Design
• Management Plan
• Quality of Key Personnel
• Adequacy of Resources
• Evaluation Plan
• Sustainability Plan

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The Narrative

• Abstract or Program Summary
• Your first impression is CRITICALmake every word
  count!
• Write this last, using words, phrases and
  constructs from your narrative text.
• Include your goal and objectives, being sure
  these are consistent with the funders interests.

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The Narrative

• Problem and Need Statement
• Be sure your problem matches the interests of the
  funding agency.
• Describe how the problem impacts humans served by
  your agency.show the connection to your agency
  and relevance to your locality.
• Identify a set of uniquely distinct needs that
  contribute to the problem.
• Provide data that substantiate your problem and
  needs.
• Make the case that the problem is urgent, but
  dont overstate the case.

36
The Narrative

• Problem and Need Statement
• If not asked for in a different section, this is
  also a good place to describe your organization
• who you are,
• what you do,
• who you serve, and
• your experience working in the problem area.
• Make the case that your agency is well suited to
  work the problem area.

37
The Narrative

• Project Design
• Identify your goal(s), objective(s) and
  measurable outcomes.
• Your goal is a restatement of the funding
  agencys purpose applied to your situation, while
  your objectives are more specific indicators of
  areas in which you will effect change and
  improvement. Consistent with the purpose of
  this grant program, our goal is to
• Space permitting, include a visual schematic of
  your logic model, showing the relationship
  between your problem needs, your goal,
  objectives outcomes, and your strategies
  activities.

38
The Narrative

• Project Design
• Describe the strategies and activities you will
  implement to resolve the problem/needs.
• Show that your selection of strategies and
  activities has been proven to be successful with
  this type problem (e.g., research-based).
• Provide a timeline of major activities and
  milestones, assigning responsibilities and
  matching to objectives.

39
The Narrative

• Project Design Research-Based Strategies
• When determining the particular approach, or
  strategy, that you will use to address your
  problem and progress towards your goal, it is
  necessary to make the case for your strategies
• Why have you selected a particular book for a
  book study program?
• Why are you choosing to introduce differentiated
  instructional practices?
• What is the justification for the particular
  parent education program that you will implement?
• In shortwhat does the research and/or current
  educational literature say about your strategies?

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The Narrative

• Project Design Timeline Example 1

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The Narrative

• Project Design Timeline Example 2

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The Narrative

• Project Design Timeline Example 3

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The Narrative

• Management Plan
• Identify the person in your agency who will
  supervise the projectthis should be a person who
  is already employed in the agency.
• Include a schematic of the organizational chart
  for your project, showing depth (reaching the top
  of the organization) and breadth (impacting other
  offices in the organization and community).
• If any personnel positions are to be funded by
  the grant, clearly distinguish between these and
  those funded by your agency or other sources.

44
The Narrative

• Management Plan
• Identify partnering agencies and specify their
  role (supported with letters of commitment).
• Describe an advisory committee with key
  stakeholders, including consumers of the service.
• Indicate how the budget will be managed.
• Indicate how the evaluation will be conducted.
  Explain how feedback from the evaluation will be
  used to implement continuous improvements.
• Describe how required reports will be produced
  and disseminated.

45
Organizational Chart Example
Breadth
Depth
46
The Narrative

• Quality of Key Personnel
• Describe the qualifications of the individual(s)
  in your agency who will oversee implementation of
  the project.
• Demonstrate the experience that such
  individual(s) have with working in the problem
  area, working with budgets and program
  evaluation, and working with grants.
• If individuals are to be hired on the grant,
  explain their role and provide a job description
  for each position.
• Key personnel may also include individuals from
  partnering agencies.

47
The Narrative

• Adequacy of Resources
• What resources does your agency bring to the
  project to ensure successful implementation? Some
  possible arguments include
• You have talented and experienced people,
• You have adequate facilities,
• You have necessary equipment in place,
• You have acquired the training and/or materials
  needed for the project,
• You have a management infrastructure (e.g., HR,
  Accounting, Marketing), and
• You have partnerships in the community.

48
The Narrative

• Evaluation Plan
• It is common for grant programs to require that
  you conduct an evaluation of the program to
  determine what progress is being made towards
  achieving the goal(s), objective(s) and outcomes.
• A funding agency may require that the evaluation
  be conducted by an independent evaluator.
• There are typically three major types of
  evaluation formative, summative and impact
  evaluation.

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The Narrative

• Evaluation Plan
• Formative (aka process) evaluation focuses on
  HOW a program is being implemented.
• Is typically conducted throughout the year, and
  is most useful for providing ongoing feedback
  that can be used to make continuous improvement
  in operations.
• Data are typically qualitative such as
  observations, interviews, focus groups, case
  studies, anecdotal stories and analyses of
  program records.
• Dont underestimate the value of formative
  evaluation!

50
The Narrative

• Evaluation Plan
• Summative (aka outcome) evaluation focuses on
  WHAT is being accomplished.
• Used to measure the progress that is being made
  towards achieving desired outcomes.
• Is typically conducted on an annual basis,
  although data on interim milestones may be
  collected during the year.
• Data are typically quantitative in naturecan be
  added, subtracted, multiplied and divided such as
  attendance rates, test scores, incidents of
  felonies, percentage rates, etc.
• It may be necessary to collect baseline data to
  compare against the desired outcomes.

51
The Narrative

• Evaluation Plan
• Impact evaluation focuses on the broad,
  long-term impact or results of the grant project.
• Is used as an executive summary for
  decision-makers.
• Includes findings from the formative and
  summative evaluations and notes serendipitous
  developments as well (e.g., forming a new
  partnership, receiving another grant).
• May include a costs/benefits or return on
  investment analysis.
• Provides guidance for the future.

52
The Narrative

• Evaluation Plan
• Some major elements to describe in your
  evaluation plan include
• Evaluation Questions what you plan to learn
  through the evaluation.
• Information Collection Plan
• Types of Data what data will you collect?
• Methods and Instruments how will the data be
  collected?
• Data Sources from who or where will you get
  the data?
• Data Timelines when will the data be
  available?
• Outcomes Improvement Plan (continuous
  feedback)
• Output and Dissemination Plan (annual
  performance reports, etc.)

53
The Narrative
Evaluation Plan It can be helpful to include a
visual representation of your evaluation plan
such as the model depicted here.
Brinkerhoff, R. O., Brethower, D. M., Hluchyj,
T., Nowakowski, J. R. (1983). Program
evaluation A practitioners guide for trainers
and educators. Boston Kluwer-Nijhoff Publishing.
54
The Narrative

• Sustainability Plan
• Funding agencies may ask you to explain how you
  will sustain the project after grant funding
  ceasessome arguments are better than others.
• Better arguments include
• Personnel will have received the training they
  need to continue the project.
• Equipment and/or materials/supplies will have
  been acquired to continue the project.
• Changes in management structure and/or policies
  will have been completed that support continuing
  the project.
• New partnerships will have been formed to support
  the project.

55
The Narrative

• Sustainability Plan
• Weaker arguments include
• The agency will reallocate existing funds to
  continue the project (if the agency had
  sufficient funds, it wouldnt need the grant).
• The agency will secure another grant to continue
  the project (its unlikely you will find another
  grant that will be a good match).
• The optimal situation is to recognize that
  sustainability planning should be considered even
  while developing the proposal, and continued from
  the beginning of the grant. Dont wait until the
  grant is almost over to think about starting this
  process!

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PART 3 how Me The Money The Budget
57
Overview

• Program Objective Part 3
• To understand the difference between the budget
  summary, budget detail, and budget justification.

58
The Budget

• Common Budgetary Categories
• Personnel
• Fringe Benefits
• Travel
• Equipment
• Supplies
• Contractual
• Construction
• Other
• Indirect Costs
• Training Stipends

59
The Budget Summary
Standard Form 524 used by the U.S. Department of
Education, providing a summary of major
categories by year.
60
The Budget Detail
This example shows three major budget categories,
providing detailed information on line item
expenses for each year, with cost-of-living
increases as appropriate.
61
The Budget Justification
Provides the narrative justification for your
dollar figures. How did you arrive at those
salaries? How are your supply costs determined
your contractual costs etc.?
62
Successful Grant Writing Closing Comments
63
Closing Comments

• Carruthers Tips for Winning Grants A Bakers
  Dozen
• Review the RFP in detail, underlining,
  highlighting, etc.
• Design the proposal to model the RFP exactly,
  using the same sections, titles, sub-headers and
  terminology.
• Follow the specifications for margins, font size
  and type, page limits. Dont try to cheat.

64
Closing Comments

• Carruthers Tips for Winning Grants (continued)
• Identify the one person who will be the band
  conductor, in charge of the overall product and
  ready to fulfill any role from writing to
  budgeting to making final decisions.
• Limit developing the proposal to a small number
  of people use groups of people for
  brainstorming.
• Be careful that your proposal is not a mile wide
  and only an inch deep.

65
Closing Comments

• Carruthers Tips for Winning Grants (Continued)
• Create a logic map, showing the relationship
  among major constructs (e.g., problem, need,
  goal, objectives, outcomes, activities,
  strategies, etc.).
• Make your goal(s) the same as the funders
  purpose.
• Write orderly Adhere to the functions of the
  first, middle and ending sentences in a
  paragraph.
• Find a couple of people who will review the
  narrative and critically mark it up.

66
Closing Comments

• Carruthers Tips for Winning Grants (continued)
• Write the abstract or program summary last,
  drawing from sentences in the narrative.
• Build a balanced budget, one that is not heavy on
  personnel or equipment.
• Draft the letters of support yourself and begin
  collecting these early.
• AND ONE MORE
• Aim to complete the proposal two or three days
  before the deadline.

67
Closing Comments

• Be careful what you ask for, you might get it!
• Ask yourself
• 1. Can you manage the grant?
• 2. What will happen when grant funding ceases?

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Questions / Observations
69
Citations

• Gitlin, L. N., Lyons, K. J. (2004). Successful
  grant writing Strategies for health and human
  service professionals (2nd ed.). New York
  Springer Publishing.
• Indiana Department of Education (n.d.). How to
  write measurable goals and objectives. Retrieved
  September 3, 2007, from http//doe.state.in.us/sdf
  sc/pdf/writing-gos.pdf
• McCawley, P. (n.d.). The logic model for program
  planning and evaluation. Retrieved September 3,
  2007, from http//www.uidaho.edu/extension/LogicMo
  del.pdf

70
Citations

• Thompson, W. (2007). The complete idiots guide
  to grant writing (2nd ed.). Indianapolis Penguin
  Group, Alpha Books.
• Ward, D. (2006). Writing grant proposals that win
  (3rd ed.). Sudbury, MA Jones and Bartlett
  Publishers.
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation (2004). Logic model
  development guide. Retrieved September 3, 2007,
  from www.wkkf.org/Pubs/Tools/Evaluation/Pub3669.pd
  f