Workshop Presented by

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Information Prepared by, Carol Smith Davies,
M.P.A. Fresno City College Carol.davies_at_fresnocity
college.edu carolsmithdavies_at_comcast.net (559)
999-9320

• Workshop Presented by
• Cherie Schroeder, M.S.
• Foster Kinship Care Education
  Director/Specialist
• Woodland Community College
• www.yolofostercare.com
• cherie_at_yolofostercare.com
• Serving Yolo County Foster, Kinship Adoptive
  Parents

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Todays Workshop

• Technology and the grantseeking process
• Four Cs of successful grant proposals
• How to write tight
• Recommended Reading

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Technology and the Grantseeking Process

• Approximately 10 of all US foundations and
  corporate grantmakers have websites
• Online grants application software developers,
  web-based platforms
• www.grantrequest.com
• CyberGrants
• Center for Arts Management and Technology E-Grant
• Arlington Group Easygrants
• Foundation Source
• Kintera Online Grants

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Technology and the Grantseeking Process cont.

• Rationale behind online grant applications
• Reduces administrative burden
• Saves trees!
• Reducing scanning, printing and data-entry needs
  costs
• Eliminates ineligible proposals
• Eligibility quizzes
• Letter of intent or inquiry
• Full-proposals only upon invitation
• Enable real time review
• Shortens time between applying and receiving
  award
• Enhances communications with potential grantees
• Facilitates the review process

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Online applications from the grantseekers
perspective

• Pros
• Leaner prose
• Can submit last minute
• No more worrying about number of copies
• Usually straightforward and easy to use
• Expect quicker response

• Cons
• Takes more time especially when creating a
  proposal for new project
• Cant say all you want limited by of words
• Lose control over formatting
• No spell check
• Cant upload files as attachments
• Too impersonal
• Technologically challenged not user friendly
• Privacy issues

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Four Cs of Effective Grant Proposals

• Clear
• Active, engaging language makes it easy to read
• Short sentences
• Small paragraphs
• Comprehensive
• Detailed
• Anticipates every possible question of grant
  reviewer

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Four Cs of Effective Grant Proposals cont

• Concise
• Well-organized
• Gets to the point as quickly as possible
• Competitive
• Attainable outcomes that will impact the
  community
• Furthers the mission of the grant maker
• Persuasive

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Tips for Preparing Online Proposals

• Plan Ahead
• Visit grant maker website well before the
  deadline, if applicable
• Complete eligibility questionnaire or register
• Create user login and password
• Print application form
• If new project or program, prepare your proposal
  using a word processing software.
• If existing project or program, use current
  proposal to cut and past to create specific
  sections

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Cut and Paste Have a 2nd Set of Eyes Review

• ALWAYS create proposal components in a word
  processing software then cut and paste into the
  grant application.

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Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont.

• Typical format
• Background of organization
• Need of the proposed project
• Project or program goal and process objectives
• Project or program activities
• Measurable outcomes
• Evaluation plan
• Future funding
• Recognition plan for corporate grant makers
• Budget in Excel or Word format
• Attachments in .doc, .xls and/or .pdf format

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Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont.

• Background of organization
• In one paragraph, briefly outline the purpose of
  the organization usually 200-300 characters
• Provide founding date
• Describe current operating principles
• Example The Aging Place (TAP) provides
  different levels of housing for low-income senior
  citizens over the age of 62 throughout the Ellis
  metropolitan area. Founded in 1945, TAP opened
  its first Home for the Aged in Easter Kansas.
  Today, the TAP network includes nine residential
  facilities. 239 characters

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Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont.

• State the mission of the organization
• Example Its mission is to provide the elderly
  with quality services, care and housing within
  secure and stable environments. TAP helps older
  adults enjoy their independence by fostering
  their physical, intellectual, social and
  spiritual well being. 240 characters
• List accomplishments to date
• State number of persons served
• Identify programs by name

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Need Statement

• Usually one paragraph provides an overview o the
  problem
• Focus is on the community not the need of the
  organization!
• Introduce the problem to the reader
• Briefly describe the target population
• Discuss the current situation NOT the solution
  you propose
• Statistics from your previous programs and local
  agencies
• Needs assessment of the community
• Case studies from state agencies and authorities
  in the field

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Need Statement Example 1,914 characters or 342
words

• For many older adults, the later years are a
  time of illness, pain, and disability. Many
  suffer from chronic diseases. Research indicates
  that this physical decline is a result of the
  lack of comprehensive health promotion and
  disease prevention strategies for the elderly.
  Rising healthcare costs reflect the chronic
  ailments of this population. Throughout the
  metropolitan area, there are only a handful of
  programs for seniors and non aggressively address
  health prevention and wellness. Health and
  wellness among seniors is directly proportional
  to their level of income. Low-income seniors
  have less access to healthcare and poorer health
  outcomes than their wealthier age-matched
  counterparts. TAP confirmed these finds with the
  September 2007 Senior Needs Assessment conducted
  by the Ellis-based East Kansas Human Service
  Agency, in conjunction with the Hayes University.
  Results from this assessment support two major
  issues 1) better coordination of health care for
  low-income seniors, and 2) increased education
  and awareness of health and wellness among this
  population.

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• TAP began a wellness program, entitled Staying
  Healthy, at its Ellis facility in 2005 no other
  program of its type existed in the East Kansas
  area for low-income seniors. Within three months
  of launching the program, the wellness nurse
  assigned to the program by Hayes Hospital saw
  residents make considerable strides. Two quit
  smoking after 40 years. Three lowered their blood
  pressure. Others began exercising regularly and
  maintained or lost weight. One resident remarked
  how she could walk without her cane yet another
  stated she could now clean her apartment without
  getting tired. Still those who were diabetic
  began checking their feet and blood sugar twice
  daily. Achieving some of these goals meant making
  life-altering changes. Today, 133 of the 160
  residents participate in Staying Healthy. This
  program helps older adults, even the frail
  elderly, maintain their independence.

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Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont.

• Project/Program Description
• State goal sometimes limited by of characters
• Example The goal of Staying Healthy is to
  improve health outcomes and reduce isolation of
  seniors age 62 and older. TAP will increase the
  number of seniors participating in Staying
  Healthy over the next year by introducing this
  program in its other eight facilities in the
  metropolitan area. 237 characters

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• Project/Program Description cont.
• Provide measurable outcomes required
• 85 of participants will remain in the program
  for one year
• 95 of participants will become more active
  through group exercise
• 90 of participants will know their blood
  pressure rate and cholesterol levels
• 80 of participants will visit the wellness nurse
  at least once a month

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• Project/Program Description cont.
• Create a short paragraph describing activities
  usually 2,000 characters
• Answer the basic questions
• of participants
• Type of activities that will yield the goal and
  outcomes
• Where the activities will take place
• How often they meet, facilities, and
  transportation needs
• Personnel both supervisory and new hires.
• Possibly discuss components, phases or states of
  activities
• Provide timeline usually start and end dates
  only

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Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont.

• Evaluation Plan possibly 1,500 to 2,000
  characters
• Identify evaluation team
• If using an outside evaluator, describe
  credentials
• Discuss evaluation tools or methods
• Identify frequency of reporting

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Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont.

• Future funding
• Short paragraph identifying future sources of
  funding to keep project in operation
• DO NOT state that you will secure additional
  grants to support this program RED FLAG

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Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont.

• Recognition/Publicity Plan usually 2,000
  characters
• Required mostly by corporations and large
  foundations
• State that the grant maker will be a partner in
  the project/program
• Discuss how your organization will promote the
  name of the funder verbally and on printed
  materials
• Outline any media outlets that will be approached
  for press coverage
• Seek permission to use corporate logo on all
  printed materials

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Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont.

• Standard Attachments to upload
• Budget for project or program
• Use your budget format in Word or Excel
• Show both revenues and expenses
• Total amount of revenues must equal total amount
  of expenses
• Provide written justification if required
• List of board members with affiliations
• Audited financial statement no more than two
  years old
• Organizational budget for current fiscal year

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Tips to Write Tight

• Write in compact sentences using simple words
  without redundancies
• Answer the six basic questions
• Who
• What
• Where
• When
• How
• Why

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• How to Write Tight in a Nutshell by Kathy Henning
• Seattle-based writer and teacher, as well as the
  managing editor of Communication Fitness, an
  online instructional resource for schools,
  nonprofits and businesses. She can be reached at
  hmcl_at_hbsp.harvard.edu
• Understand that right writing doesnt just happen

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Dont try to write tight on the first draft.
• First draft is for organizing what you want to
  say and putting it roughly into words. Tightening
  comes with subsequent drafts.
• Plan to revise at least three times
• Have someone else ready what youve written to
  point out ambiguity or suggest cuts
• Understand that tighter is always better, but
  shorter isnt always better.
• Remember that clarity is always more important
  than brevity

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Use the imperative
• Normally dont in academic writing
• When you do use an imperative sentence, it should
  usually contain only a mild command, and thus,
  end with a period. Example Consider the frail
  elderly.
• No subject, fewer words
• Provide a call to action
• Think in short, firm sentences even fragmented
  sentences
• Just get to the point

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Limit length start and end a sentence on a
  single line
• Eliminate redundancy
• Dont overstate the obvious
• Use abbreviations wisely
• Spell out acronyms once
• This is not TXT SPK OMG!
• Cut every unnecessary word, but never sacrifice
  clarity for brevity

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Eliminate adjectives and adverbs, especially
  those that carry the same meaning as the noun or
  verb
• If its not necessary, throw it out.
• If its unnecessary, toss it.

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Focus on nouns and verbs
• Replace nouns that end with the suffixes
• -iality
• -ation
• -ence
• -ization
• -ize
• -ocentrism
• -wise

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Eliminate expletives a word or phrase conveying
  no independent meaning but added to fill out a
  sentence
• Avoid qualifiers they suck the blood out of
  good prose
• May
• Somewhat
• A few
• Very
• Rather
• Little
• Quite
• Avoid possessives

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Write in an active voice, avoid passive
• Writing in the past tense or passively can
• Weaken your case for support
• Disrupt the reviewers focus
• We will vs we would like to
• Get rid of would, could and should
• Engage reader by replacing ,which with that
• Restructure passive sentences into active ones
• Passive voice should be 10 or less of your
  entire document

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Passive rewritten to Active

• P All programs are clinically supervised by a
  licensed clinical social worker (LCSW).
• A A licensed clinical social worker (LCSW)
  supervises all programs.
• P This new vision was adopted unanimously by the
  Board of Directors in October 2004.
• A In October 2004, the Board of Directors
  adopted the new vision.
• P Substance abuse among teens has always been
  recognized as a problem area that leads to other
  destructive behaviors including violence,
  contracting STDs, and HIV/AIDS.
• A Teen substance abuse can lead to other
  destructive behaviors including violence,
  contracting STDs, and HIV/AIDS.
• P From this information, changes to the
  curriculum could be made by the organization.
• A The curriculum could change from this
  information.
• P The organization was summoned to appear in
  court.
• A The court summoned the organization to appear.

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Be conscious of voice
• Third-person for narrative
• First-person for cover email
• DO NOT mix voices
• Use short sentences and small paragraphs
• First sentence of every paragraph must grab the
  attention of the reader
• Vary length of paragraphs
• Minimum two sentences per paragraph
• Provide no more than 10 lines per paragraph
• Average sentence should have no more 15 to 17
  words
• No story-telling proposals are non-fiction!

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Save space by condensing
• One space between period and beginning of next
  sentence for online applications
• Use standard two spaces between period and next
  sentence in paper proposals
• Try semicolons instead of bullet points
• Label statements in semicolon format at
• 1) or a)
• Breaks-up a long sentence and cues reviewer
• Do not use jargon
• Always spell out acronyms

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Obtain a style and grammar book for quick
  reference!
• The Handbook of Good English, Edward D. Johnson
• The Elements of Style, William Strunk, Jr. and EB
  White
• The Chicago Manual of Style, University of
  Chicago Press
• The MLA Style Manual, Walter S. Achtert and
  Joseph Gibaldi

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Be aware of character counts
• 2,600 characters 500 words
• 2,000 characters 300 words
• 800 characters 150 words
• In Microsoft Word, go to Tools then click on
  Wordcount, find Characters with Spaces

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Tips to Write Tight cont.

• Most importantly your proposed project/program
  must make an impact on the community you serve!
• Successful proposals describe changes that will
  be beneficial to the community
• Grant makers want to see collaboration among
  organizations to work together to make change
• Grant makers are venture philanthropists who want
  to invest in your organization to further their
  mission

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Recommended Reading

•  
• Write Tight by William Brohaugh. (ISI Books,
  2002) ISBN 1-882926-88-9
• The Elements of Style - 4th Edition by William
  Strunk, Jr. and EB White. (Allyn Bacon, 2000)
  ISBN-10 0205313426 OR ISBN-13 987- 0205313426

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Contact Information

• Carol Smith Davies
• Fresno City College
• Carol.davies_at_fresnocitycollege.edu
• carolsmithdavies_at_comcast.net
• [phone]