Grant Writing Basics: An Overview: Presented by Janel Henriksen Hastings April 18, 2011

Presented by
Janel Henriksen Hastings

April 18, 2011
Grant Writing Basics:

An Overview
Objectives for Today
 Introduction: Who the heck am I?

 Types of grants and funding sources
 Key components of any proposal
 What gets funded and what doesn’t
 Resources
 Other specifics
 You’re funded: now what?
 You’re not funded: now what?
 Scattered through today’s presentation will be an
exercise (or two)
Who the heck is Janel?
 Janel Henriksen Hastings =
hi!
 B.A., Sociology, Scripps College (1991)
 M.A., Student Affairs Administration, Stanford University (1993)
 M.A. & Ph.D., Higher Education & Org. Change, UCLA (1994 &
1996)
 Grant experience: U.S. Department of Education, Title III, Title V,
and GEAR-UP
 Misc:
 Two sweet (and very young) kids (pictures upon request)
 Two (nutty, old) dogs
 (Rock-star) spouse who works for Facebook
Types of Grants
 General purpose or operating support

 Program or project support
 Planning grants
 Seed money/start up
 Management/tech assistance
 Facilities/equipment
 Endowment
 Program-related investments (PRIs) (loans)
Where to find Grant Opportunities
 USA.gov
 http://www.usa.gov/Business/Nonprofit.shtml#
 Grants.Gov
 http://www.grants.gov/applicants/find_grant_opportunitie
s.jsp
 Non-Profit Guides
 http://npguides.org/
 Foundation Center
 http://foundationcenter.org/
 The Grantsmanship Center
 http://www.tgci.com/index.shtml
 GrantsAlert.Com
 http://www.grantsalert.com/
Roadmap of the Grant Process
Source: The Writing Center, University of

North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Key Components of the Proposal
 Agencies, corporations, foundations, or governmental entities will
have their own unique required elements of a proposal, but most
grant proposals will always require some version of the following:
 Title page
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Literature Review
 Evaluation
 Sustainability/Institutionalization
 Personnel and justification
 Budget and justification
Title Page
 Brief/descriptive title for the project
 Names of principle investigator(s)/Project Director(s)
 Institutional affiliation
 Name/address of granting agency
 Project dates
 Amount requested
 Authorized signature
 Note:
▪ Most agencies have strict requirements for cover pages
▪ Many will have pre-designed forms to fill out (USDOE)
Abstract
 The “first impression” of your project – use future
tense
 General purpose of the project (e.g. address low retention
and graduation rates of a given population)
 Specific goals/objectives (e.g., Reduce attrition by 50%;
increase 4-year graduation by 30%
 Project design/methodology (e.g., Implement
counseling/mentoring; student peer groups; tutorial
services; financial aid education)
 Significance (e.g., Impact the welfare of stated population;
impact employment rates/GDP of a given community, etc).
Introduction
 The landing area to describe key elements of the problem
and how to solve it
 Statement of the problem – what is the specific and measurable
problem you want to solve? What has been tried before? Why is this
not working? What data illustrate the scope of the problem?
 Purpose of proposed program/research – why the program/research is
critical to addressing the problem?
 Goals and objectives – in a perfect world, what will happen as a result
of this project/research going forward? How do they match up with
the needs/issues identified in the statement of the problem?
 Measurable outcomes – how will you quantitatively measure the
achievement of the goals and objectives?
Alignment of Problems, Goals &
Outcomes
PROBLEM that needs to be solved
PROJECT for which funding is absolutely critical
GOAL/OBJECTIVE to be achieved by the

implementation of the project
MEASURABLE OUTCOMES – how we’ll prove that

we’ve met the outcomes and solved the problem
Literature Review
 Funders will want to know that an applicant has done
their homework
 Demonstrate larger scope of the problem, and how it’s
documented in current research
 Include specific data that illustrate scope of the problem for
the population you are trying to help (e.g., institutional,
community, state-wide data that illustrate the severity of
the problem)
 Selective, not exhaustive
 Sometimes, this will be incorporated within a different
section of the proposal (as required by the grantor)
Evaluation
 Most funding agencies will require evidence of an evaluation plan
– that the grantee will keep track of progress and make
adjustments
 Program process and improvement
 Decision-making
 Response to grantors and accrediting agencies
 Good evaluation plans include

 Quantitative and qualitative measures
 Formative (each year) and summative (project-end) evaluation plans
 External evaluator – someone from the outside who is neutral and can
provide an honest evaluation of the program and progress toward
achieving objectives
Sustainability/Institutionalization
 How will the project be continued when the

funding period ends?
 Describe how each element of the project will be
institutionalized (or financially covered)
 Describe how grant funds will be replaced or
absorbed into another budget
 Sometimes this information might be
presented within the Budget section
Personnel
 Who will be part of the project team … AND WHY?
 Grant director
 Lead staff for each project/activity
 Administrative Staff
 Faculty
 Students
 Community members
 Staffing has to make sense to the problem being addressed
and project to be implemented
 Be clear about skill sets required
 If possible, explain how non-essential personnel will be
phase out as the funding period progresses
Budget
 Many grant applications will have a summative
budget form that will have to be completed to show
anticipated expenses for each year of the funding
period
 Many grant applications require a budget narrative
(or justification) – an explicit explanation of why
each budget line item is essential to the project
 Make sure all budget items are allowable per the
terms of the grant
 Line items to be accounted for may vary
Other Essentials (often overlooked)
 Adhere to the page limit specifications – no excuses

 Ensure that all required elements of the grant proposal are
included – ideally, in the order in which the funding agency
lists them – do not mess with the proposal categories
required!
 Double space
 Include data tables and graphs as visual aids
 Tables or charts with data that highlight the scope of the
problem
 Table that shows how the problem, project, goal, and
outcomes are aligned
 A diagram of the personnel reporting structure
Other resources
 Grant proposal writing handout – University of North Carolina http://
www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/grant_proposals.html
 Writing Grant Proposals - USGOV-Grants.org

http://www.usgov-grants.org/writing-grant-proposals/
 Los Angeles Community College District - Title V Co-op

http://www.laccd.org/itemid52.htm
 My contact information:
Janel Henriksen Hastings
[email protected] (909) 964-3533

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Presented by

Janel Henriksen Hastings

Grant Writing Basics:

 Introduction: Who the heck am I?

 General purpose or operating support

Source: The Writing Center, University of

PROJECT for which funding is absolutely critical

GOAL/OBJECTIVE to be achieved by the

MEASURABLE OUTCOMES – how we’ll prove that

 Good evaluation plans include

 How will the project be continued when the

 Adhere to the page limit specifications – no excuses

 Writing Grant Proposals - USGOV-Grants.org

 Los Angeles Community College District - Title V Co-op

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