GETTING READY TO WRITE A GRANT
Selecting an idea/project, which you would like to have funded, is probably the
biggest hurdle that you will have to overcome. Your idea should include the following
points:
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Detailed outline of the specific idea
Description o the need for the project
Explanation of how the outline fits the need
Who will benefit (generally the greater the benefit the more likely there is
for funding to be received). Try to show benefit for the school AND the
community as a whole.
Previous research on this project, how your topic is different and what
techniques will be utilized
If the grant is awarded to you, who will be the project director, what
teachers and supervisors will be involved, and who are the other
individuals who will participate
Hypothesis for the project
Time span of the project
Detailed budget for the project
It is very difficult for one person to write, conduct, and administer a grant. The
best thing to do is to assemble a grant writing team. Included in that team should be:
 Resource gatherer(s) – these individuals seek funding source and maintain
records of successful grant applications, awards, and achievements of
groups/individuals participating in grants. Those individuals who have
received grants tend to continue to receive grants, and the only way an
institution will know that your organization has received prior grants is if
you tell them.
 Data gatherer(s) – this group needs to obtain and keep current information
on the school, the community, and the state. This includes school and/or
district improvement plans, school history, school data, SACS documents,
and technology plans. Additionally, the group should maintain
files/documentation on research in the areas in which you are pursuing
grants.
 Writer – one person needs to write the entire grant, as one writing style is
absolutely necessary to produce a clear grant proposal that is easy to read.
 Proofreader(s) - this person is extremely important. He/she needs to look
for spelling and grammatical errors, clarity, and conciseness.
 Project director/grant supervisor – this individual makes sure that all
deadlines are met, acquires letters of support when necessary, verifies
technical requirements, sends the grants through all approval channels (for
example, in Muscogee County all grants must be approved by Dr. Robin
Pennock before they are submitted to the granting agency), and if the
grants are awarded insures that funds are spent in accordance with the
grant guidelines and that all reports are submitted on time.
It is an excellent idea to have the Principal or the Principal’s designee (such as
Assistant Principal or Department Chair) on the committee that is working with grants.
The Principal is ultimately responsible for everything that goes on in the school, and must
be kept informed.
DEVELOPING A GRANT PROPOSAL
There are four main components involved in developing a grant. Those
components are needs assessment, goal/vision, why funding is necessary, and activities.
The needs assessment is the evaluation of what in your institution needs to
change. The more people that are involved in this evaluation, the better off you are.
While a science teacher may see a distinct need for a project to be developed to teach the
research process, a language arts teacher may see the same project as fulfilling a need to
teach the students writing skills, and the business education teacher may see that project
as an idea way to teach the business students the computer skills necessary to produce a
brochure to disseminate the data acquired. In this manner, a large population of students
may be served, a much more grant-worthy goal.
The goal or vision is the prediction of what will have been achieved at the
completion of the grant. Again, the more people who are involved in this, the better you
are aiming for a goal that everyone can support collaboratively.
The way things are at this moment (as explained in the needs assessment) are not
the way they SHOULD be (as is desired in the goal/vision). The parents, administrators,
students, etc. are NOT the problem. The problem is lack of training, shortage of time,
reduced knowledge, etc. Those specific problems, although readily remedied by
appropriate funding are why this grant should be funded. Express this with POSITIVE
wording.
Every need stated in the needs assessment should have an activity outlined in the
proposal that will rectify that need. The section should include the activity with its
measurable objective, evaluation method, timeline, funds necessary, and personnel
required. All activities should be closely correlated.
GRANT TERMINOLOGY
Abstract – a clear, concise summary of your en tire project, generally should not exceed
200 words. Often the abstract is what determines whether the entire proposal will
be evaluated. Additionally, the abstract often is utilized for press releases, and
computerized project description
Capital Grant – money for construction or equipment
Concept Paper – synonym for grant proposal
Continuation Grant – this is for subsequent years after the original grant was funded.
Usually this application must include progress reports, project evaluations, and
revised budgets. Continuation grants must be re-applied for annually.
Cost Sharing – synonym for matching funds or in-kind funds
Direct Cost – all monies required to operate, administer, and implement a project that are
not part of the indirect costs.
Funding Cycle – period when grants are awarded. Some are awarded annually, some
quarterly, some monthly, and some are open cycles (applications may be
submitted at any time.
Grants Officer – person from the granting agency who manages the financial aspects of
the grant.
Indirect Cost – charges for items such as building use, janitorial services, utilities, etc.,
that are difficult to determine precisely. These usually are calculated by taking a
percentage of total costs.
In-kind Funds – matching funds in the form of building use, staff time in terms of
salary, equipment use, etc.
Letter of Support – this is a letter from a business/industry, public service organization,
etc., to the granting agency, which indicates that they support your project, why
they support your project, and how they will support your project.
Matching funds – amount of money in actual cash or in-kind funds which the grantee
must provide in order to receive funds from the granting agency.
Pilot Project – also called a Demonstration Grant; grant to implement a new idea with
the plan for others to copy the model if it works
Project Director – person from the group receiving the grant that is responsible for
administering the grant, including submitting all reports, making sure the funds
are spent appropriately, keeping receipts, etc.
RFP – “Request for Proposals” – an announcement, usually accompanied by
applications, from a funding organization stating that they are accepting requests
to provide money.
Seed Money – this is a small amount of money which serves to get a project started, and
serves the purpose of attracting more funds from other sources.
Target Population – the special group that is being studied or served.
PROPOSAL COMPONENTS
Not all proposals have the same format. However, possible sections to any grant
proposal include:
I.
Cover letter
II.
Title page
III.
Table of Contents
IV.
Forms
V.
Abstract
VI.
Project Description
a. Objectives
b. How it supports school objectives
c. Importance to school
d. Importance to community
e. Interdisciplinary significance
f. Technology
g. Methodology
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
h. Significance
i. Background information
j. Facilities
k. Future plans
Budget
References
Curriculum Vitae (Resume)
Letters of support
Appendices
SELECTING A GRANT SOURCE
When selecting a grant source, you will have a much better chance of receiving
the grant if you choose a source that best fits your needs, and then tailor your proposal to
the specifics of that particular source. Although obviously no one is going to write a
technology proposal for a humanities grant, there are other factors that need to be
considered. Those factors include:
 Does the project idea fit with the current interests of the funding source?
Many granting agencies change their specific focus every year, and it is
best to check the specific focus for that funding year.
 When will the grant be awarded? If you have a deadline to meet, such as a
river cleanup, or if you want funding for a class for a specific year, then
this is an item that you need to consider. If you do not have a time line to
meet, then when the grant is awarded is not a factor that you need to
consider.
 Is this grant awarded in your geographic area?
 Will the granting agency award a grant to your type of institution? Some
agencies will only award grants to organizations with a 501C(3),
designation, others will not provide money to a religious group. Check
carefully to see what groups that agency will fund.
 How long does the review process take, and who are the reviewers? Think
about it. If the reviewers are businessmen, it is not a good idea to use
technical scientific language. On the other hand, it’s best not to call a hard
drive a thingamabob to a computer specialist!
 Is the size of the grant to be awarded adequate for your needs? If you
need $5000 to fund your project, and the maximum grant this organization
provides is $4000, you have a problem. Do you want to find another
source of $1000 if you receive the grant, or do you want to find another
agency, which could provide the full amount?
 Are there any requirements attached to this grant? Must the primary
investigator have a specific degree, does the grantor have any rights to
results that you obtain, are matching funds essential, etc.?
 How intense is the competition? If there were 1500 applications last year
and only 50 were funded, is this a grant you want to write? On the other
hand, if 50 applications were received for 10 grants, the odds are much
more in your favor.
STACKING THE DECK IN YOUR FAVOR
You have a good idea, and you have selected a grant source. What do you do
now? It’s time to acquire some more information. Call the program officer that is the
person who receives the applications and who sets or enforces the guidelines. Identify
yourself, and the agency you are representing. Explain that you would really like to
receive a grant, and ask if the officer can give you some additional information on their
focus for this year’s grants. Also, ask for names and addresses of organizations that
received grants during the previous funding cycle. Usually the program officer will give
that information to you. Additionally, if the information is not included with the
application, find out what criteria will be used to judge the proposals.
The person making the telephone call to the program officer should be chosen
carefully. The person making the call should be easy to understand and should use
proper grammar. You are making a first impression with this call; you want the
impression to be a good one. With smaller grant, it often is acceptable for students to
write the grants. In that case, let the students do the telephoning. Not only does the
student gain valuable experience, but a student-generated call tends to make a long
lasting impression. (If possible, have the call on speakerphone with several people
listening and taking notes. This way you will be certain that the information is
understood.)
After the telephone conversation, write the program officer a thank-you note. (Do
NOT send an e-mail.) Not only is it courteous, it also serves to reinforce the favorable
impression that you are trying to make. When your grant actually is submitted, you want
the person receiving it to think, “Oh yes, here is the application from those energetic,
dedicated students in Muscogee County!” They will want you to succeed.
Now, call the people whose names you obtained that were funded in the previous
cycle. Ask them for a copy of the grant that they wrote. Usually when you get two or
three of the previously funded grants you can successfully analyze them for trends, key
word, etc. Then, write your grant along those lines.
WORDING
Now that you have all of your facts, sit down and write the grant. Start with the
areas with which you feel most comfortable. As you settle into a rhythm, you will
maintain the word flow, making the application easier to read.
Correlate the percentage of the wording to the percentage o the criteria. For
instance, if 20% of the points used to judge the application are in the category of
experimental design, use 20% of the space you are allowed to discuss the experiment.
That means if you are allowed a maximum of six pages for the application, no more than
1.2 pages should be utilized to explain the experimental design.
NEVER exceed the maximum allowed pages or words in a grant application.
Greater length does not equal a better impression. A proposal that is longer than the
stated maximum will be eliminated from consideration, not applauded. Reviewers much
prefer a concise application.
Use easily comprehended language. Scientists in particular tend to word written
communications in technical language. The idea in a proposal is to write it so that
anyone reading that proposal will readily understand your concepts.
In your proposal state current data and statistics on the children and families that
you serve, including: ethnic background, family income levels, free/reduced meals,
children at-risk, single parent families, etc. In addition, show any significant differences
between your community trends and national trends. For instance, if you are attempting
to obtain funds to continue a program to impact dropout rates and your program is
showing declining dropout rates in comparison to a national trend of increasing dropout
rates, include that in your proposal. Other topics that would fall under this heading
include corporate downsizing, unemployment, teen pregnancies, shortage of good day
care centers, ecological problems/solutions, etc.
Include in your proposal the strengths and unique characteristics of your
group/school. This is NOT the time to be modest!
Carefully check grammar and spelling. Even with spell check and grammar
check on the computer, it’s easy to write a sentence such as “The CBL’s will be used….”
This is not the impression that you want your application to make.
Present your application professionally. Omit colored paper, smiley faces, etc. If
the guidelines say no cover sheet, or do not bind the applications, then don’t do so! You
want the reviewers to focus on your idea.
Make sure the numbers in the table of contents of your application match the
numbers on the actual pages!
All grant applications MUST be typed/word processed. Handwritten applications
are completely unacceptable!
BUDGET
Often the budget and the budget narrative are the difference between a successful
proposal and an unsuccessful one. The terms budget and budget narrative are NOT
synonyms. A budget is a detailed itemization of everything that will be supplied by both
the grant and, if applicable, the matching funds. For example an acceptable budget item
would be:
Item
Sony writable CD’s, package of 50
Quantity
2
Cost
$12.00
Extended Cost
$24.00
It would be unacceptable to write CD’s - $24.00
Many grants require what is called matching funds. The application might read
that a particular grant requires 25% matching funds. This means that if the grantor
provides $100,000, then you have to provide $25,000. However, some grants allow you
to use “in-kind matches”. For example, suppose your application requires seven teachers
to spend an hour per day for the entire school year working on the project. Each teacher
makes $32,000 per year. You are paid for an 8-hour day, and the Muscogee County
School District pays your salary. That means for each teacher $4000 of his/her salary
may be applied toward the matching funds category. For seven teachers that total would
be $28,000. You have already exceeded the amount the grant requires in matching funds.
Other items that may be included in matching funds are equipment use, secretarial staff,
fringe benefits, staff development provided by the school system, utilities, furniture,
office space, etc. If you provide the matching funds in this manner, include a statement
that specifically states that all matching funds are in-kind.
A common budget error is to include in the budget items that are not included in
the project proposal. Check this carefully.
Items you may wish to include in your budget are equipment, training, personnel,
travel, instructional and office supplies, communications, facilities, etc. There appears to
be a trend for granting agencies to look unfavorably upon grant funds being used for
supplementary salaries.
The budget narrative is a separate item from the budget. The budget narrative
explains how each item in the budget will be important in completing the project. If an
RFP specifies a budget and a budget narrative, the application usually will be rejected if
the budget narrative is not present and complete.
DEADLINES
Some agencies will accept a grant proposal at any time. Their review process is
on-going. Other groups will only accept a grant for a specific date and time. For those
grants be very sure that your grant arrives by the deadline date. It is best for the grant to
arrive two to three days before the deadline. You do not want it to arrive a great deal in
advance.
Most grant writers recommend that you send grant applications by UPS, FedEx,
or a similar service that guarantees a delivery time. Even if the delivering agency is at
fault for an application being tardy, failure to deliver is not considered an acceptable
excuse.
PROPOSAL OUTCOMES
Once your proposal has been submitted, there are four possible outcomes. Those
outcomes are:
Approved and funded – Pat yourself on the back, this only occurs about 10% of
the time. Now you must submit it to the Muscogee County Board of
Education for approval.
Approved and funded for a lesser amount – Often granting agencies do not have
sufficient funds to fully implement every proposal which they feel has
merit, so they compromise by giving you partial support. If this happens
you have several options. The first option is that you scale down your
proposal to one which fits the funds available. The second option is that
you try to find a second source to provide the difference between what you
need and what was provided. The third option is to decide not to accept
the partial funding and to cancel the project.
Approved but not funded – This indicates that your proposal meets all of the stated
criteria but insufficient funds are available for all of the projects that
qualified. As a result, the projects with the best scores received funding.
Try to obtain the reviewers comments (these are not always available) and
revise and resubmit the proposal for the next funding cycle.
Rejected – If your proposal was simply turned down, find out why. Request
copies of technical reviews, reviewers’ comments, scores, ranking, etc.
Then revise your proposal based on that information. When you re
submit the proposal, point out in your cover letter that this is a resubmission, the strengths of the original proposal (which were retained in
the revision), the concerns addressed in the reviews, and the measures
taken to correct the concerns. Common reasons for a proposal to be
rejected include:
 Poorly written proposal that is hard to understand or disorganized
 Instructions were not followed
 Length of proposal exceeded guidelines
 Application deadline was not met
 Lack of original ideas
 No interdisciplinary cooperation or cooperation with other
individuals/organizations
 Proposal objectives do not match agency objectives
 Budget does not match objectives
 Proposal does not adequately identify objectives, activities,
evaluation procedures, and/or needs
 Inadequate evidence of the ability of the supervising individual to
manage the project
 Does not strictly follow scientific method (this applies to all grants,
not just scientifically oriented grants
 Suggests money will solve a given problem
 Scope is too broad.