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Organizing Information: Typical Proposal Sections
Part Five
Last week's article dealt with the importance of identifying
appropriate Internet resources from which you can gather
reliable data to substantiate the need for your organization's
project or program. We also discussed how you can save time
before you begin writing letters of inquiry or proposals
by having already determined how to use these resources.
Before we move on to more time-saving techniques, it's important
to remind you that online research is not the only way to
substantiate the problem your organization is trying to address.
Never underestimate the value of person-to-person contact.
Hands-on research can humanize a needs statement and engage
the reviewer much more quickly than a set of statistics.
Circulate your own surveys. Hold community meetings to discuss
the problem. Talk with experts in the field, particularly
people on the ground whose daily work is an effort to address
or resolve the issues, such as juvenile detention officers,
Head Start teachers, high school athletic coaches. Once you've
gathered this information, you'll be able to integrate it
with the statistical data for a compelling need statement.
The most efficient way to collect individual stories or
opinions is to recruit a Board member or volunteer to do
this job for you. Ask the volunteer to take careful notes,
draft the story or opinion statement, go back to their source
to check the facts, and then submit it to you. Having a small
file of these vignettes and expert opinions can be very helpful
when you begin grant writing.
You can also ask Board members or volunteers to clip magazine
and newspaper articles that pertain to the problem your organization
seeks to address. They should note the name of the publication
and date, and toss these clippings in a "needs" basket (someplace
accessible, such as the reception desk). One of the most
effective openings to a need statement I've ever read was
simply a series of newspaper headlines clipped out of the
same paper over a six-month-period that referred to deaths
by fire.
Time-Saving Tips for Budget Building
I also collect information that pertains to budget
items. Let's say I am reading a magazine and I come across
an ad for a vendor that provides conference registration
software. If I know we'll need to add some sort of registration
software to the budget for our annual conference, I'll rip
out the ad and toss it in a budget basket.
When it is time to build my budget for a grant request,
I go to the basket and rifle through it to see if there are
any items I need for my grant proposal. For example, if I
am developing the proposal for the annual conference, then
I would retrieve the ad for registration software. Even if
I don't ultimately use that specific product, the ad has
given me a place to start my research.
Be sure to keep a file of personnel salaries and notes on
how fringe benefits are calculated. If you have a negotiated
indirect cost rate with the government, keep a copy of this
on file as well. If you do not have a negotiated indirect
cost rate with the government, you should at least have a
copy of a motion passed by the board of directors that indicates
what the indirect rate for your organization will be this
budget year.
Creating Templates for Other Proposal Sections
Another way to save time is to draft proposal sections
that you know will be used over and over, such as the organizational
history. I always write two organizational histories: one
is about half a page long and can be used in letters of inquiry
or requests for corporate support (which are fairly short);
and the other may be as long as two pages and can be used
in full grant proposals. I review and update each version
of the history once a year.
Other parts of the grant proposal that can be written ahead
of time include the board and staff bios. Be sure you date
stamp these bios as well. Here's an example of a board member
bio for a performing arts organization:
Jennifer Smith is the Vice President of Commercial
Loans at First National Bank of Baltimore, and has served
on the Baltimore Performing Arts Association Board for
three years as Secretary/Treasurer. Ms. Smith served
as the Baltimore United Way Chair in 2007, and has recently
been appointed by the Governor of Maryland to serve a
five-year term on the Maryland Department of Commerce,
Revolving Loan Fund Board. Ms. Smith brings 20 years
of financial management to the Arts Association Board.
Keep these files up-to-date as new board members are elected
and others leave, and as staff come and go. You want these
bios short, but colorful. They need to generate a level of
credibility in your organization.
To compliment these bios, you will want résumés
of all staff on file at all times. Many grantmakers will
ask you to attach copies of staff résumés,
so it's important that these documents are kept current.
You will also want to develop and maintain a staff organizational
chart that includes board, staff, consultants, and partners.
At the top of this chart you should indicate who you serve.
For example, if your organization provides an after-school
program for two K-6 schools, the top box on the organizational
chart might say: Approximately 245 Youth, K-6.
Always have the latest copy (date stamped) of your operating
plan and operating budget on hand. You won't get far pursuing
grant awards without these two critical pieces of information.
In addition, keep copies of your most recent independent
financial audit, IRS tax exempt certification, and articles
of incorporation in a readily accessible file.
If you have any on-going contracts or agreements in place,
keep copies of these close at hand as well.
Archive all of your brochures and annual reports (hard copy
and electronic). Although you may have occasion to attach
hard copies to proposals, the electronic copies of these
documents will be the most useful. Let's say you are trying
to secure a capacity building grant. If you want to demonstrate
the growth of the organization over the past ten years, then
referring to the annual reports from this period can make
a significant impression on the grantmaker. Pick something
from each report, for example the number of clients your
organization served each year, and highlight it. This simple
technique tells the grantmaker a lot about your organization
without being wordy.
Some grant application guidelines will ask how you intend
to evaluate the project outcomes. To make this section quick
and easy to develop, identify two or three evaluators that
you will work with on a fairly regular basis. Keep their
résumés and bios on file. Set up agreements
to submit copies of all drafted grant requests to each evaluator
so that they can develop outlines describing how they would
evaluate your project. You can then select the approach you
like the best, flesh it out a bit (if needed), and include
it as your evaluation section.
In Summary
Keep all of these files in one folder on your computer
desktop, and hard copies in a standard file. Make sure everything
is typed in the same font, with the same margins, and no
special formatting. You want to be able to cut and paste
with minimal effort.
Time-saving tips can only take you so far. If you really
want to make time, then you need to make good decisions about
which grantmakers you will pursue.
Next week we'll teach you how to develop and apply a decision-making
matrix to help you decide if you will take the time to respond
to a specific request for proposals.
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