Grant writing

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Grant writing

Title:

Grant writing

Alternate title:

Grant writing for dummies

Author:

Browning, Beverly A., 1948- author.

Series:

--For dummies

Summary:

For nonprofit and for-profit firms alike, grants can be a singular generator of growth and impact. But many leaders are intimidated and confused by the sometimes-complex grant application process. The truth, however, is that anyone can learn to write and send a powerful grant letter with the right help. In Grant Writing For Dummies, Dr. Beverly Browning draws on over four decades of experience writing grant applications and training grant writers to deliver a comprehensive and easy-to-follow roadmap to drafting and submitting grant applications that get funded. You’ll learn to craft the strongest application possible, find the best sources of funding from online databases, and present a realistic project budget plan. -- Amazon.

General Note:

Includes index.

Edition:

7th edition.

Physical Description:

xiii, 352 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Genre:

Handbooks and manuals.

Subject Term:

Proposal writing for grants.

Fund raising

Publisher:

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,

Publication Date:

2022

ISBN:

9781119868071

Publication Information:

Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2022]

Call Number:

658.15 BROWNING

Holds: Copies:

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Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
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Summary

Write award-winning grant proposals that build organizational capacity!

In Grant Writing For Dummies , Dr. Beverly Browning draws on over four decades of experience writing grant applications and training grant writers to deliver a comprehensive and easy-to-follow roadmap to drafting and submitting grant applications that get funded. You'll learn to craft the strongest application possible, find the best sources of funding from online databases, and present a realistic project budget plan.

You'll also find:

Example types of funding requests that demonstrate how to apply the concepts discussed in the book New and updated material walking you through the entire grant-writing process, from beginning to end Writing techniques that capture the imaginations of grant reviewers who decide which applicants walk away empty-handed and which ones receive cash

Whether you're looking to fund your nonprofit, grow your business, or develop your research venture, you'll find the guidance you need in Grant Writing For Dummies .

Author Notes

Dr. Beverly A. Browning, MPA, DBA, is a grant writing superstar! Browning has worked as a consultant in this space for more than 40 years. She teaches online courses, publishes on grant writing, and manages a non-profit foundation. She is the author of all previous editions of Grant Writing For Dummies.

Introduction	p. 1
About This Book	p. 1
What's New in This Edition	p. 2
Foolish Assumptions	p. 2
Icons Used in This Book	p. 3
Beyond the Book	p. 3
Where to Go from Here	p. 3
Part 1 Getting Started with Everything Grants	p. 5
Chapter 1 Grantwriting Basics for Beginners	p. 7
Orienting Yourself on Grantseeking Basics	p. 7
Learning common grantwriting terminology	p. 8
Checking out different types of grants	p. 9
Understanding your eligibility for grants	p. 11
Recognizing the Purpose of a Funding Development Plan	p. 12
Connecting to Public-Sector Grantmaking Agencies	p. 13
Federal funding: Raiding Uncle Sam's stash	p. 14
State and local government funding: Seeking public dollars closer to home	p. 14
Researching Private-Sector Grants	p. 15
Identifying foundations that award grants	p. 15
Finding corporations that award grants and in-kind donations	p. 16
Getting Acquainted with Grant Submission Requirements	p. 16
Looking at the components of a grant application	p. 17
Perusing government grant application guidelines	p. 18
Getting your request in the door at foundations and corporations	p. 18
Making a List and Checking It Twice	p. 20
Tracking Your Submission Status	p. 20
Jumping for Joy or Starting All Over?	p. 21
Chapter 2 Preparing for Successful Grantseeking	p. 23
Grantseeking Readiness Priorities for Nonprofits	p. 23
Before you apply for grant funding (the pre-award phase)	p. 24
After you receive your first grant award (the post-award phase)	p. 26
Procedures required for grant award risk management	p. 26
Building your governing board's capacity	p. 26
Assessing your nonprofit organization's capacity to seek grants	p. 27
Creating a Grantfunding Plan	p. 28
Looking at the funding plan components	p. 28
Updating critical funding plan information	p. 31
Increasing Your Chances for Grantseeking Success	p. 32
Looking for needles in a haystack	p. 32
Talking to potential funders	p. 35
Using a letter of inquiry or intent to comply with pre-application guidelines	p. 36
Using a letter of intent	p. 39
Waiting Patiently for Next Steps	p. 39
Chapter 3 Understanding Grantmaking Entities Expectations	p. 41
Delivering the Information Funders Ask For	p. 41
Providing the facts about your organization	p. 42
Writing about the project in need of funding	p. 45
Storytelling with facts	p. 47
Making Sure You Have the Mandatory Attachments Before You Start Writing	p. 52
Pat 2 Researching Grantfunding Opportunities	p. 55
Chapter 4 Venturing into Public-Sector Grants	p. 57
Looking for Local Funding First	p. 57
Finding out where the money is in your state or territory	p. 59
Looking for pass-through funding	p. 60
Analyzing the Types of Federal Funding Available	p. 60
Discovering direct grants	p. 61
Using the eligible applicant criteria to track the funding stream	p. 63
Knowing the difference between competitive and formula grants	p. 64
Learning your way around Grants.gov	p. 64
Understanding forecasted funding announcements	p. 66
Enlisting Political Advocates	p. 67
Chapter 5 Navigating the Federal Grant Submission Portals	p. 71
Navigating the Grants.gov Website	p. 72
Understanding Grant Applicant Eligibility	p. 73
Registering on Grants.gov	p. 74
Registering as an organization	p. 74
Grants.gov variations for individual applicants	p. 76
Viewing Tutorials in the Grants.gov Workspace	p. 76
Accessing Application Package Instructions	p. 77
Reviewing Some of the Mandatory Government Grant Application Forms	p. 79
Budget information forms	p. 80
Assurances forms	p. 80
Disclosure of lobbying activity form: SF-LLL	p. 81
Chapter 6 Researching Potential Private-Sector Funders	p. 83
Finding Foundations and Corporations with Grantmaking Programs	p. 84
Understanding the time and effort required	p. 84
Subscribing to helpful funding alert resources	p. 85
Scouring GuideStar for Foundation Funders	p. 86
What to Look for in a Foundation's Form-990	p. 87
Weighing the Usefulness of Free versus Paid Grant Research Websites	p. 89
Using Candid's online grant-research database	p. 89
Paid online subscriptions	p. 90
Using other online grant-research databases	p. 91
Scoring a Match to the Funder's Grantmaking Criteria	p. 92
Knowing Whom to Contact First	p. 94
Chapter 7 Finding Legitimate Grants for Individuals and Businesses	p. 97
Sorting Through Who Awards Grants to Individuals and for What Purposes	p. 98
Locating Credible Grants for Your Startup Business	p. 99
Competing against others for coveted startup funding	p. 100
Reviewing research grants from Uncle Sam to fund your work	p. 101
Digging for Business-Expansion Monies	p. 104
Circling back to research and development funding opportunities	p. 104
Tracking down other business-expansion funding opportunities	p. 105
Chapter 8 Finding Grants for Academia and Fellowships	p. 107
Reviewing Terminology That You Need to Know	p. 108
Finding Sponsored Program Grants	p. 109
Federal agencies	p. 109
Major corporations funding sponsored programs	p. 111
Foundations funding sponsored programs	p. 111
Accessing sponsored program funding databases	p. 112
Finding fellowship funding opportunities	p. 113
Chapter 9 Identifying Funds for Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs)	p. 115
Acquiring NGO Status	p. 116
Finding NGOs-Related Funding Sources	p. 116
The U.S. government	p. 117
The European Foundation Centre	p. 118
Imagine Canada	p. 118
Knowing What Non-U.S. Funders Expect	p. 119
Adapting to submission differences	p. 119
Preparing a non-U.S. dollar budget	p. 120
Part 3 Maximizing Your Chances of Winning a Grant Award	p. 121
Chapter 10 Finding Federal Grant Opportunities That Fit Your Needs	p. 123
Dissecting the Notice of Funding Availability (Over and Over Again)	p. 124
Figuring out who can apply	p. 125
Using a checklist to determine whether you should apply for a grant	p. 127
Scanning for standard terms	p. 130
Scrutinizing the Review Criteria	p. 134
Finding the Right Collaborators	p. 134
Identifying the right leveraging and implementation partners	p. 134
Getting in-kind and cash commitments from partners	p. 137
Chapter 11 Winning with Peer Review Scoring Factors	p. 139
Complying with the Technical Review Requirements	p. 140
Understanding the Importance of the Peer Review Process	p. 142
Knowing how much to write in your narrative sections	p. 142
Deploying analyzation acumen to meet the scoring process	p. 144
Writing to the Peer Review Requirements	p. 145
Researching, writing, and validating a compelling statement of need	p. 146
Incorporating national models in your program implementation strategies	p. 147
Demonstrating accountability with an evaluation plan	p. 147
Proving your organization's capability to manage a grant-funded project	p. 148
Developing an expense-driven budget	p. 149
Validating Needs and Implementation Strategies	p. 150
Considering the Use of Third-Party Evaluators	p. 152
Getting Invited to Join a Peer Review Team	p. 153
Chapter 12 Resuscitating Your Writing	p. 155
Putting a Heartbeat in Your Writing	p. 156
Step 1: Describing specifics about who, what, and where	p. 156
Step 2: Presenting the need with validation	p. 157
Step 3: Incorporating a case study	p. 160
Racking Up Peer Review Points in the Program Design	p. 161
Starting with the purpose of this request statement	p. 161
Aligning your goals and SMART objectives with the purpose of the funding	p. 162
Closing the deal by showing the long-term impact of the funder's investment	p. 164
Part 4 Following the Funder's Guidelines	p. 167
Chapter 13 Preparing Preliminary Documents	p. 169
Complying with Mandatory Application Package Requirements	p. 170
Drafting a Cover Letter (If Requested)	p. 170
Shuffling Through Funder Information Requests	p. 173
Knowing What the Feds Want in a Form (SF-424)	p. 174
Saving the Abstract or Executive Summary Narrative for Last	p. 178
Crafting the Table of Contents When Required	p. 180
Chapter 14 Developing the Organizational History and Capability Boilerplate Narrative	p. 183
Adhering to the Funder's Guidelines	p. 184
Creating Organizational Capabilities as a Grant Applicant	p. 185
Stating the history, mission, values, and geographic logistics	p. 186
Presenting key milestones in organizational development	p. 187
Shifting gears for government grants	p. 188
Sorting Out Relevant Programs and Activities	p. 189
Presenting and Validating Your Target Population for Services	p. 191
Including High Stakes Partners to Boost Your Credibility	p. 192
Chapter 15 Validating Your Needs with a Compelling Narrative	p. 197
Convincing Funders of Your Need	p. 198
Researching recent and relevant information	p. 198
Incorporating real-life information about your target population	p. 200
Building a strong case study	p. 201
Using Graphics When Allowed by the Funder	p. 205
Understanding when and how to use informative graphics	p. 205
Dressing up your narrative text when allowed	p. 207
Chapter 16 Incorporating Best Practices to Build the Program Design Narrative	p. 209
Reviewing the Components of a Good Program Design Section	p. 210
Starting with a Purpose Statement	p. 211
Plotting Goals and SMART Objectives	p. 211
Understanding the difference between types of goals and objectives	p. 212
Following the funder's directions to write the right types of goals	p. 213
Recognizing and writing types of objectives requested by funders	p. 215
Providing a Comprehensive Implementation Plan	p. 218
Confirming Narrative Content Connectivity in Your Logic Model	p. 220
Writing the Evaluation Plan for Your Program Design	p. 223
Making sense of evaluation plan terminology	p. 224
Keeping the evaluation process in-house	p. 227
Taking the third-party evaluation route	p. 228
Writing the evaluation plan	p. 229
Chapter 17 Preparing Project Management Plans and Sustainability Narratives	p. 231
Presenting the Project Management Team's Credentials	p. 232
Articulating Qualifications	p. 234
The basic profile	p. 235
The profile with page limitations	p. 236
The profile for personnel paid by cash match	p. 238
Connecting Accountability and Responsibility to the Implementation Process	p. 238
Writing the management plan	p. 239
Acknowledging your fiscal responsibility	p. 240
Offering Up Cash and In-Kind Leveraging Resources for Matching Funds	p. 241
Demonstrating Federal Compliance in the Personnel Selection	p. 242
Writing the Sustainability Statement	p. 244
Using the board's sustainability plan	p. 244
Crafting a sustainability statement	p. 245
Chapter 18 Creating a Budget That Includes All the Funding You Need	p. 247
Understanding Budget Section Basics	p. 248
Personnel	p. 249
Travel	p. 251
Equipment	p. 253
Supplies	p. 254
Contractual	p. 255
Construction	p. 256
Other	p. 256
Distinguishing between direct and indirect costs	p. 257
Entire budget summary	p. 259
Digging Up Matching Funds	p. 261
In-kind contributions (soft cash match)	p. 261
Cash match (money on hand allocated for cash-matching funds)	p. 262
Plotting Ethical Expenses	p. 264
Gathering accurate cost figures	p. 264
Including all possible program income	p. 264
Managing expenditures to the penny	p. 265
Projecting Multiyear Expenses for Grant-Funded Programs	p. 266
Building Credibility When You're a New Nonprofit	p. 267
Part 5 Triple-Checking Your Application, Submitting, and Following Up	p. 269
Chapter 19 Checking Off the Mandatory Requirements for Compliance	p. 271
Triple-Checking All Required Components	p. 272
Cover materials	p. 272
Organization history and capability	p. 273
Statement of need	p. 274
Program design	p. 274
Evaluation and dissemination	p. 275
Management plan, assets, and your equity statement	p. 276
Sustainability plan	p. 276
Budget summary and narrative detail	p. 277
Avoiding Editing Red Flags	p. 277
Assembling the Proper Attachments in the Right Order	p. 280
Capability-related documents	p. 280
Financial documents	p. 281
Supporting documentation	p. 282
Meeting Submission Requirements	p. 282
Paying attention to submission protocol	p. 283
Uploading applications on time	p. 283
Clicking Submit without panicking	p. 284
Chapter 20 Knowing What to Do after Submitting Your Application	p. 287
Keeping Accessible Copies of Electronic Files	p. 287
Staying Connected to Your Stakeholders	p. 288
Providing updates on what's been completed and what to expect next	p. 289
Keeping your partners in the information loop	p. 290
Tracking the Status of Your Submitted Application	p. 290
Requesting that elected officials track your application's progress	p. 291
Following up on foundation and corporate grant requests	p. 293
Chapter 21 Winning or Losing: What's Next?	p. 297
Handling Funding Status Communications from Grantmakers	p. 297
Drafting a resolution	p. 298
Accepting the award	p. 298
Tackling the grant-management process	p. 299
Reviewing post-award guidelines for help with financial reporting	p. 301
Handling Multiple Grant Awards	p. 302
Failing to Get a Grant Award	p. 303
Requesting peer review comments when your government application is rejected	p. 303
Acting fast to reuse a failed government request	p. 305
Dealing with failed foundation or corporate funding requests	p. 306
Chapter 22 Requesting Matching Funds and Other Goodies from Corporate Grantmakers	p. 307
Recognizing What Corporations and Local Businesses Are Willing to Fund	p. 308
Making Initial Contact and Building a Relationship with Corporate Funders	p. 309
Building Relationships with Major Corporations and Business Funders	p. 309
Writing a Corporate Letter Request/Letter Proposal	p. 311
Following Up with Potential Corporate Funders	p. 316
Part 6 The Part of Tens	p. 317
Chapter 23 Ten e-Grant Tips	p. 319
Log In and Set Up a Password Immediately for Online Submissions	p. 319
Fill in Routine Organizational Information	p. 320
Review the Entire Online Application Template	p. 320
Copy and Re-Create the Template in a Word-Processing Program	p. 321
Adhere to Writing Limitations in Online Grant e-Portals	p. 321
Convey without Traditional Graphics	p. 322
Convey without Traditional Formatting	p. 322
Recheck the Funder's Website Daily for Modifications to the Guidelines	p. 322
Confirm the Due Date Time and Time Zone	p. 323
Hit Submit	p. 323
Chapter 24 Ten Steps to Making Grant Writing Your Career	p. 325
Get Trained	p. 325
Research the Salary Ranges for Grantwriters	p. 326
Determine the Fees for Your Services as a Consultant	p. 327
Stay Updated on Grant Industry Trends	p. 327
Join a Professional Association and Get Certified	p. 328
Continue to Hone Your Research and Writing Skills	p. 328
Ask to Join a Grantwriting Team	p. 328
Get a Consulting Coach	p. 329
Use Updated Technology	p. 329
Network Like a Pro	p. 329
Chapter 25 Ten Ways to Continue Being Viewed as a Grant Professional	p. 331
Take on New Challenges	p. 331
Volunteer Your Services	p. 332
Become a Grant Research Specialist	p. 332
Become a Peer Reviewer	p. 332
Do Copyediting for Other Grantwriters	p. 333
Work with an Experienced Grantwriter	p. 333
Attend National Professional Development Training	p. 333
Review Successful Grant Applications Online	p. 334
Write and Publish Articles That Require Extensive Research	p. 334
Continue Your Formal Education	p. 334
Index	p. 335

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Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents