Learn How to Write STRONG EFFECTIVE Grant Proposals for Nonprofits: Grant Writing Basics and Beyond

1. Course Intro: Hi, I'm back to Vanessa S on Neil, welcome to my course grant writing basics and beyond. There are various reasons why a grant proposal is intimidating. It could be the language. It could be the documents that you need to attach. How much detail to you really need to add to a grant proposal. Do you add charts and graphs? How about quotes? All of these things are reasons in which people get intimidated because one, we don't know how much information to give or to. They don't want to give too little information. Or three, they're really just not sure what information to give. This course. We're going to discuss it all. We're going to talk about the Statement of neat. We're going to add the needs assessment. We're going to discuss the budget, both the narrative and the itemized budget, because both of those should be included. We're going to speak a little on evaluation practices. That's not all. There's much more, but these are just some of the components that are included in this course. We're in this course, we're also going to answer the seven vital questions that every grant proposal should have in detail to be successful whip this course, I would encourage you to take each lesson one-by-one, starting with the first lesson and ending with the last lesson. In each lesson, you'll have a video lecture, but you're also have written statement as well as assignments. Please don't skip the assignments. The reason why you want to complete the assignments is because completing each assignment for each lesson is going to render you are fully develop grant proposal for your use as a guide or reference at a later time. As you complete each component, you should start to see a grant proposal developing. And it's going to be generic, which is the reason why you can use it as a guide or reference later on. Now, who is this course for? This course is for anyone who is interested in writing a grant proposal or learning something new, maybe a new technique, best practice. It's for the beginner to the experience. If you're ready, I'm ready. Let's get to it. 2. Common Mistakes: There are several reasons why grant proposals are denied. Not all of the reasons that grant proposals are the night is because or due to the fault of the grant writer. Grass, you simply just match through. Grant proposals can be denied for a plethora of reasons. One, the organization really just ran out of money. That's common. Or the grant proposal. What you're proposing is a really, really good project. It just doesn't fit with the scope of the philanthropic efforts of the grant funder. Again, that's no fault of the grant writer. However, there are certain things that will render a grant proposal to be dismissed or discarded, or in some cases not even considered. Altogether. Although some grant proposals are denying and it's not due to the grant writer. There are some common mistakes that grant writers make that will create an issue for your grant proposal. Creating them not likely to be funded or even considered in a lot of cases. Let's look at some of these mistakes. One is the project description and the program plan. Don't make sense or it doesn't add up or snap thoroughly stated the project description. I'm going to use project description and program plan. I'm going to use those interchangeably. But the project description needs to be thoroughly stated. You need to be able to paint a picture for the funder as to what this project is you're trying to propose. They need to be able to understand from this section what your project is all about, who your project is serving, where you're going to provide the services for this? Yes, this is going into the who, what, when, where, why, and how. Giving you a hint here on the seven vital questions. But it needs to be thoroughly stated and understandable for the funder or whoever the reader is. Not having a clearly defined project description or a program plan. A plan for the program, definitely is a common mistake that a lot of grant writers make because the information that they're providing is not the information that's needed to render a valuable decision. Another common mistake is unrealistic staffing plans. Not having an actual plan for how you're going to execute this program, whether it's using staff or volunteers. Instance. If you're going to have program and which maybe you're going to have a 100 children. And it's an after-school program. If your staffing plan is fading, that you're only going to have two staff members for 100 kids. That's the disconnect. The funder is going to say the staffing plan doesn't match the program that you're proposing, or it can be vice versa. The whole point with the staffing plan is to make sure that there's an even ratio and that you actually have a plan to execute your program. Staffing is a vital part of that. Sometimes this section is not included, which is a big mistake. But most times the section is included, but it's just not there really stated. This is an area that needs to be thoroughly stated. Another common mistake is not thoroughly stating the commitments that you have for the program. For instance, if you have other organizations or other businesses buying in to the program. Whether it's an organization that's providing other services or whether it's other individuals providing or donating goods and services. If it's a business that's providing goods and services. This needs to be stated in the grant proposal because what this shows is it shows that there is a collaboration. Not just your organization executing a program. It's your organization executing a program, but you have buy-in from others. Lack of collaboration is another area in which Is a common mistake. If not stated. Those two kind of work hand in hand, the commitments, the collaboration, both should be stated thoroughly in your grant proposal. Now there's awesome the language and the verbiage of the grant proposal. This is a little tricky one. I normally tell people to watch the news or pick up the verbiage from whatever the news is fading. I'll give you an example here. Back in the 80s. I'm gonna go that far back, back in the eighties. It was politically correct to say someone it was mentally handicapped or physically handicapped. In 2021. To say mentally handicapped or physically handicapped is not politically correct. The verbiage is being used now for someone that is challenged is mentally challenged or physically challenged, different type verbiage. Now, where did I get that from? I watched the news a lot. But whatever the organization, whatever the news whenever is politically correct. That is the terms that you use in your grant proposal. You don't want come across disrespectful in any kind of way. If you don't know the correct terminology, correct verbiage, look it up, Google, it. Go to YouTube, watch the news. But make sure that whatever you're stating, your grant proposal is not offensive to anyone. The last area for common mistakes is the budget. The budget can make or break a grant proposal worse than anything. Any other area, any other section of the grant proposal. Because the budget is what you're showing to align with the amount of money you're requesting. If the budget is not correct, then the whole proposal is a disarray as far as a funder will look at it. Your budget can be an issue for a lot of different reasons. One, you're asking for too much money based on what your proposal is stating, you're going to do. Two, you're not asking for enough money or it doesn't seem like good amount of money you're asking you really is going to make a difference in the program. There's a lot of reasons. All of these reasons for which grant proposals are denied, these mistakes. We're going to discuss them on, at length in this course. So all of these reasons that I've given you for why grant proposals are denied. These common mistakes, we're going to discuss how to not make these mistakes in each of the lessons moving forward. 3. Eight Components: There are eight components involved with developing a grant proposal. You've got your program suddenly, which is normally the last section that you write. Although it's the first section, data fundus should see, there is the problem statement. You've got, the needs assessment, the goals, the objectives, the program approach, the evaluation, and the budget. All of these components must be included in a grant proposal regardless of how much you are requesting. $500.5 million dollars, each of these components must be included in a grant proposal in order for it to be considered thoroughly defined. 4. 7 Vital Questions: There are seven vital questions. Seven, I like to convince the interrogative pronouns. They each grant proposal should have answered somewhere within the grant proposal. Now some of the sections in the grant proposal will have several of these questions to be answered. But throughout the whole grant proposal, the seven questions should be answered thoroughly and succinctly. Starting with, why? Why are you proposing this program? Why? What are you planning to do with the program? What are you planning to do with the money that you're requesting? What are you trying to accomplish with this program? Who is going to benefit from this program? Who is the money going to be spent on? Where is the program going to take place? When is the program going to take place? How is the program going to be executed? Did you catch that? The who, what, when, where, why, how? Now the seven question that you need to answer is how much? Who is the program for? What are you planning to do with this program? When will the program take place? Where will the program take place? Why are you proposing to facilitate this program? And how are you going to facilitate the program? And how much is it going to cost? These are the seven vital questions that need to be answered in every grant proposal. Again, some of these questions are going to be answered in each section. But throughout the whole grant proposal, these seven questions must be answered. 5. Characteristics of a Proposal: There are two types of grant proposals for solicited and unsolicited. As I stayed in, each type has its own distinct characteristics. The solicitor grant proposals are those that are in response to a funding source issuing a request for proposal. Or it can also be stated as he requests for application. Typically, there is an application form, a due date, and a specific stated maximum of mountain called the funding request. There may also be other directors such as geographical location, non-profit status, the number of programs that can be involved in their proposal. The unsolicited grant proposals are typically more general. Most do not have a formal application and due dates and the amount of funding that can be awarded varies, but it's not specific. There are multitude foundations and corporations that use this system and accept unsolicited grant proposal. This proposal is the hardest to develop because it literally begins with a blank sheet of paper. There's nothing to prompt you for a response. The creativity here is key. There are advantages and disadvantages to unsolicited proposals. One advantage is that once they undergo, copy can be created and then you can use that same copy. Apply for other grant proposals because you can use it as a resource. The disadvantage is that because the funding source has not specifically provided a finding range or a maximum funding guidelines. The amount of board it may not be the amount requested. This is normally not revealed until the award letter is received. Another advantage is that the funding source can decide to find either specific programs or a specific budget item within the proposal. The disadvantage though, is that this can lead to renegotiation if there are two or more programs that the funder is interested in finding, meaning that you would get less money for your program that you could have if it was a simplicity, pose. Finding sources that accept unsolicited proposals normally within a congratulatory ladder. Instructions for reporting and the magnet, the directions for how to obtain or acquire the funding, whether it's through bank transfer or download, or sometimes even check, even in 2021. 6. Problem Statement: Although all components of a grant proposal are important, there are some components that are I would say a little bit more important than others because these are the components that should be clearly defined for the funder to understand what it is you're trying to get funding for. The problem statement is one of those components. The problem statement should be thoroughly stated. It should tell you what the problem is that you are trying through your program to focus on. This is kind of like a constructive complaint. Your problem statement is going to give a clear picture or story of whatever it is you're trying to tackle with your program. You need to have factual information. The information should be up to date. You can use things like quotes or charts, anything that's going to support. The reason why you're asking for funding in the first place. It's not enough just to say we're trying to combat homelessness. If homelessness is your objective, why are you trying to combat homelessness? How is homelessness affecting you or your area? Give us the information, create the story, help us to understand what it looks like from your point of view. The more information that you can provide that supports your objective with the problem statement, the more information that you can provide to support what you are speeding is the problem, is the best thing that you can do for your proposal. Not enough just to make a statement, then support it by saying it's an issue everywhere or something to that effect. Right? The story, be creative. Show how it's a problem. Show the history of the problem. Show how the problem is affecting the community or it's affecting people. Make sure that the reader, in most cases, which is the funder, make sure that the reader, after reading the problem statements, understands that this is a problem. And they understand why it's a problem and their understanding why you're proposing your program to fix it. Most people are not asking for grant funding because everything is fine and they just want to do more. There's a reason, and that reason should be stated as the problem. In this lesson, I'm going to show you how to develop your problem statement. I'm going to show you how to create the story behind the problem that you're trying to facilitate. Solution for. The problem statement. The problem statement focuses on the issues. The issue that the proposed program aims to address. It is the constructive complaints statement should not exceed maybe to complete pages. The statement should also paint a picture of the target demographic population. For example, if the issue is unemployment, not only should the current unemployment percentage rate be included in the proposal, but also the past year's rate. And you can even go as far as two to three years back. In addition, it is also a good practice to include activities that lead to the unemployment rate. For instance, whether they were warehouse plant closings or increased rates of layoffs due to outsourcing. Covid in this case, whatever led to the unemployment or whatever led to the problem. That's good information to add to your grant proposal. Including supporting documentation such as charts and graphs. This will also provide the reader with a visual and easier to digest concept of the need. You can be creative here. It would be to your benefit to be creative, you want to allow the reader into your problem visually. You want them to be able to visualize it themselves. And giving them as much information as possible will help them to do that. The information should be factual. Quoted statements, statistics are printed materials from other works properly referenced and acknowledged. So if you're going to use a quote, the quote should fit the program or fit the issue that you're trying to resolve. Or if you're going to use statistics, makes sure that the statistics are relevant and current. You don't want to provide statistics for 2021 that are from 20182017 because those statistics, although historical are not really relevant anymore, you want to make sure that your statistics are between 13 years for historic and supporting value. If you're using printing materials or other works that are referenced by others, you want to make sure that you provide credit for those. Don't ever add any work to a grant proposal that is not your own without citing or referencing, accrediting where you got that information from. The statistical data should be current. It should be within five years, except for if it's census information, which is only released every ten years. But the statistical information should support import their proposal. If you're leaning towards why you need funding for a certain program, the statistical information should also show the reason why you have this neat. Make sure that your statistics match up. You don't want to inflate the statistics, you don't want to manipulate them. You want to make sure that they are actual and factual statistics to support your claim. The understand that obtaining the statistical information can be tedious and it can be time consuming them. But I understand that it's a very necessary part of the problem statement. The key to research is knowing where to start and what resources to use. The Internet, of course, is a great starting point. However, information found there is not always accurate. You want to make sure that statistics and information that you put in your grant proposal is accurate. Resources such as almanac, newspaper articles, magazines, journals, and books that can be found in local libraries and online. These can all be valuable when it comes to the information in your application. So do the research. It's not enough to just go to the Internet, type in a subject, a question or a topic, getting the information extracted and then add it to your proposal. You need to have more care and interests in the accuracy because you want your grant proposal to be authentic, well-received. 7. Needs Assessment: The needs assessment is the estimation of importance of programs and projects in a community. This is supporting your problem statement. You're staining that there is a problem. In your problem statement. In your needs assessment. You are supporting the problem by stating, in this community this is the reason why this is needed. This is not based on what you think or what you've heard. This is based on The statistics. This is based on the supporting information. Remember the historical facts behind why you are trying to do whatever it is you're trying to do. So this is the problem. That's your problem statement. This is what we need to come back, whatever the problem is. If it is hunger. We have an issue with hunger. The community, That's the problem. How does it relate to the community that you are trying to serve? What is that you need? What is it that you're proposing? How do you know that this is what you need? That's where the research comes in. The statistics that support that. Again, problem statement. And then the needs assessment. The needs assessment is very appointment because this shows the investment that you're trying to make into the community with the program. You're not just saying that we noticed that there was a problem. You're saying we noticed that there was a problem, but this is what it would take to fix it. That's where your needs assessment comes in. This is an area for you to be creative as well. This is where you can add statistics, charts, graphs. This is an area where you can make a bold statement. The historical value of whatever it is you're trying to do is impressive. And it shows that you're doing your research. Don't take the needs assessment section for granted. This is where you can add some value to your grant proposal. In this lesson, I'm going to show you how to create the needs assessment, how to identify the actual state it needs, and then develop that into a statement that supports the problem. How you are planning to tackle the issue and meet the challenge. Okay. So let us go to the basic foundation of the needs assessment. According to Webster's dictionary, a need is defined as of necessity. Also assessment means to estimate or determine the significance, importance, or value of simply stated needs assessment is the estimation of importance of programs and projects in a community. The needs assessment should be completed longer for the search for grants, begin. Ask yourself these questions. How did you know that the program you are suggesting was needed in your community? How did you determine the type of program that you wanted to execute? Provide the type of service you want it providing. What information do you use to assist you in your conclusion? So the answer to these questions is you subconsciously or consciously, either way, you conduct a needs assessment. Congratulations. However conscious or subconscious, this is the process that you have to complete. To get to this point. The process is scientific on some level. But the bottom line is that a problem must we identify a solution? Now, you conducted the needs assessment mentally, verbally, consciously or subconsciously. But now in your grant proposal, you have to state the process. Needs assessment. Is you taking whatever process you complete it to get to the point of knowing that this is the type of program or service that you want to provide. Taken that process and articulating it in words. Sounds a little tricky. And it could be, but it's doable. It's not very hard. It's just knowing exactly what to say. I understand that a needs assessment details the reasons for the program and supports the problem statement. You have the problem statement which is the issue, and the needs assessment, which is the solution. And see how that works. I'll say it again. The problems statement states the issue. Needs assessment, space, the solution. The needs assessment does not have to be separate from the problem state. The two maybe combine, but must include the answers to the questions. The statistics are not as critical in the needs assessment unless they demonstrate how the program will address the problem. If there aren't other programs that address the same issues that are relevantly similar to the one being proposed, then including the statistics would be helpful. It says a lot. But think of it this way. If your statistics are critical to the needs assessment, then add them. If your statistics are not relevant to the needs assessment, then don't add statistics in the needs assessment. However, the problem statement should have statistical information. You don't need to have statistical information in your needs assessment. It's not necessary unless it's directly related. 8. Goals: Specific, measurable and realistic. These are all characteristics of a goal. A goal is a statement of the projected overall accomplishment of the program. The goal should not exceed maybe one paragraph. It should stay what it is you're trying to accomplish, period. The overall, what is it that you're trying to accomplish? Now, a technique that I use when it comes to writing goals is to state, the goal is to do something. The goal is to end hunger. The goal is to end homelessness. The goal is to increase the literacy rate. Notice that to do something is the main objective of the goal. In this lesson, I'm going to show you how to identify your goals and how to state them thoroughly as goals. One of the sections in the grant proposal that is widely miss under-represented goals. That is because it's such a short section that the level of importance is not always given to it, as it should be. Understand that the goal is a statement of the projected overall accomplishment of the chromosome. And it should be specific, measurable, and realistic. And it should not exceed one paragraph. But understand that one paragraph should be powerful. The goal is pretty much the reason behind in your problem statement and your needs assessment. This is what you are trying to attain, what you're trying to accomplish, and what you are trying to acquire. The best way to approach the goals is to understand what it is you are trying to do. As I stated in the intro, with the goals, you want to do something. The goal of the pregnancy prevention program is to decrease the number of pregnancies. The goal, the Hunger Relief Program is to decrease the number of hungry people. To do 11. Don't under estimate the value of good goal in your proposal. You want to make sure that that one paragraph is potent. It packs on really big punch when it comes to what it is you're trying to accomplish. Make no mistakes about it. If you don't have a goal or a few goals, two to three, you should not have any more than three goals. No more than three. But if your goals are not clearly defined or they're not relevant to the program, or they're not the stated or understandable. This could be a problem for your grant proposal. 9. Objectives: Now the partner of the goal is the objective. Having the goal, overall accomplishment of the program to do something. The objectives is by doing something else. For instance, the objective is, it could be considered a sub-goal, but it's measurable. And it defines the goal and supports the goal a little bit more thoroughly. So for example, if the goal is to end hunger, the objective is by adding food pantries in a neighborhood. You see what I did there? To do something. By doing something. The goal is to end hunger. Go. The objective to end hunger by adding food pantries in the neighborhood. The goal and the objectives work hand in hand. They must be clearly stated, they must be realistic, and it must be measurable. The goal is to do something. The objective is by doing something else, are awesome. Objective, which is also considered a subgoal, identify as benchmarks within a designated period of time that move forward towards the achievement of the long-term goal. Each objective should be measurable, define a different product, the program's components, and should be able to stand alone. Yes. You're going to have an overall objective for your whole program, which the grant proposal is going to reflect the overall program. But for each specific goal that you have, you should have an objective. Understand that my rule of thumb, this is a technique that I use. Is this. For every goal, which is to do something. The objective is by doing something else. I believe I stated that the introduction, but think of it this way. An effective objective is measurable and it uses verbs like improve, replace, increase, decrease, promote, Advance. We store, expand, provide, create. All of these are verbs. If your goal is to do something, your objective is by doing something. Think of the verbiage that we using the verbs. For every goal that you have, you should have a measurable objective. Let's look at how this works with verbs. The goal is to do something. The objective is to improve something, to replace, something, to increase something, to promote something. You see how the verbs work there. To do something is your goal by doing something. If, remember, it's always a verb. When you do it. This technique helps a lot when it comes to framing the goals and objectives. You can tell whether or not your goal is. If it's a good goal, offers an effective goal. When you add the goal and objective together, once you get them together, you might have to tweak something somewhere. And that's good because you're getting down to the core of what you're actually trying to accomplish. 10. Program Approach: The program approach is that section in which you're going to detail layout, how you're going to approach this program. This is where you're going to show clearly what this program is going to look like. How it's going to formulate, how you're going to implement it, how you're going to execute it, how you're going to evaluate it. This is your approach to the program. This is where you're going to clearly and succinctly describe the steps. From a to Z. Word of advice. That's exactly what you need to do. Describe the steps is not enough just to say, well, we're going to put a food pantry in the neighborhood. What does that look like? Okay. I'll walk you through maybe you're going to put a food pantry in a neighborhood. That means you have to find a venue for the food pantry. Then you're gonna have to figure out where you're going to get the food from, how often that's going to be delivered. Days is going to be delivered. You see where I'm going with this. This is not the area for you to just be general. This is the area for you to be specific. The program approach is very important because it shows your thought process and how the program is going to be executed. This lesson, I'm going to show you how to develop your program approach. We're going to look at how to develop your steps one-by-one to create definitive path towards your program and the execution of your program. The program approach is also called the program's strategy. Fish should clearly described the steps needed to implement the program. For example, the implementation of an advisory committee, training and the selection process of participants. These are all part of a program approach. The idea is to provide a clear depiction of the process from the time the grant funding has awarded the end of the program and beyond. Once again, note that most of the process should have already been developed and demonstrated by the combination in evidence of the first three components. And do not forget to add this information to the implementation strategy. When thinking of your program approach. Think of steps. What is step one? And then what is the ending step? If I had to look at the program approach, I would say step one is determining what type of program was meeting. And step two would be where we could have a program like the one we've determined was needed. Okay. Now you know what you're going to do. You know where you're going to do it. Now you're trying to find out how you're going to put it together. When you're going to put it together. All of these go back to the seven vital questions that we've talked about. I told you in some sections, you'll have multiple of these questions to answer. That program approach. The way you approach this program and the way you're going to execute it, that is what should be detailed in this section. Step-by-step. You don't have to be so specific that you're naming names and naming locations and naming people. You're not doing that. You're just giving an idea of this is what it looks like. This was the thought process. This is how we're going to execute the program. You're giving a bird's eye view so that any questions that anyone would have is answered. In that approach. We know how you're going to do it. We know when you're going to do it, we know where you're going to do it. We know who's involved, we know who the demographics are. This is all a part of that. If you are creating an advisory committee, if you're going to have instruction, instructors and tutors, if you're going to have volunteers. All of that should be stated in the program approach. This is where you should have this information should be readily available and it should be clear and concise. And thirdly stated. 11. Evaluation: The evaluation is one of my favorite sections in the whole grant proposal and actually one of my favorite activities when it comes to facilitating programs. The reason why is because the evaluation serves three purposes. For one, it monitors the accomplishments and effectiveness of the program. It also identifies the program's weaknesses and strengths, and then it provides reporting data for additional proposals. All of this information is provided in the evaluation. What's going to be important when it comes to writing the grant proposal is making sure that you have a fairly developed evaluation plan. Not just enough to say, we're going to evaluate it. You have to create a plan around the evaluation, just like they have to do with everything else. How are you going to evaluate the program and what are you going to do with that data? In this lesson, I'm going to show you how to thoroughly develop an evaluation plan. The evaluation section is by far one of the most important sections of the grant proposal, and it's also my favorite when it comes to writing and executing. And the reason is because of the information that it provides. It's extremely important to know how well your program is doing or how well it did, or whether or not there needs to be tweaks or whether or not there needs to be changes or revisions. All of this information comes in the evaluation. Don't underestimate the importance of knowing how well your program is doing. Not only can you use this information for your own self knowledge, but this information can be added into future grant proposals. This will be part of your statistical information. It can't be stressed enough. Understand that the evaluation serves three purposes. It monitors the accomplishments and effectiveness of the programs. That's one. It identifies the program's weaknesses. Just two and three. It provides reporting data for additional proposals. Most funding sources examine this section very closely because they want to know how well the organization is not only doing, but they also want to know how you're monitoring your program's effectiveness. Although there are several methods of evaluation and they vary in effectiveness according to the program. The three most basic methods are the goal based evaluation, which monitors the extent to which programs are meeting the overall goals and objectives. The evaluation activities for the goal based evaluations include record keeping, pre testing, post testing and participation logs. The second is the process based evaluation, which identifies how the programs work and identifies the effectiveness of the implementation strategy. The evaluation activities for the process based evaluations include frequent, planned and unplanned surveys. So the survey models and frequently planned and unplanned meaning. Okay. You're going to you have evaluations that you are planning and people know about. And then you have those that are random. And both the random and the plan will provide you with different information that can be used in different ways. One overall highlighting how well the program is doing. And the third is the outcomes based evaluation. Now, this evaluation identifies whether the needs in the problem statement are being addressed and if they are being addressed if the assessment of the problem was properly identified. Evaluation activities include qualitative and quantitative data, fact finding and reassessment of the original problems. State And this is the evaluation method that gets to the heart of when you created your program based on your needs assessment. Were you targeting the right thing? The most common and popular evaluation activity is the collection of statistical data. For example, programs that provide a service such as an after school program are typically concerned with an evaluation that will identify the number of students that attend daily, how the students success in the programs are measured, and whether the critical areas of learning are properly identified for a program such as this. The evaluation component should state that a pre-test and post-test be administered to each student participant to measure the level of effective learning throughout the program. A daily log of participants will be used to detail the number of students in the program, and that information will be compiled in a weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports. A common mistake when it comes to evaluations is neglecting to state how the information from the evaluation is going to be used. Funders want to know how the information is going to be used. It must be clearly indicated that the report findings will be used to implement the necessary changes to the program to make the program more effective, and that the information will be included in the annual report and used to support progress when seeking additional funding. All of this needs to be stated in the grant proposal under the evaluation section. Again, this is a section in which you do not want to underestimate the power that it has with the grant funding organization. 12. Budget: There was a most critical area. I will have to name. And a grant proposal I would say is the budget. And it's because, like I stated earlier, the budget is the heart, is the soul of any reason why you're asking for funding in the first place. If you had enough money to provide the services that you wanted to provide, you wouldn't need to write a grant proposal. Is that a correct statement? Okay. So here is where budgets tend to fall short. There are two components of a budget. Narrative. The line item budget. Each component should compliment each other and be thoroughly stated. If something is missing or something is awry. Very lies. The reason for your grant proposal not being considered for funding. Unless lesson I'm going to show you how to develop both your narrative and your itemized budget. Once a Porsche other and they're both needed. And I'm going to show you how to create both the narrative and the line item and how to make sure that they compliment each other. My suggestion for you when working with the budget is to get a piece of paper and a pen so that you can follow along with some of the details. It relates to. Atomizing. The budget has two components. The itemized expenditures and the budget narrative. Within these two components are two types of costs, direct and indirect. We're not going to get so much into the weeds as it relates to the direct and indirect. We're just going to cover the basic. Now, the itemized budget is a listing of the proposed expenditures. The budget narrative provides a justification. For example, the overall costs for personnel may be $50 thousand. As listed in the itemized budget. Narrative, should state the position to which the salary will be attributed to end the amount. When you see the itemized budget, salary, fringe benefits, travel, and the cost associated with these items. The narrative is going to support the itemized budget by stating the particulars, how many people are being funded, and how many people the salary is for or who the salary is four. And how many people are traveling in is, is more than just the number and a slight description. There are many categories that can be attributed to a budget. However, the best practices to use the standard categories as stated by the federal government, which include personnel, fringe, equipment, supplies, travel, contractual construction, indirect costs and other. These are the categories that you should use with every budget that you have included for your grant proposal. Expenses of any kind should be assigned to one of these categories. However, if a funder has a specific category included in their guidelines, you comply with their request. In this section, I have laid out a few pages for you to read. I feel like it would be better for you to read them and digest them, as opposed to me trying to describe the team verbally. You also have an assignment with this one, which is budget related. For both the line item budget and the narrative. Pay close attention to the numbers. The best way to tackle these assignments is by using an Excel spreadsheet. In Excel spreadsheet will help you to align your budgets together and provide you with what you need as it relates to calculations. 13. Program Summary: The program summary. The key to this component is writing a description that focuses on the key elements of interests as it relates to the organization, community and the program. The order that is stated in the grant proposal. In this lesson, I'm going to show you how to thoroughly create and develop your program summary. If you're ready, I'm ready. The program summary. Summary, as defined by Webster's New World College Dictionary means that which presents the substance. General idea in brief form, also concise and condensed. In other words, short and clearly stated. Or in the case of a program's summary, short and clearly stated description. The key to this component is writing a description that focuses on key elements. These are elements of interests that relates to the organization, the community, and the program. In the order in which they are stated in the grant proposal. The description should not focus on details at all nor should exceed one. So 1.5 pages in length. The summary page, it provides the reader with an idea of what to expect, the interests of the reader where I repeat or depth. This is the one-page that will determine whether or not the reader turns to the second page. They request additional information or they dismiss the proposal altogether. The program summary is the last part of the grant proposal to be written because you are encompassing all of the sentiment of the grant proposal. And you can't do that until you actually write the grant proposal. This is the first thing that a reader will see. What is she be the last thing that you develop. 14. Cyber Presence: Let me ask you a question. How important do you think your cyber presence is to your grant proposal? Did you say not important at all? Did you say very important? Very important is the correct answer. 2021. Understand that cyber presence is everything. What was the first thing that a funder does when they get a grant application that they're actually considering. They go to this social media accounts, they go to the website. All this is part of the cyber presence. Understand that it's not enough just to have a cyber presence. You have to maintain your cyber presence. We're going to look at some of the aspects of the fiber presence that can make or break how a funder views. You want to take this time to talk about cyber president in 2021. Cyber presence is extremely important as it relates to submitting a grant proposal. And the reason is because what do you think? The first thing our grant funder does after receiving an application that they really considering for finding. They go to their website and their social media platforms. There's a few key things that must be understood when it comes to the cyber presence and how it relates to your grant proposal. This is the window to your organization. This is what people see this as the first impression. The grant proposal, it's just that it's the proposal stating that you are requesting funding to provide a program or service. Your cyber presence will tell a person who you are specifically. So a few of the key mistakes that are made when it comes to an organization. Cyber presence is not having information on outdated information. So let's look at the four areas in which cyber president shows up and is present for your organization. You have websites, your website, your social media handle, newsletters and let's say e-mails. Those are the four main areas. So let's start with the website. Is your website up to date? Is your website functional? Is it appealing, is aesthetically pleasing. It easy to navigate. Do you have any outdated information on one aspect, something I've seen online, which I'm hoping organizations are starting to come to the understanding that this is a problem. As a block. If you have a blog for your organization, your blocks should be up to date. If it's 2021. And the last blog post that you have when your website says 2019, that is irrelevant, outdated information. And it looks like you're not keeping up with your website. Updating. If your website is not functional. If it's hard to navigate, if it's hard to get from one page to another, that is a problem. Awesome. Also. What about the pages that don't have relevant information? That is a problem as well. I understand that this is what the funder will see. The first impression that they have of you. If you have outdated information, if you have links that don't work, if your website is not up altogether, why would you have your website included on in your grant proposal? But it's not up and running for people to get to little changes such as at the bottom. This is a big one. At the bottom. Of all websites, it will tell you the copyright, the registered date. If your copyright says from 1999 to 2020, this is 2021. There's an update needed. Fix your website. It comes down to put your best face forward when it comes to your website, make sure the information is relevant. If you are not currently working on a blog or you're not keeping inactive, engage that page so no one can see it. Makes sure that all your links are working, make sure the images are clear and make sure that the website is not cluttered. Now what your social media handle is the same thing. If you have an Instagram page or a Facebook page. If your organization is about combating hunger. Trust me when I say your funders do not want to see cats and dogs and little furry friends and you're flying on an airplane or whatever it is you all haven't eaten for the last 20 days. That's not relevant to your organization. Your social media platform for your organization should reflect. The organization, what is it that the organization is doing? You should be able to see it in your social media platform. If combating hunger is what your organization is about, and you have images and posts regarding delivering food to food pantries are working in food pantries or gardening or something like that that is relevant to your organization and that's what they want to see. Now, newsletters can be hit or miss. Newsletters today are not the same as in the past where you had a newsletter, you would mail it in your funders and donors. Everyone gets that. Most times they're online now. But even what your newsletter, if you're going to have a newsletter to make sure that you're providing relevant information in the newsletter. Makes sure that the information is current. Makes sure that is relevant to the organization. Makes sure your thinking, your funders and your donors and your volunteers. All of this is viewed in the newsletter if that's what you're going to do. Lastly is your emails. If you're communicating with funders through emails, make sure that your e-mail is irrelevant to the organization and the times. So one email that I saw that sticks out in my mind is the person writing the e-mail had very large letters. They were the letters were in a gold color. They were very hard to read. And it was just the the email itself, the tone of the e-mail was not great and it didn't have a signature block on it. It just had a name. So it didn't tell you a lot from a professional organization? I remember thinking. Who is this come to find out it was someone that was following up on a grant proposal that they submitted. New list is saying no one wanted to fund this organization because they didn't feel that they email was professional and settle out. These little things that don't seem like they would make or break a grant proposal or makeup, break an organization receiving funding, but they do. They all work together. So get your websites together. Make sure that their functional makes sure that aesthetically pleasing. Makes sure that your social media is up-to-date and it's reflecting the organization. Makes sure if you're providing newsletters, that you're vibrant newsletter that has information that is relevant and that there is a section where you are thanking your donors, your funders, your volunteers. Make sure that you are doing that. And then lastly, make sure that whenever you are engaging someone by email, that you email is readable, it's clear and professional. You don't want to die by a thousand emails that get funded because you're not deemed as professional communication. 15. Grant Funding Resources: A common question I receive a lot is, where do I find grant funding? How can I find grant funding? Where do I go to wherever I look? Well, there are a plethora of ways to find grant funding. There's the Internet, of course you can Google, and then there are foundations and directories and databases. In your lessons, you will find a section that is additional resources. You can start to research for grant funding as well. There are a number of publications as well as databases and organizations. And I have name just a few for you to get started. I have also included samples of funding grants so that you can use these as resources as to what to do and what information should be included. Lastly, I would like to thank you for taking this course. And of course, please leave me feedback or if you have a question, just email me and I'll be sure to answer.