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Grant Writing 102

Hillel Bromberg

May 30, 2012

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Advising nonprofits in:

• Strategy

• Planning

• Organizational Development

www.synthesispartnership.com

(617) 969-1881

info@synthesispartnership.com

INTEGRATED PLANNING

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Today’s Speaker

Hillel Bromberg Director of Grants Development and Administration,

Families United in Educational Leadership

Hosting:

Sam Frank, Synthesis PartnershipAssisting with chat questions: April Hunt, Nonprofit Webinars

or

How to impress the pants off the funders

Hillel Bromberg

Grant Writing 102

Broad Concepts

The proposal comes last

Appropriate funders vs. scattershot

Do your homework

Broad Concepts

Approach

Sales pitch

Focus on the meeting the funder’s

needs, not your agency’s

Broad Concepts

Teamwork

Grant writing is a group effort

Leave time to review, not just write

Use outside reviewers at the final stages

Broad Concepts

DON’T SLIP THE DEADLINE!!

Broad Concepts

Leverage your rejections

Rejections are not the end of the

process

Request reviewers’ comments

Read the winning application(s)

Revise and reapply

Broad Concepts

Writing Style

Not academic, journalistic, etc.

Short sentences

Subheads

Energetic, concise, direct writing

Avoid jargon

PROOFREAD! Have zero tolerance for errors in spelling, formatting, etc.

Parts of the proposal

Letter of Intent Your purpose is not to describe the workings of

the program, but to get the reader to invite a proposal.

Concise

Compelling

Clear

Get the reader excited

Parts of the proposal

Part I – About the organization (message)

Build trust by describing:

Your mission

Whom you serve

Track record of achievement

List your programs

Size of budget

Location

Who runs the organization

Parts of the proposal

Part I – About the organization (content)

History

Goals & objectives (short & long term)

Programs & services

Organizational structure (board, staff,

volunteers)

Parts of the proposal

Part II – About the program/project

Description of the program/project

Don’t assume what the funder knows

Describe your target audience (quantity,

demographics, geography, etc.)

What project planning have you already done?

Use the “mind’s eye” test

Parts of the proposalPart II – About the program/project

Description of need (what is the issue you plan to address? What is your approach? What

research supports your idea? How does your strategy differ from others in the field?)

Why is this situation important?

What research did you do?

Tell a story

Parts of the proposalPart II – About the program/project

Specific activities (including information about service delivery and/or timeline)

Your work plan – what are you doing about this problem?

What are your outputs?

How many units of service will you deliver over what time frame?

Who is doing the work and what are their credentials?

When and where will the work happen?

Parts of the proposal

Part II – About the program/project

Objectives and goals for this request (how will

this grant strengthen the organization,

address the issues, make improvements, or

achieve success?)

Prime question: what will change about your

world as a result of your program/project?

Parts of the proposal

Part II – About the program/project

Evaluation (what are the anticipated outcomes

and how will you know if you are successful?)

Key: be sure your evaluation plan is achievable

given your resources.

If the evaluation will cost money, put that cost into

the project budget

Parts of the proposal

Part II – About the program/project

Other

aka, conclusion

Summary of your appeal

Mimic the funder’s words

The Clowes Fund works hard to build an equitable society where

individuals increase their own knowledge and take the initiative

toward their own success. Similarly, FUEL takes a very direct

approach to this problem by engaging low-income families and

giving them the understanding and tools they need to access higher

education. We believe that family ambition and engagement are

essential to individual students’ educational success and we strive

to help underserved families gain the education that will help them

move out of poverty and take their place in the economic and social

mainstream. With support from the Clowes Fund, FUEL will be able

to continue and expand its efforts with low-income and immigrant

families so they can realize their dreams of a higher education

and economic advancement.

Clowes mission: The Clowes Fund, a family foundation, seeks to

enhance the common good by encouraging organizations and

projects that help to build a just and equitable society, create

opportunities for initiative, foster creativity and the growth of

knowledge, and promote appreciation of the natural environment.

The Clowes Fund works hard to build an equitable society where

individuals increase their own knowledge and take the initiative

toward their own success. Similarly, FUEL takes a very direct

approach to this problem by engaging low-income families and

giving them the understanding and tools they need to access higher

education. We believe that family ambition and engagement are

essential to individual students’ educational success and we strive

to help underserved families gain the education that will help them

move out of poverty and take their place in the economic and social

mainstream. With support from the Clowes Fund, FUEL will be able

to continue and expand its efforts with low-income and immigrant

families so they can realize their dreams of a higher education

and economic advancement.

Clowes mission: The Clowes Fund, a family foundation, seeks to

enhance the common good by encouraging organizations and

projects that help to build a just and equitable society, create

opportunities for initiative, foster creativity and the growth of

knowledge, and promote appreciation of the natural environment.

The Clowes Fund works hard to build an equitable society where

individuals increase their own knowledge and take the initiative

toward their own success. Similarly, FUEL takes a very direct

approach to this problem by engaging low-income families and

giving them the understanding and tools they need to access higher

education. We believe that family ambition and engagement are

essential to individual students’ educational success and we strive

to help underserved families gain the education that will help them

move out of poverty and take their place in the economic and social

mainstream. With support from the Clowes Fund, FUEL will be able

to continue and expand its efforts with low-income and immigrant

families so they can realize their dreams of a higher education

and economic advancement.

Parts of the proposal

Budget

Expenses divide into three sections:

personnel expenses

direct project expenses

administrative or overhead expenses

Parts of the proposal

Budget

Income divides into:

Earned income

Contributed income

Cash

In-kind

Show whether each is received, committed, pending, or to be submitted

Ok to fill in the gap with “Other funders (to be submitted)”

Parts of the proposal

Supplementary materials

IRS letter

Board of directors

Most recent fiscal audit

Budget

Next year’s budget (sometimes)

Other: annual report, newsletter, charts, etc.

Pulling it all together

Have someone else review

Add a cover letter

Check guideline to see how many copies they want and how to format them.

Add divider sheets with list of supplementary materials

Make it a neat presentation

Get it in on time!

Hillel Brombergwordwise@rcn.com

781-258-0124

Grant Writing 102

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