Searching for Grants
In the Studies for this unit, in the readings in Chapters 1 and 4 of The Nuts and Bolts of Grant Writing, in Chapter 3 of Proposal Writing: Effective Grantsmanship for Funding, and in Chapter 5 of Effective Grant Writing and Program Evaluation for Human Service Professionals, we are introduced to grant writing, searching for grants, and the parts of a grant proposal. In The Nuts and Bolts of Grant Writing, the author notes,
People do not actually write grants; they write grant proposals. A grant proposal is a document composed to describe a project and ask for funding to implement it. The proposal includes a vision for the project, the work to be done, how much money is needed, and what outcomes are expected. If the proposal offers a good idea, is written clearly, responds to the funder’s request, and the PI is lucky, a grant of money (or other resources) may be made to further the project. (Carr, 2015. p. 2)
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The most important step in beginning the grant writing process is planning. You have to create a process to build a collaborative vision for your organization. For example, who will you invite to the table to begin the discussions about needs? Will you use a grant writing team? What internal processes need to be present to begin writing a grant? Developing a process to guide you and your team towards a successful grant application is a critical step.
For your initial post to this discussion:
- Identify a fictional nonprofit for which you would write a grant proposal, such as a homeless shelter, a food shelf, or a domestic abuse prevention program. Keep in mind that your nonprofit would have to address a large enough social issue that appropriate grants are available.
- Using suggestions from your textbooks, do a search for grants based upon your nonprofit focus. List three possible grants that are interesting.
- For each possible grant you are suggesting, list and briefly describe the required items for the grant proposal, including basic elements such as a letter of interest, amount, narrative, need, and budget.
- Based upon your search, evaluate which grant would be the best choice for your organization. Does it fit your focus? Will the competition for the grant be too stiff? Will it be too much effort for not enough money? Finally, what surprised you about the search?
