GRANT WRITING FOR MUNICIPALITIES

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GRANT WRITING FOR

MUNICIPALITIES

Beginner Training

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Trainer: Natasha M. McCoy, NM2C, LLC

Louisiana Municipal Association, Incorporated

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Logistics

• General overview of training schedule

• Location of bathrooms

• Scheduled breaks

• Scheduled lunch

• Please turn all phones to vibrate

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Icebreaker

• Name

• Municipality

• Existing grant situation (Yes or No)?

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Training Objectives

• Provide basic overview on Grants, Grant Writing, Grant Preparation and Grants Management

• Provide tips for developing a competitive application

• Practice developing narrative for common grant sections

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Grants 101

• A grant is a type of funding assistance used to achieve a particular purpose

• Not free money

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Why do Grants Exist?

• Standardized way of distributing taxpayer dollars or donated funds to charitable causes or causes not addressed by government or industry operations

• Provides ability to transfer funds from one agency to another

• Connect hundreds of individual projects to a dedicated goal or set of objectives

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Formation of Grants

• Legislation

• Donor-advised

• Community-centric

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Types of Grants

• Block grants

• Large grants provided at federal and state levels for one primary purpose or a group of related activities

• Project (categorical) grants

• Grants given for a particular cause; research, health, etc. • Formula grant

• Funding provided based on standard set of data (e.g. census data) • Charitable grants

• Funds provided by foundation or social fundraising activities for a specific purpose

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Grant Making Process

• Federal

• Federal funds appropriated by Congress

• Funds are transferred from the U.S. Treasury to the respective federal agency

• Federal agencies carry out competitive grant process or use funding for special projects

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Grant Making Process

• State grants (via state government agencies)

• Budget approved by Legislature and Governor

• Funds transferred from state general fund to state agencies or fiscal intermediaries

• Most state agencies have programs that serve as a pass-through for federal funds

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Grant Making Process

• Foundation

• Solicited grant making (competitive process)

• Unsolicited grant making

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Who can Receive Grants?

• Varies by funder

• Grants are developed with an intended target audience in mind

• Must check the grant maker’s program guidelines and

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How to Find Grants?

• Federal grants

• www.grants.gov

• State grants

• Check the specific state government agency

• Foundation grants

• The Foundation Center

• GrantStation

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Grant Preparation Tips

• Locate funding opportunities

• Internet

• Phone

• Library

• Develop grant writing team and meet regularly

• Assign a grant writing lead

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Last Year’s Model…

• With grants, never get comfortable with “last year’s

model”…grant makers have the ability to change the grant application process, what types of projects are funded

and how programs are selected every year to meet a new or existing need as long as it continues to comply with overall objectives

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Tips for Competitive Proposals

• Plan Ahead

• Collaborate

• Be Innovative

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Plan Ahead

• RE: Grant preparation and writing

• Drill down to the root cause of your problem

• Get to know the funders and their respective funding opportunities

• Plan your project in advance, but don’t let it collect dust

on the shelf!

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Collaborate

• Collaborate when collaboration makes sense

• Seek ethical and mutually beneficial partnerships

• Engage and get the community involved to the extent possible

• Public meetings

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Be Innovative

• Innovate within reason

• Give the grant reviewer something to remember you by

• Historical information

• Vision for the future

• Capacity

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Follow Directions

• Give the grant maker what they’re asking for

• Follow grant application guidance

• Ask questions for clarity during available question and answer periods

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Inverted Pyramid Style of Writing

Key points

Information to

support key

points

General

information

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Writing Style

• Use active rather than passive voice

• Simple sentences

• Provide headers and subheadings

• Do not use jargon or acronyms, provide explanations if necessary

• Write from the prospective of the beneficiaries

• Focus on the funder’s needs

Source: Foundation Center. “The Proposal Process” www.foundationcenter.org

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Prioritizing Need

• Will dedicate time, energy and money to the proposal writing and grant acquisition process

• Important to ensure that the need, given this level of attention, is of utmost importance to residents and municipal officials

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Prioritizing Needs

• Sources for Identifying Municipality Needs

• Municipality’s Consolidated Plan • Community Assessment

• Public Meetings

• Public Records

• Emergency and/or Disaster

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Project Notebook

• Physical or virtual notebook used to track the project from concept to completion

• Helpful for keeping and tracking all relevant items

• Meeting minutes

• Contact information

• Quotes

• Request for proposal / funding announcement

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Obtain Consensus

• Obtain final agreement on the problem, mission, strategy and objectives

• Can be difficult to have a “change of mind” or “change of

heart” based on securing and providing accurate

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Developing Your Proposal

• Commit your ideas to paper

• Thoroughly describe your program

• Create a concept paper

• State the goals and objectives of your program

• Construct a timeline

• Estimate costs for staff, materials, and equipment

• Plan for an evaluation of your program

• Write job descriptions for program staff

Source: Foundation Center. “Guide to Funding Research”.

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Developing Your Proposal

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Commit Ideas to Paper

• Grant writing team

• Gather necessary resources

• Identify best practices or industry practices

• Refer to necessary content experts or specialists for guidance

• Develop different options and scenarios

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Developing Your Proposal

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Describe your Program

• Statement of Need

• How you intend to address the particular need or issue

• Supportive information

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Statement of Need

• Direct statement identifying the following:

• Issue to be addressed / resolved

• Parties involved

• Historical information

• Other relevant information

• May not always be a generally defined “problem”

• Funding sought to enhance student learning through Junior Municipal Governance Program

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Quantitative Information

• Derived from statistical data collection and analysis

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Qualitative Information

• Data that is relevant but described narratively

• Focus group information captured with open ended questions

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Developing Your Proposal

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Concept Paper

• Options to address the need

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Write a Scope Statement

• A scope statement describes what you’re trying to achieve

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Mission Statement

• A mission statement defines the “what” and “why” of the

project

• Follow typical structure of:

• Problem to be addressed or goal

• How you intend to resolve the problem or goal • Be concise

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Develop a Strategy

• Strategy is the high-level “how” of the situation

• Gives a very general understanding of what you intend to do to address the situation

• Strategy is typically followed by defining the tasks and logistics of the situation

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Developing Your Proposal

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Develop a Work Plan

Work plan defines:

• Goals

• Objectives

• Relevant activities / tasks

• Who’s responsible for completing the tasks • Resources needed

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Goals and Objectives

• Goal is a concise statement addressing the intended outcome of the project

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Objectives

• Want to ensure development of S.M.A.R.T. objectives

• S- Specific

• M – Measurable • A – Accurate

• R – Relevant • T - Timely

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Objectives

Address the following:

• Who

• What

• For whom

• By when

• Where

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Developing Your Proposal

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Timeline

• Can be included in work plan or separate scope of work document

• Determine length of time needed for each activity

• When you expect to complete certain milestones

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Timeline

• Important to understand that not all projects will have a concrete timeline

• Economic development

• Health

• Crime prevention

• In these situations, the timeline must adhere more to

evaluation measures that will relate to the ultimate steps taken to address the issue>

• For example, a childhood obesity project looks at time

to complete projects that will ultimately address children’s physical activity and nutrition habits.

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EXERCISE #1

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Exercise #1

•

In your respective

groups, develop a

project plan for your

community project

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EXERCISE #1 Five (5) Minutes to Review and Designate the following: - Team Reporter - Note Taker - Time Keeper - Instruction Lead

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EXERCISE #1 Fifteen (15) Minutes to Develop Plan: - Mission - Strategy - Work Plan - Timeline - Costs

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Exercise #1

•

In your respective

groups, develop a

project plan for your

community project

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Lunch

• 12:00 – 12:15 = Lunch Served

• 12:15 – 12:45 = Guest Speaker • 12:45 – 1:00 = Post-Lunch Break

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EXERCISE #1

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Morning Recap

• Grants 101

• Grant Preparation

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Developing Your Proposal

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Developing Your Proposal

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Budget

• Statement of projected costs

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Standard Budget Components

• Personnel • Fringe Benefits • Travel • Equipment • Supplies • Contractual

• Other Direct Costs

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Developing Your Proposal

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Evaluation

• Determining how you will measure successful completion of the project and intended outcome

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Evaluation

• Develop a set of process questions

• Develop a set of impact questions

• Determine what is available or will need to be developed to collect information to properly answer both questions

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Developing Your Proposal

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Organizational Structure

• Management and partnership structure

• Typically shown as an organizational chart

Mayor

Project Manager Fiscal Officer Communications _Specialist

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Organizational Information

• Opportunity to describe your municipality to the funder

• Discuss organizational capacity (ability to do the work)

• Present information on decision-making structure

• Share information on key staff, consultants, contractors and partners

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Conclusion

• Not a requirement for all grants

• Should be used to reiterate your project mission or the vision for the future

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Key Things to Consider

• Funder’s Priorities

• Funder’s Objectives • Funder’s Strategy • Eligibility Criteria

• Method for Releasing Funds

• Grants Management

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Funding Mechanism

• Direct payment

• Reimbursement

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EXERCISE #2

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Grant Proposal Components

• Executive Summary • Statement of Need • Project Description • Budget • Organizational Information • Conclusion

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Letter of Inquiry/Intent

• Indicates request to apply for an available funding opportunity – Letter of Intent

• Requests ability to submit a proposal for a project that has not already been identified by the funder but may fit the funder’s priorities and objectives – Letter of Inquiry

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Letter Contents

• Be concise

• Include key project information

• What do you intend to do?

• Who will benefit?

• How do you plan to execute the project (strategy)?

• What is the cost?

• What is the timeline?

• Who is responsible?

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Executive Summary

• Provides an overall summary of the project and funding request

• Can provide more information than the letter of intent

• Should cover all areas discussed in the grant proposal but in a summarized fashion

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Statement of Need

• Who is the project’s intended audience?

• What is the project’s intended target? • What type of information is available?

• Quantitative

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Project Description

• Vision, mission and goal statements

• Objectives

• Methods

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EXERCISE #3

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EXERCISE #3 Ten (10) Minutes to Develop Project Description using information from your group’s proposed project

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Project Description

• Align your project with the funder’s requirements

• Ensure format is the same as the format proposed in the grant application

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EXERCISE #4

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EXERCISE #4 Ten (10) Minutes to Develop Key Set of Evaluation Questions based on Population and Project

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GRANTS MANAGEMENT

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Grants Management

• Project-Specific

• Administrative

• Fiscal

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Project-Specific

• Project implementation phase

• Assemble partners

• Acquire resources

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Administrative

• Municipal serving as lead

• Set up as official municipal project

• Appropriate fiscal management system • Chain-of-command

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Fiscal

• Adhere to municipal accounting principles

• Municipalities are required to following federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-87: Cost

Principles for State, Local and Indian Tribal Governments

• Properly show how money is spent

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Funder Requirements

• Progress reports (Monthly, Quarterly or Annually)?

• Plan for site visit?

• Level of involvement in process

• Sponsor

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Training Objectives

• Provide basic overview on Grants, Grant Writing, Grant Preparation and Grants Management

• Provide tips for developing a competitive application

• Practice developing narrative for common grant sections

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In Conclusion…

• Develop the project

• Find appropriate funding

• Use tips provided to develop a competitive application

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Louisiana Municipal Advisory and Technical Services Bureau Corporation Grant Writing for Municipalities Training Series

Series of grant writing training and technical assistance workshops provided in partnership with NM2C, LLC

Schedule

• Intermediate Training: October 4, 2012