CYS Fiscal Management Training Writing Competitive Grant Proposals

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Writing Competitive Grant Proposals Welcome !

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals OVERVIEW Public and Private Grants

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Federal Grants: Use of Funds (Non-Profits) • OMB Circular A-110 (Uniform Admin Req.) http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a110/a110.html • Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a122/a122_2004.html • Audits of States, Local Gov, and Non-Profit Orgs http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a133/a133.html

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Federal Grants: Rule Against Supplanting Federal funds must be used to supplement existing funds for program activities and must not replace those funds that have been appropriated for the same purpose.

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Federal Grants: Miscellaneous Considerations • Life of Funds (3 – 4 years after appropriation) • May Involve MBE/WBE, EEOP, Environmental Requirements • Federal Approval of Indirect Cost Rate • Typically Involves Both Fiscal and Programmatic Reporting • May Involve Intensive Audits (GAO)

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Foundation Types: • Independent • Corporate • Family • Operating

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Public Charities: • Community Foundations • Corporate Giving Programs • Churches • Medical Research (Hospitals, Universities)

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Private Application Process: • See individual guidelines • On-line eligibility test • Letter of Inquiry (2-3 pages) • Invitation from foundation to apply • Electronic submission

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals PROPOSAL OVERVIEW

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Statement of the Problem Need for Assistance

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals • “Clearly identify the physical, economic, social, financial, and/or other problems requiring a solution.” • Use demographics and statistics to support your identification of the problem. These should be as recent and as local as possible. • Use scholarly/ policy research to support both the identification of the problem/ how your program will meet the need.

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals • Draw a logical connection between your organization and the problem to be solved. • Outline your agency’s history: working within the community working with the targeted population working with similar programs

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals • Indicate how proposed project will build on past work what past work has been what needs remain to be addressed • Argue how proposed project will address need and why likely to succeed

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals • Argument Strategies • Use examples • Use risk indicators,draw comparisons • Use academic and policy center papers to support your identification of the problem, your program design, your likely results • Use tables, charts, and maps

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals GOALS and OBJECTIVES

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Goal: General statement of what you hope to accomplish in addressing the identified need Two Basic Components: • Who will be affected • What will change as a result of the program

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Objective: The resulting change SMART … Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time-Bound

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Goals Poor: Child care staff will be more informed about early childhood development issues Better: Child care staff will be able to recognize and report signs of early childhood developmental delays Best: Child care staff will be trained in basic principles of early childhood development to enable them to recognize and report suspected cases of developmental delays to special needs staff

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Objectives Our agency will partner with the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration to design a 3-day training program specifically tailored for child care staff and focused on recognizing signs of early childhood developmental delays Over the one-year project period, 50% of all child care staff will receive basic training in the recognition of developmental delays among pre-school children as well as training on the protocol for reporting suspected cases to special needs staff During the first six months of the program, identified cases of developmental delays will increase by 10%

Goals and Objectives Outcomes and Impacts CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals PROGRAM STRATEGY ACTION PLAN: A set of activities that help to determine the methods and resources needed to reach goals

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals EVERY ACTION GOAL/OBJ EVERY ACTION BUDGET EVERY ACTION STAFF EVERY ACTION MISSION

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals EVALUATION PLAN

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Measuring Program Performance: • Measure your accomplishments (outcomes) toward meeting your objectives. • Identify and plan for gathering data pertinent to each objective. • Data findings may inform/alter program strategies. • Documentation of outcomes may build case for additional funding.

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals How Do You Measure Performance? OUTCOMES • Indicators of performance • Program inputs and resources

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Performance Measures Goal: To deter youth from gang related activity and gun violence. Objective: Staff will provide youth intervention services that will offer safe places for youth interaction and support adult supervised activities. Performance Measures • Duration of services • Frequency of services • Youth participation • Youth arrest rates

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals BUDGET OVERVIEW

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals First Things First… Consider the Following: • The Long Haul (It is safer not to anticipate that the income from the grant will be the sole source of support for your program) • Use and Restrictions (Are all budgeted items allowable? Are matching funds required?) • The True Cost (implementation, administration, phase-down – your local resources) • Accounting Systems (fiscal reporting, audit trails)

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Other Considerations… • Inflationary Costs (salaries, rent, utilities, insurance) • Consistency with Proposal Narrative • Consistency with Past Practice and Organizational Parameters • Consistency with the Field • Not Currently Funded

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Passing the Snicker Test • Obvious Placeholders • Calculations • High Overhead Costs / Low Program Costs • Suggests Dependency on Continued Funding • Errors and Inconsistencies

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Sample Budget (Note: Use the budget categories and forms provided by the funder)

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals WRITING TIPS

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals DON’TS • Avoid adjectives • Avoid adverbs • Avoid clichés • Avoid jargon

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals DOs • Keep the audience in mind • Use spell check and grammar check • Use simple constructions • Use topic sentences • Use examples • Use citations • SHOW DON’T TELL

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals Citation Guidelines APA Style (American Psychological Association) Footnote (at the end of the sentence, outside the period): Author Last Name, Author First Initial. (Date of Publication). Title of Publication. Place of Publication: Publisher. Frey, W. (2005). Diversity Spreads Out: Metropolitan Shifts in Hispanic, Asian and Black Populations Since 2000. Washington DC: Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program.

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals • Reader should be able to use citation to find source; • Be consistent; • Italics for free-standing publication title, quotations for piece of larger whole. • Use “Ibid.”

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals BREAKOUT SESSION

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals

CYS Fiscal Management Training Writing Competitive Grant Proposals