Grant Writing for Tribes

1. Grant Writing for Tribes Presented by Alaska Project Solutions, Inc. BIA Providers Conference Welcome! Helping Grantees Achieve Success

2. Introductions Joan Herrmann, PresidentAlaska Project Solutions, Inc. APSI is an Anchorage based company. Joan has more than 20 years of grants experience in rural Alaska – mainly working with Tribes. Our services include: • Training • Grant writing • Reporting services • Technical assistance • Grant project management • Online project management tools

3. Introductions Our Mission is to: Empower agencies, Tribes, and non-profits by providing effective project coaching, successful grant writing and reporting, and efficient project management services. IN SHORT, To Help Grantees Succeed!

4. Basics Grant Writing BasicsWhat’s Your Why? • The need for a grant must be strong with evidence that supports ‘why’ a community is seeking funding to help remedy the problem. • We all hope for safer, stronger, healthier communities, but it is important to understand ‘why’. • Once you determine the answer to your ‘why’, your grant application can take shape and you’ll get buy-in from your community and your grant reviewer.

5. Getting Ready Planning for your Application The Beginning: Have a good Brainstorm, a Community Planning Process, and consensus of local residents: What are the needs? Grant pre-planning is the process of defining what is needed and how to meet that need. Examples: • Kids with nothing to do and are in trouble • Elders have to move when they have needs • There are fewer Native Language speakers • The cost of energy and an upcoming winter

6. Basics Grant Writing BasicsWho will benefit? • You started with a dream, and you’ve found a grant that will make a difference for your community. • You start reading a 150 page Request for Proposal (RFP), and you fall asleep with your head in your coffee cup! • Find out who will benefit from your efforts; once you know, it will motivate you to keep going when the grant writing gets tough and lonely.

7. Getting Ready Planning for your Application

8. Getting Ready How in the world does this all work?

9. Getting Ready Project Pre-Planning Checklist • Do you know your organization’s financial condition? • Are you registered with SAM.gov? • Are you registered with Grants.gov? • Do you have your own login and password for all these entities?

10. Financials Financial Planning Checklist • Are your bookkeeping systems in order? • Do you have a current audit or financial statement? • Have they been sent to the Office of Management and Budget? • Do you have an Indirect Rate? • Do you have the ability to provide cashor in-kind/match if required?

11. Getting Ready Finding the Right Grant Ways You’ll Find a Grant: • You’ll hear about it from program staff • You’ll hear about it from other Tribes at meetings and conferences • You’ll get it in an email or a fax • It will ‘arrive’ magically on your desk • You’ll find it online

12. Online Links Finding a GrantGreat Links • Grants.gov • http://www.grants.gov • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 10 • http://yosemite.epa.gov/r10/tribal.NSF • US Department of Energy, Tribal Programs • http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/tribalenergy/ • Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Public • and Indian Housing http://www.hud.gov/offices/pih/ • Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) http://www.doi.gov/bia/ • Indian Health Service (IHS) • http://www.ihs.gov/NonMedicalPrograms/gogp/ • USDA, Rural Development • http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/ak/

13. Getting Ready Project Pre-Planning Checklist: • Are you eligible to apply? • Does it truly fit your community’s need? • Does it fit your agency’s priorities? • Can you manage the project? • Can you meet the deadline?

14. Getting Started Stay in the Loop • Make a note of the CFDA and the Federal Opportunity # • Sign up for notifications • Sign up for modifications • Contact the Program Officer • Go back to the agency’s websites for updates

15. The RFP Pieces and Parts of a Grant

16. The RFP Pieces and Parts of a Grant • The RFP will provide you with: • Program purpose • Eligibility • Due Date • Funding period • Eligible activities • Match requirements • Budget (floor and ceiling) • # of Grants to be awarded

17. Getting Ready Before Your Print the RFPPay Close Attention to the Details: • Read the RFP • Determine your eligibility for the grant • Look at the due date: can you meet it? Is it postmark or arrival? (Do you have time?) • Review the Purpose of the grant: Does it match your goals? • Talk to your Tribal Council and Team!

18. Basics Grant Writing Basics Realistic Planning • Ask yourself these questions: • Do we have a realistic plan? • Who will write the application? • Do we have the resources to manage the project? • Does this grant truly fit our needs and our priorities?

19. Getting Ready Before You Decide, Do This: • Call the program office for guidance to introduce yourself and your agency; Let them know you’re applying and ask to be on their email notification list if there is one. • Discuss your project with them and confirm that you can apply.

20. Scheduling Can You Manage the Time? Real-Life Schedule Juggling

21. TIMELINE Grant Application Timeline(Use Calendars Provided) Build a Timeline for Your Grant Application: Due Date: ________________________ • ______: List of required documents • ______: Outline of proposal • ______: Outline of Budget • ______: All supporting docs due to Bob • ______: First draft due for review • ______: First draft of budget due • ______: Final edits • ______: Submit application

22. Diving In Planning for Your Application • Read the instructions • Follow the instructions Pour yourself a cup of coffee… you’re going to need it!

23. Diving In Building Your Application • Keep your documents organized in a file on your computer AND a hard copy file • Keep track of your checklist as you progress. • Align your application outline with the RFP outline: IMPORTANT! Grant Writer Extraordinaire

24. Basics Grant Writing BasicsPassion Wins! • Professional grant writers will never have – what you have - passion for your community! • Reviewers are just as bored as you are with sterile, mundane, applications. • When a reviewer reads real stories about real people and real needs, they become engaged, interested, and hopeful that funding will make a difference for the applicant. • Keep in mind that a quality application gets through the first round, and it’s our opinion that the passion is what takes it to the home stretch.

25. A Better Score When getting ready to prepare your application, do an electronic search or ‘find’ in the RFP for: These key words will show you what funders want you to include in your grant application. should must shall will require accountable Tips for a Better Score You’ll be surprised where you find those words hidden in the RFP!

26. Financials Planning a REALISTIC Budget • Research expenditures for current costs • Remember administrative costs • Is there match required? • Do staff exist already? (or will you need to hire new staff?)

27. A Better Score More Tips for a Better Score • Review your proposal using criteria in the RFP. • Always proofread after a good night’s sleep. • Include a footer with your agency name and project title. • IMPORTANT: Take the ‘ego’ out of your reviews. Remember, it’s ALL about getting the funding. • Follow these guidelines for every grant you write. You’ll find that eventually, this will become habit-forming, and so will the grant awards!

28. Submitting Your Application • Be prepared for technical difficulties • Give yourself plenty of lead time • Everyone else submits at the last minute, too…it bogs down the system. • Postal service delays – know the difference between USPS and Private Carrier. Read the instructions for this! Submission Anxiety Disorder (SAD)

29. Remember: STUFF HAPPENS!

30. Who Benefits? So, why do we do what we do?

31. Who Benefits? • Youth, who are learning their own language • Elders, who are sharing their culture with youth • Schools, who are teaching cultural education • Communities, who have recycling programs • Rural villages, who have built new facilities • Communities, who are cleaning up junk cars, batteries, and other pollutants • Rural Alaskans, who now have renewable energy options.

32. Who Benefits? • Individuals with Diabetes, who are receiving education and prevention services • Parents, who have increased involvement in their child’s education • Alaska Native families and communities who participate in culture camps each year • Elders who are able to receive meals, wood cutting, snow shoveling, etc. • Victims of domestic violence, who are receiving assistance and safe shelters This is why we do what we do!

33. Basics Grant Writing BasicsHope Never lose hope. You are the champion of your community, and it is up to each of us to do what we can to improve the future for our friends, neighbors, and families. This is my ‘Grant Writer’s Verse’: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.” (Hebrews 11:1-2)

34. Thank You! Thank YouFor your time and attention Please feel free to pick up information on the back table on your way out. www.AlaskaProjectSolutions.com