Workshop Presented by Cherie Schroeder , M.S. Foster & Kinship Care Education Director/Specialist

1. Information Prepared by, Carol Smith Davies, M.P.A. Fresno City College Carol.davies@fresnocitycollege.edu carolsmithdavies@comcast.net (559) 999-9320 Workshop Presented by Cherie Schroeder, M.S. Foster & Kinship Care Education Director/Specialist Woodland Community College www.yolofostercare.com cherie@yolofostercare.com ~ Serving Yolo County Foster, Kinship & Adoptive Parents

2. Today’s Workshop • Technology and the grantseeking process • Four C’s of successful grant proposals • How to write tight • Recommended Reading

3. Technology and the Grantseeking Process • Approximately 10% of all US foundations and corporate grantmakers have websites • Online grants application software developers, web-based platforms • www.grantrequest.com • CyberGrants • Center for Arts Management and Technology E-Grant • Arlington Group Easygrants • Foundation Source • Kintera Online Grants

4. Technology and the Grantseeking Process cont. • Rationale behind online grant applications • Reduces administrative burden • Saves trees! • Reducing scanning, printing and data-entry needs & costs • Eliminates ineligible proposals • Eligibility quizzes • Letter of intent or inquiry • Full-proposals only upon invitation • Enable real time review • Shortens time between applying and receiving award • Enhances communications with potential grantees • Facilitates the review process

5. Online applications from the grantseekers perspective • Cons • Takes more time especially when creating a proposal for new project • Can’t say all you want – limited by # of words • Lose control over formatting • No spell check • Can’t upload files as attachments • Too impersonal • Technologically challenged – not user friendly • Privacy issues • Pros • Leaner prose • Can submit last minute • No more worrying about number of copies • Usually straightforward and easy to use • Expect quicker response

6. Four C’s of Effective Grant Proposals • Clear • Active, engaging language makes it easy to read • Short sentences • Small paragraphs • Comprehensive • Detailed • Anticipates every possible question of grant reviewer

7. Four C’s of Effective Grant Proposals cont • Concise • Well-organized • Gets to the point as quickly as possible • Competitive • Attainable outcomes that will impact the community • Furthers the mission of the grant maker • Persuasive

8. Tips for Preparing Online Proposals • Plan Ahead • Visit grant maker website well before the deadline, if applicable • Complete eligibility questionnaire or register • Create user login and password • Print application form • If new project or program, prepare your proposal using a word processing software. • If existing project or program, use current proposal to cut and past to create specific sections

9. Cut and PasteHave a 2nd Set of Eyes Review • ALWAYScreate proposal components in a word processing software then cut and paste into the grant application.

10. Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont. • Typical format • Background of organization • Need of the proposed project • Project or program goal and process objectives • Project or program activities • Measurable outcomes • Evaluation plan • Future funding • Recognition plan for corporate grant makers • Budget in Excel or Word format • Attachments in .doc, .xls and/or .pdf format

11. Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont. • Background of organization • In one paragraph, briefly outline the purpose of the organization – usually 200-300 characters • Provide founding date • Describe current operating principles • Example: The Aging Place (TAP) provides different levels of housing for low-income senior citizens over the age of 62 throughout the Ellis metropolitan area. Founded in 1945, TAP opened its first Home for the Aged in Easter Kansas. Today, the TAP network includes nine residential facilities. [239 characters]

12. Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont. • State the mission of the organization • Example: Its mission is to provide the elderly with quality services, care and housing within secure and stable environments. TAP helps older adults enjoy their independence by fostering their physical, intellectual, social and spiritual well being. [240 characters] • List accomplishments to date • State number of persons served • Identify programs by name

13. Need Statement • Usually one paragraph provides an overview o the problem • Focus is on the community – not the need of the organization! • Introduce the problem to the reader • Briefly describe the target population • Discuss the current situation NOT the solution you propose • Statistics from your previous programs and local agencies • Needs assessment of the community • Case studies from state agencies and authorities in the field

14. Need Statement Example – 1,914 characters or 342 words For many older adults, the later years are a time of illness, pain, and disability. Many suffer from chronic diseases. Research indicates that this physical decline is a result of the lack of comprehensive health promotion and disease prevention strategies for the elderly. Rising healthcare costs reflect the chronic ailments of this population. Throughout the metropolitan area, there are only a handful of programs for seniors and non aggressively address health prevention and wellness. Health and wellness among seniors is directly proportional to their level of income. Low-income seniors have less access to healthcare and poorer health outcomes than their wealthier age-matched counterparts. TAP confirmed these finds with the September 2007 Senior Needs Assessment conducted by the Ellis-based East Kansas Human Service Agency, in conjunction with the Hayes University. Results from this assessment support two major issues: 1) better coordination of health care for low-income seniors, and 2) increased education and awareness of health and wellness among this population.

15. TAP began a wellness program, entitled Staying Healthy, at its Ellis facility in 2005; no other program of its type existed in the East Kansas area for low-income seniors. Within three months of launching the program, the wellness nurse assigned to the program by Hayes Hospital saw residents make considerable strides. Two quit smoking after 40 years. Three lowered their blood pressure. Others began exercising regularly and maintained or lost weight. One resident remarked how she could walk without her cane yet another stated she could now clean her apartment without getting tired. Still those who were diabetic began checking their feet and blood sugar twice daily. Achieving some of these goals meant making life-altering changes. Today, 133 of the 160 residents participate in Staying Healthy. This program helps older adults, even the frail elderly, maintain their independence.

16. Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont. • Project/Program Description • State goal – sometimes limited by # of characters • Example: The goal of Staying Healthy is to improve health outcomes and reduce isolation of seniors age 62 and older. TAP will increase the number of seniors participating in Staying Healthy over the next year by introducing this program in its other eight facilities in the metropolitan area. [237 characters]

17. Project/Program Description cont. • Provide measurable outcomes – required • 85% of participants will remain in the program for one year • 95% of participants will become more active through group exercise • 90% of participants will know their blood pressure rate and cholesterol levels • 80% of participants will visit the wellness nurse at least once a month

18. Project/Program Description cont. • Create a short paragraph describing activities – usually 2,000 characters • Answer the basic questions • # of participants • Type of activities that will yield the goal and outcomes • Where the activities will take place • How often they meet, facilities, and transportation needs • Personnel – both supervisory and new hires. • Possibly discuss components, phases or states of activities • Provide timeline – usually start and end dates only

19. Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont. • Evaluation Plan – possibly 1,500 to 2,000 characters • Identify evaluation team • If using an outside evaluator, describe credentials • Discuss evaluation tools or methods • Identify frequency of reporting

20. Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont. • Future funding • Short paragraph identifying future sources of funding to keep project in operation • DO NOT state that you will secure additional grants to support this program – RED FLAG

21. Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont. • Recognition/Publicity Plan – usually 2,000 characters • Required mostly by corporations and large foundations • State that the grant maker will be a partner in the project/program • Discuss how your organization will promote the name of the funder verbally and on printed materials • Outline any media outlets that will be approached for press coverage • Seek permission to use corporate logo on all printed materials

22. Tips for Preparing Online Grant Proposals cont. • Standard Attachments to upload • Budget for project or program • Use your budget format in Word or Excel • Show both revenues and expenses • Total amount of revenues must equal total amount of expenses • Provide written justification if required • List of board members with affiliations • Audited financial statement no more than two years old • Organizational budget for current fiscal year

23. Tips to Write Tight • Write in compact sentences using simple words without redundancies • Answer the six basic questions • Who • What • Where • When • How • Why

24. Tips to Write Tight cont. • How to Write Tight in a Nutshell by Kathy Henning • Seattle-based writer and teacher, as well as the managing editor of Communication Fitness, an online instructional resource for schools, nonprofits and businesses. She can be reached at hmcl@hbsp.harvard.edu • Understand that right writing doesn’t just happen

25. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Don’t try to write tight on the first draft. • First draft is for organizing what you want to say and putting it roughly into words. Tightening comes with subsequent drafts. • Plan to revise at least three times • Have someone else ready what you’ve written to point out ambiguity or suggest cuts • Understand that tighter is always better, but shorter isn’t always better. • Remember that clarity is always more important than brevity

26. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Use the imperative • Normally don’t in academic writing • When you do use an imperative sentence, it should usually contain only a mild command, and thus, end with a period. Example: Consider the frail elderly. • No subject, fewer words • Provide a “call to action” • Think in short, firm sentences – even fragmented sentences • Just get to the point

27. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Limit length – start and end a sentence on a single line • Eliminate redundancy • Don’t overstate the obvious • Use abbreviations wisely • Spell out acronyms once • This is not TXT SPK – OMG! • Cut every unnecessary word, but never sacrifice clarity for brevity

28. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Eliminate adjectives and adverbs, especially those that carry the same meaning as the noun or verb • If it’s not necessary, throw it out. • If it’s unnecessary, toss it.

29. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Focus on nouns and verbs • Replace nouns that end with the suffixes: • -iality • -ation • -ence • -ization • -ize • -ocentrism • -wise

30. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Eliminate expletives – a word or phrase conveying no independent meaning but added to fill out a sentence • Avoid qualifiers – they suck the blood out of good prose • May • Somewhat • A few • Very • Rather • Little • Quite • Avoid possessives

31. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Write in an active voice, avoid passive • Writing in the past tense or passively can: • Weaken your case for support • Disrupt the reviewer’s focus • “We will…” vs “we would like to…” • Get rid of would, could and should • Engage reader by replacing “…,which” with “that: • Restructure passive sentences into active ones • Passive voice should be 10% or less of your entire document

32. Passive rewritten to Active • P: All programs are clinically supervised by a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). • A: A licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) supervises all programs. • P: This new vision was adopted unanimously by the Board of Directors in October 2004. • A: In October 2004, the Board of Directors adopted the new vision. • P: Substance abuse among teens has always been recognized as a problem area that leads to other destructive behaviors including violence, contracting STD’s, and HIV/AIDS. • A: Teen substance abuse can lead to other destructive behaviors including violence, contracting STD’s, and HIV/AIDS. • P: From this information, changes to the curriculum could be made by the organization. • A: The curriculum could change from this information. • P: The organization was summoned to appear in court. • A: The court summoned the organization to appear.

33. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Be conscious of voice • Third-person for narrative • First-person for cover email • DO NOT mix voices • Use short sentences and small paragraphs • First sentence of every paragraph must grab the attention of the reader • Vary length of paragraphs • Minimum two sentences per paragraph • Provide no more than 10 lines per paragraph • Average sentence should have no more 15 to 17 words • No story-telling – proposals are non-fiction!

34. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Save space by condensing • One space between period and beginning of next sentence for online applications • Use standard two spaces between period and next sentence in paper proposals • Try semicolons instead of bullet points • Label statements in semicolon format at 1) or a) • Breaks-up a long sentence and cues reviewer • Do not use jargon • Always spell out acronyms

35. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Obtain a style and grammar book for quick reference! • The Handbook of Good English, Edward D. Johnson • The Elements of Style, William Strunk, Jr. and EB White • The Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago Press • The MLA Style Manual, Walter S. Achtert and Joseph Gibaldi

36. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Be aware of character counts • 2,600 characters ~ 500 words • 2,000 characters ~ 300 words • 800 characters ~ 150 words • In Microsoft Word, go to Tools then click on Wordcount, find Characters with Spaces

37. Tips to Write Tight cont. • Most importantly – your proposed project/program must make an impact on the community you serve! • Successful proposals describe changes that will be beneficial to the community • Grant makers want to see collaboration among organizations to work together to make change • Grant makers are venture philanthropists who want to invest in your organization to further their mission

38. Recommended Reading • Write Tight by William Brohaugh. (ISI Books, 2002) ISBN 1-882926-88-9 • The Elements of Style - 4th Edition by William Strunk, Jr. and EB White. (Allyn & Bacon, 2000) ISBN-10 0205313426 OR ISBN-13 987- 0205313426

39. Contact Information Carol Smith Davies Fresno City College Carol.davies@fresnocitycollege.edu carolsmithdavies@comcast.net (559) 999-9320