Writing Irresistible Grant Proposals for Conservation Projects

1. Grantwriting TrainingConservation Federation of Missouri—Affiliate Summit September 13, 2018

2. What This Workship IS • Training on a systematic approach to writing compelling, persuasive, irresistible grant proposals. • When the funder gets through reading your proposal, his/her only thought is: Where is my checkbook????

3. What It Is NOT • How to find an interested funder • How to pitch a project idea in person • How to make a funder love you personally We will assume you have a possible funder lined up. This is about the WRITTEN DOCUMENT.

4. Structure of the Workshop • Focus in on each component of a generic grant proposal • Talk through its purpose and content; review examples • Practice writing that section for your proposal • Review and discuss together

5. Components of a Generic Grant • Organizational History (or Mission or Background) • Statement of Need • Project Description • Evaluation • Budget • Attachments

6. Assignment Complete this sentence: I want to raise money to (or for) ___________________

7. Organizational History (Who Are You?) • Purpose • Introduce funder to your organization • Establish your credibility for WHAT YOU WANT TO DO • Content • Mission, goals, membership, blah blah MAKE THIS QUICK!! • Your experience, track record, accomplishments pertinent to your ask MAKE THIS STICK!!

8. Example: Toyota USA Foundation Eco-Schools Houston (2000 characters) THIS IS THE BOILERPLATE: Founded in 1936, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is one of the nation's most respected conservation education and advocacy organizations. NWF's mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our children's future. To advance that mission, NWF focuses its work in three primary areas: bringing Americans together to find solutions to the climate crisis, protecting and restoring wildlife habitat, and reconnecting people of all ages with nature. (462 characters)

9. THIS BUILDS OUR CREDIBILITY FOR WHAT WE WANT TO DO: NWF is unique among national conservation groups in having a long and respected track record in the field of environmental education. Our award-winning Ranger Rick magazine has brought the wonders of nature to generations of American children, and our highly acclaimed NWF Schoolyard Habitats program has helped 5,000 U.S. schools since 1996 create and use outdoor classrooms to help children learn from the natural world. (423 characters)

10. MORE ON CREDIBILITY… In 2008, NWF was designated as the U.S. host forEco-Schools, an international Green Schools program that is helping 900,000 educators in 53 countries advance sustainability and environmental stewardship in their schools, while advancing student learning in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). NWF developed a robust web resource for Eco-Schools USA (www.ecoschoolsusa.org) and launched the U.S. program in late 2009. We now have 5,000 registered Eco-Schools across the U.S. (487 characters)

11. MORE ON CREDIBILITY… NWF has developed robust Eco-Schools partnerships withtwo major urban school districts in Texas: the Houston and Austin Independent School Districts. In Austin, this partnership built on two years of successful Toyota USA-funded work to incorporate NWF’s Schoolyard Habitats program into the district’s science curriculum. Our work in Houston likewise grew out of many years of work on Schoolyard Habitats. These new Eco-Schools partnerships are designed to boost student achievement in science and other the STEM disciplines, and at the same time engage the entire school community in district sustainability efforts. (621 characters)

12. Assignment What information about your organization builds your case? Make a list, sketch out your statement

13. Statement of Need(What’s the Problem?) • Purpose • Describe the problem/need your project addresses • Explain the significance of the problem—in terms of both immediate constituents/beneficiaries and public good. • Content • Narrative description of the problem • Various forms of evidence: • Scientific research • Statistical evidence • Polls/surveys • News reports • Illustrations/anecdotes • Expert opinion • Other published reports

14. Scientific Research Study published in the Journal of Family Practice (1996; 42:357-361) showed that physicians prescribed antibiotics unnecessarily in up to 60% of patients diagnosed with common cold. • Used in proposal by a consortium of state health officers for a public education campaign to curb unnecessary antibiotic use. National Academies of Science 2007 Consensus Study Report: Status of Pollinators in North America - Documents decline of pollinators and causes of decline

15. Statistical Evidence Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)-- every three years measures reading ability, math and science literacy and other key skills among 15-year-olds in dozens of developed and developing countries. Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) has tested students in grades four and eight every four years since 1995 National Assessment of Educational Progress –a continuing assessment of what American students know and can do in math, reading, science, civics, etc. Broken down by state and major urban districts

16. News reports—Useful secondary research “Texas gets even drier in 'unprecedented' drought” State sees driest 10 months on record; drought spreads to Corn Belt ---MSNBC. Oct. 14, 2011 • Story includes Weather Service stats on drought in Texas and Oklahoma, economic effects on farmers, status of reservoirs. • Used in grant for drought research

17. Photographic evidence Llano River at Llano, TX – Summer 2011 Experiencing Critical Water Shortage ConditionsSource: kut.org

18. Polls This report finds that more than half of Americans believe that climate change is mostly human caused. That’s the highest level measured since our surveys began in 2008. By contrast, only 30% say it is due mostly to natural changes in the environment, matching the lowest level measured in our November 2016 survey.

19. Other published reports The Hidden STEM Economy. Brookings Institution. June 2013 • As of 2011, 26 million U.S. jobs—20 percent of all jobs—require a high level of knowledge in any one STEM field.  • Half of all STEM jobs are available to workers without a four-year college degree, and these jobs pay $53,000 on average—a wage 10 percent higher than jobs with similar educational requirements. • STEM jobs that require at least a bachelor’s degree are highly clustered in certain metropolitan areas, while sub-bachelor’s STEM jobs are prevalent in every large metropolitan area.

20. Statement of Need – Part 2: The Need for What You Propose to Do Example: You have documented the need to improve student achievement on STEM subjects. You are proposing to use outdoor learning to make that improvement. What evidence can you offer that outdoor learning improves STEM achievement?

21. This report cites and summarizes decades worth of literature on the academic, social, and health benefits of outdoor education.

22. You Had Me at Hello(A Powerful Need Statement) The statement of need should tell a story. Use whatever information/sources you can to tell the story vividly and powerfully. No magic to any one source. Be sure to interpret your sources—extract the key information or finding (i.e. don’t make them work hard) If you can’t make them care about the problem, they won’t care what you want to do.

23. Assignment • What need are you trying to address? • What sources of information can you use to document that need? • What support is there for your approach?

24. Project Description(What do you propose to do?) • Purpose • To describe the activity to be funded • To define how the project will impact the problem or need • To demonstrate you know what you’re doing • Content • Description of the project overall • Objectives that quantify, if possible, what your project will accomplish in relation to the need • Description of method—How you are going to get there—your activities, deliverables, timetable

25. Project Description Builds Your Case • It paints a picture in the funder’s mind of what will take place (your activities) and what will change in the real world (your outcomes) • It should be concrete, vivid, logical, plausible, convincing. The funder should say—I can see this happening! Don’t be vague—that’s making the funder work hard. • Think this part through: the way to sound like you know what you’re doing is to actually know what you’re doing.

26. Example: Project Objectives Texas Living Waters—Houston Endowment—2012 Objective 2: Targeted opinion leaders, conservation groups and resource-dependent economic interests, will register support for strong flow protections in the Brazos River basin during the TCEQ rulemaking process. Eco-Schools Houston—Brown Foundation—2013 Objective 1. Increase student engagement and motivation in math and science. Objective 2. Narrow the achievement gap in science and math between ethnic groups, particularly in low-income schools.

27. Example: Method—Texas Living Waters Activities: • Develop briefing materials that summarize strengths and weaknesses of the TCEQ proposed flow standards and recommend needed modifications. • Mobilize targeted groups to submit written comments and public testimony to TCEQ in support of strong rules. Targets include NWF and Sierra Club members; the Friends of the Brazos River, Coastal Conservation Association, Houston Audubon, Houston Canoe Club, commercial fishing interests, coastal leaders, and elected officials. • Generate press statements and guest editorials on the importance of strong flow protections in this region.

28. Assignment • Write at least one objective that addresses what will change in the world as a result of your project • Write 2 or 3 activities that describe how you will reach that objective

29. Evaluation(How will you know you succeeded?) • Purpose • To demonstrate you can assess the success or failure of the project • Content • Description of the evaluation process • Description of data to be used • Changes in rate of problem? • Participation rates for an activity • Tests • Evaluation Forms, surveys or polls • Changes in policy (or progress towards that)

30. Evaluation is the Art of the Possible • Some things are measurable but you cannot measure them (i.e. teachers’ use of Schoolyard Habitat to teach science. • Develop a proxy • Survey a sample of teachers • Track hits to a key website

31. Evaluation is the Art of the Possible • Some things can be measured over the long haul but you only have the short haul. (i.e. policy change takes a long time) • Develop an interim measure • Indicators that the tide is shifting

32. Evaluation section describes a process • The question is not How successful will you be? It is How will you know if you’ve been successful? • You get to define the performance standard. • The point is to show you are thinking about it. That YOU want to know if you were effective.

33. Examples of Evaluation Tools Objective: Increase student engagement and motivation in math and science. • By the end of the project period, 70-75% of the students surveyed will respond positively to questions regarding their motivation and engagement in science. Similarly 70-75% of the teachers surveyed will respond positively to questions regarding their students’ motivation and engagement in science. (Eco-Schools Houston)

34. Assignment • Sketch out the evaluation tools you could use to assess your project’s effectiveness at reaching your objectives

35. Budget • No surprises; no mysteries • Budget should support your project and be consistent with your project description • Be transparent about your method; funder should see how numbers arrived at • Don’t make them scratch their heads!! (That constitutes working hard)

36. Other Stuff • Proposal Summary • Name of the organization • Amount requested • Brief purpose of the grant • Brief statement of project benefits/results • Write it last • Place it first

37. Other Stuff • Appendices/Support Documents • Requested by Funder (IRS letter, financials, board list, org. budget • Administrative information: job descriptions for new positions, resumes for key staff, evaluation instruments • Promotional (news clips, brochures, letters of support • Refer to all appendices in the text of the proposal • Don‘t append information essential to proposal

38. That’s it!Go Get Money!!!