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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 1 ⁞
The ULTIMATE
Grant Proposal Blueprint:
CHAPTER 1
Starting Right Where You Are …
Right Now!
Lesson 1-A. Let’s Get This Party Started!
Lesson 1-B. The Power of Mission-Centered Grantsmanship:
Playing the Game … to Win!
Lesson 1-C. The Magic of the One-Page Worksheet:
Your Blueprint Template, Revealed
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 2 ⁞
What happens when I think
of myself as a “catalyst for
positive change in my work
… in my life … and in the
world”?
What could it mean to learn
about “writing better
proposals” from a 3-D
perspective?
REFLECT AND RESPOND:
What I’m passionate about:
Who I want to be in my
work life:
My “WAG” – Wild
Audacious Goal:
My best possible ROI:
Lesson 1-A.
Let’s Get This Party Started!
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 3 ⁞
NOTES:
NOTES:
PLUS one more way of seeing in 3-D view …
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
What will I need to achieve my biggest ROI from this course?
Let’s talk about 3-D…
Linear Omni-
directional
Tactical Relational
Fine detail Big-picture
Zoom IN Zoom OUT
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 4 ⁞
NOTES:
Myth: Tactical Relational Transcendent 1. It’s all about the
writing.
Write to impress. Write to
persuade. Write to get
what you want.
Write to express – not to
impress. Your writing
should be transparent – so
the beauty and strength
and power of your
proposal shine through
purely, clearing, and
compellingly. Nothing
should stand between the
reader and the great ideas
you want to
communicate.
It’s all about
communication and
connection – all the ways
that communicating with
transparency and
authenticity and intention
toward the greater good
helps us all stay connected
with that Bigger Thing
that’s always going on.
2. “It’s a competitive
process.”
Either you win, or you
lose. If someone else wins,
you lose – and vice versa.
You have to know how to
play the game.
Collaborating with other
nonprofits is not only
good for our community
and society as a whole, it’s
also the single most
powerful way to amplify
and accelerate our grants
success.
There’s already more than
enough of everything we
need to create the world
we want to see.
3. “Grantmakers love to
work harder than we have
to.”
??? That doesn’t even
make sense. Why does
how hard the grantmakers
work even matter? It’s
their job.
Grantmakers want to
work just hard enough to
be able to make an
intelligent, informed and
confident decision about
your proposal.
We’re ready to work as
hard as we need to –
together – as stewards of
the common good and
catalysts for positive
change, in our
communities and in the
world.
The three dimensions of grants perspective:
Tactical Relational
Transcendent
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 5 ⁞
LESSON 1-A.
Putting it into action – right away!
My Quick-Win Action:
What?
When?
Where?
With what resources?
Why? (in order to what?)
My High-Leverage Action:
What?
When?
Where?
With what resources?
Why? (in order to what?)
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 6 ⁞
WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
1. Mission, vision and values are no longer critical to a program’s
grantseeking success in these days of rapid change and flexibility.
T F
2. Planning for your grantseeking should begin with what grantmakers
are currently funding, not with what we need.
T F
3. If an organization is struggling to get grants, it’s almost always the
grantwriter’s fault.
T F
4. Which of the following is the single most important reason funders
choose to support a particular request for funding?
A. The proposal is well-written, neat, concise and clearly
organized, and interesting for the reviewers to read.
B. The applicant is a credible group or organization, with a
proven track record in the community.
C. The program or project plan is complete, detailed and easy for
reviewers to understand.
D. The purpose and objectives of the program you’re proposing
match the needs and interests of the funder.
E. The request provides enough detail about the program for the
reviewers to make informed, intelligent decisions.
F. You’ve followed all the funder’s instructions for the proposal –
number of pages, questions answered, attachments, and so
on.
Lesson 1-B.
The Power of Mission-Centered Grantsmanship:
Playing the Game … to Win!
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 7 ⁞
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 8 ⁞
Reprinted with permission from the American Association of Grant Professionals Journal, Fall 2003 (www.grantprofessionals.org)
The Grantsmanship Game:
Playing to Win
By Maryn M. Boess
Maryn@GrantsMagic.org
For a long time, one of the most popular
workshops I offer has been a two-day intensive
program we call “The Grantsmanship Game: Playing
to Win.”
The title always catches some people off-guard:
Some folks are a bit troubled by the notion of
comparing the hard work of managing a grants
process with playing a game. Shouldn’t we take
grantseeking more seriously than that? Isn’t
grantseeking just the simple activity of filling in
blanks on a funding application? Does thinking of
grantseeking as a “game” mean we’re in competition
with each other? Are we saying that we should be
having more fun?
In my 18 years of working as an active grant
professional – first as a program planner and
proposal writer, more recently in my work as a
trainer and coach – I have come to see clearly that
grantsmanship is not an activity; it’s a strategic,
systematic process. At GrantsUSA, we like to call the
process “The Grantsmanship Game.” It’s all about
managing the details of your organization’s
grantseeking effort in a way that gives your
proposals the winning edge – and helps them rise to
the top when funders make their grant awards.
It’s a serious game, to be sure: The well-being of
thousands of people can depend on the outcome.
But just like any game, it has several basic elements
that you need to consider, and learn to work with, in
order to win the game consistently.
In this article, we’ll offer a preview of what the
Grantsmanship Game is all about, and in future
issues of the Journal, we’ll take a closer look at what
it takes to become a more consistently successful
player.
“Unpacking” the Game
Basketball, checkers, Monopoly, hockey:
Different games, yes – but they do share some
important elements in common.
The Grantsmanship Game shares these elements
as well. Here’s what you’ll find when you pull the
cover off your Grantsmanship Game box:
A gameboard. The gameboard is the playing
field, or operating environment, in which the game is
conducted. The operating environment is always
unique to the game being played: It’s pretty tough to
play basketball on a checkerboard, or Monopoly in a
hockey rink.
In the grantsmanship game, the operating
environment includes your community, your
constituents, the regulatory and legislative
environment, the socioeconomic and political
climate of your community, even the culture and
values of your own organization. All of these factors
will significantly and dramatically influence the
shape of your grantseeking process – and the
strategies that will help you be most successful.
Rules. All games have rules. These are the non-
negotiable fundamental must-do’s and must-have’s
of a particular game. If you want to play the game,
you must agree to follow the rules. If you don’t
follow the rules, either you never get into the game
in the first place, or you find yourself “kicked off” the
gameboard and out of the game completely. More
about the five essential rules of the Grantsmanship
Game later.
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 9 ⁞
Moves, or squares. In many games, the players must
make their way around the gameboard by moving
through a sequence of squares, in some specified
order. The same is true in the Grantsmanship Game.
The moves or squares are the steps that players
must take to make progress toward the end goal. In
the grantsmanship game, the squares represent the
tasks or activities that are important to a complete,
rock-solid grants process. The moves don’t
necessarily have to be made in one-after-another
sequence – but no skipping allowed! If a “chance”
card (see below) jumps you backward or forward,
you must go back and make sure you take care of all
the steps you might have missed.
“Chance” cards. Guess what – we don’t control
everything! Monopoly has its “chance” cards – at
any given moment in a game, you can draw a card
that either propels you forward or sets you back
unexpectedly.
Grantseekers know this is true in their game, as
well. No matter how carefully we plan and how
conscientiously we follow the moves, the
unexpected can happen: A key staff person gets sick
just before deadline; a major partner pulls out;
another major source of funding comes through for
you, completely out of the blue. When the
Grantsmanship Game hands you a “chance” card like
one of these, the layout of the gameboard makes it
easier to figure out what you need to do to get back
on track and back in the game.
A “winner’s” goal. Most games have a clear-cut
starting point; not all have a clear-cut end.
Monopoly is one example: The game can go on and
on until there’s only one player left standing. The
Grantsmanship Game is another example. It’s
actually a cyclical game: Once you’re on the
gameboard, you keep playing as long as you like,
cycling through the same rules and the same steps
over and over again, only with different corporate,
foundation and government funders each time. The
game is “won” each time the process succeeds in
producing a solid grant proposal that reflects your
organization’s very best efforts – one that represents
your mission as a service organization, and at the
same time connects with the philanthropic mission
of the grantmaker.
Strategies. Finally, it isn’t enough to simply be
familiar with the gameboard and have memorized
the official, non-negotiable rules. To be truly,
consistently, predictably successful in any game over
time, we must also have practical knowledge about
how to apply effective strategies. These are the skills
and understandings we bring to the game that
dramatically affect how efficiently and successfully
we address the challenges and decisions that arise as
we navigate the gameboard.
Many of the top strategies for the
Grantsmanship Game are ones we learn over time,
through experience. But I maintain that we all start
out with three of the most important strategies in
our skill bank. These are:
• Common sense (surprising how quickly our
ability to apply common sense becomes
threatened when money is at stake!);
• Good people skills (another surprise:
contrary to many opinions, grantsmanship is
a people-driven process, not a paper-driven
one); and
• A team- or partnership-oriented mindset
(about which more later).
Rules of the Game
The Grantsmanship Game is different every time
it’s played, because the specifics of each funder’s
priorities, needs and interests are different. But
there are five basic rules that drive the game and
keep you in control of the process. These are:
Rule 1: Know Yourself.
This rule speaks to the heart of the matter,
which I call mission-driven grantsmanship. Success in
grantseeking begins at the beginning: With a deeply
held, common understanding of who you are as an
organization, what you’re here to do in the world,
and why it’s important. “Deeply held” means this
understanding is the foundation of everything you
do as an organization. “Common” means all the
stakeholders are marching under the same banner –
program staff, administrative staff, board members,
volunteers. Focus first on clearly, concisely and
compellingly telling your organization’s story and
articulating your mission, vision and values. Then
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 10 ⁞
and only then will you be prepared to share that
story with potential funders.
Rule 2: Build True Partnerships.
A Federal program officer said it loud and clear a
few years back: “Whether the funder requires it or
not, if it ain’t a collaborative proposal, it ain’t gonna
be competitive.” It’s all about leveraging. How can
you work with other members of your community to
share resources, responsibilities, risks and rewards?
The emphasis here is on the word “true.” Funders
aren’t fooled by a “partnership” that consists of a
slapped-together list of names with no sense of
commitment or shared vision behind it. The best
partnerships begin before there’s money on the
table, because two or three or four people from
different organizations recognize an opportunity to
work together for the greater good of each other –
and the community at large.
Rule 3: Plan, Plan, Plan – Plan!
Did you know that only 20% of a successful
grantseeking effort involves actually writing the
proposal? The other 80% consists of – you guessed it
– planning. A solid grant proposal is nothing more
than a business plan, plain and simple. You wouldn’t
go to a bank for a loan without a business plan in
place; nor should you approach a prospective funder
with anything less than a complete, detailed
blueprint for how you see your program or project
working. The planning should take place before you
begin assembling a request for a particular funder. In
other words, develop your own business plan first –
then you can draw from it and tailor it to fit any
grantmaker’s required form and format.
Rule 4: Know Your Funder.
Ah, at last – we’re getting down to the nitty-
gritty. “Know Your Funder” speaks to the issue of
doing your homework – of using the appropriate
resources to identify your A-list of grantmakers most
likely to be interested in what you have to offer, and
then of finding out everything you can about who
they are, what they’re looking for, and what they
hope to achieve with their grantmaking – before you
decide whether to submit a proposal. All other
factors aside, the single most important reason
funders choose to support a given request for
funding is that what the applicant has to offer helps
the funders achieve their own mission and purpose in
the world. An additional word of wisdom: The best
time to begin a relationship with a prospective
funder is not two days before the proposal is due.
Rule 5: Create a Winning Proposal.
This is where it all comes together, at last. What
is a “winning” proposal? Well, getting funded is a
good indicator here – but there’s more to it than
that. Whether or not a given proposal is chosen for
funding depends on a lot of considerations that are
outside the grantseeker’s direct control. For me, the
definition of a “winning” proposal focuses on four
qualities that we can control. These are:
(1) It’s in on time. No ifs, ands, or buts. If there’s
a deadline, and you don’t meet it, nothing else
matters. End of subject.
(2) It crosses all the t’s and dots all the i’s.
Whatever instructions or qualifications the funder
holds for the proposal, you’ve paid attention to each
and every one of them. Otherwise you run the risk of
becoming an “easy out,” as in: “Oops, look, we asked
that proposals be submitted unbound, and this one’s
stapled. Well, that’s one more proposal we won’t
have to bother reading.”
(3) The proposal clearly represents the front end
of a well-thought-out business plan. This relates
directly back to Rule #3 and calls on us to make sure
all the questions have been answered, all the pieces
are in place, and everything holds together and
makes sense.
Finally, the kicker:
(4) Your proposal makes it very clear how
supporting your proposal will help the funder further
its own philanthropic mission. Guess what:
Grantmakers need us – they can’t fulfill their
philanthropic missions for creating change in the
world without the programs and services that we
offer. Our proposals succeed to the extent that we
can demonstrate this all-important match with the
funder’s own mission.
The Rule of Common Sense
There’s one other non-negotiable rule to success
in the grantsmanship game – and that’s what I call
the Rule of Common Sense. We mentioned this
earlier, as part of our discovery of the
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 11 ⁞
Grantsmanship Game process, but it bears looking at
again. All other things being equal, we can rely on
our own innate common sense – the same good
thinking skills that have helped us be successful in
other areas of our life – to guide us through much of
the Grantsmanship Game’s murkier territories.
As you’re moving around the gameboard, ask
yourself almost any question – for instance:
(1) The page limits are so strict; should I
eliminate headings and bulleted lists to save space?
(2) I wonder if the funder would like to see a
description of our partnership efforts, even if it isn’t
required?
(3) I don’t understand this instruction; what do
they really want here?
(4) We don’t fit their guidelines but they’re new
in our community and doing a lot of local funding.
Shouldn’t we send a proposal too?
Then ask yourself: What would common sense
dictate? The answers will be, in this order:
(1) How would you like it if you were the
reviewer struggling through 300 proposals that were
nothing but paragraph after paragraph of solid black
unbroken text?;
(2) Sure, wouldn’t you?;
(3) Don’t guess or second-guess – call the funder
and ask; and
(4) Nope! (though you may want to begin a
“feeling-them-out” relationship in case they open up
their funding priorities).
See? That wasn’t so tough. Common sense wins,
virtually every time. Hang on to yours, as tightly as
you can. You’ll encounter plenty of fellow players
along the way who will try to wrest your common
sense from you, in the name of chasing the money.
Don’t let them. Trust the good judgment that has
brought you this far. It can take you all the way.
A Final Word About “Fun”
At the beginning of our “Grantsmanship Game”
workshop, as a warm-up I often ask people what
associations they can make between the words
“grantsmanship” and “game.” Most of the answers
are pretty predictable: They’ll come up with rules,
and players; money (if they’re thinking about
Monopoly); competition; and winning. Rarely, a lone
voice will raise tremulously in the back of the room,
as if almost embarrassed to speak out: “What about
fun? I think working on grant proposals is fun. Am I
crazy?”
Yes, you are – crazy like a fox. After all, enjoying
what we do is what puts the zip in our work, keeps
us coming back, keeps us wanting to do more, do
better, stretch and grow. The great thing is, it works
the other way around, too: The better we are at
doing something, the more we’re likely to enjoy
doing it.
And – guess what! The more we all win, too.
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 12 ⁞
RULE 1:
Know Yourself
Connecting Purpose and Planning
MISSION STATEMENT:
Your organizational
mission statement is
a deeply held, common
understanding of
who you are as an
organization,
what you’re here to do
in the world,
and why that work is
important.
MISSION-CENTERED GRANTSMANSHIP:
Mission-centered grantsmanship involves
a specific set of tools and techniques that,
when installed properly within your
organization and applied systematically
and strategically, will help you
and your stakeholders become
more consistently successful in
attracting the resources your organization
needs to do its work in the world.
REALITY CHECK: Which of the following statements is MOST true about your organization’s mission
statement?
� “As far as I know, we don’t have one.”
� “We have one, but I couldn’t tell you what it is.”
� “We have one, but it’s pretty out of date.”
� “We’re working on our first one.”
� “Ours is clear, universally understood, and current.”
WORKING DEFINITIONS
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 13 ⁞
THE MISSION-VISION-VALUES TREE
PROGRAMS
& SERVICES
PROGRAMS
& SERVICES
PROGRAMS
& SERVICES
PROGRAMS
& SERVICES
PROGRAMS
& SERVICES
VISION • Where do we see ourselves in five years? Ten years? Fifty years?
• If we were doing exactly what we are meant to do in exactly the right way, what would we be doing, and how?
VALUES What’s important to us about the way we:
• Serve our clients and constituents?
• Work with other community members?
• Work with our colleagues and staff?
• Present ourselves to the world at large?
ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS
AND OBJECTIVES
� What are our long-term goals and objectives for the organization as a whole?
� Do these goals and objectives grow naturally from and support our mission, vision and values?
� How do these overall goals and objectives help us determine what activities, projects, and services we should be undertaking?
MISSION • Who are we? Why do we exist?
• What do we do best?
• Who do we serve?
• What are our unique contributions to
• the world?
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 14 ⁞
Great news! Your favorite fairy godmother has just granted you a check for $10,000! You can use the money for
anything that will benefit your organization. How many ways could you (and your team) spend your windfall?
FAIRY GODMOTHER WISH LIST
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 15 ⁞
Please help us decide what projects or services to focus on in searching for funding! Each of the following ideas
has been suggested as a possible change, enhancement, addition or expansion for our agency, if resources were
available. Please prioritize all ideas in terms of their relative importance for our agency.
On a scale of 1 (high) to 5 (low), rank the degree to which you believe each of the ideas:
• Is congruent with and/or advances the mission of our organization;
• Is urgent (i.e., has a critical time frame; vital that it be undertaken sooner rather than later);
• Is important (i.e., potential for major long-term impact on our operations or services).
Priority or Resource Wish List Item:
Mission
Match Urgency
Impor-
tance
Over-
all
PRIORITIZING OUR PROJECT/RESOURCES WISH LIST
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 16 ⁞
Turning Good Ideas into “Fundable Project Concepts”
“FUNDABLE PROJECT CONCEPT”:
What Is It?
� Very brief – 1-2 pages
� Written preliminary plan
� Answers the key planning questions
� Can be read in 4 to 5 minutes – TOPS
Decision-maker’s response:
“This is exactly what we’re looking for.
You’ve covered all the bases.
It’s clear you know where
you’re going with this.
I’m eager to find out more.”
The One-Page Proposal Worksheet – Revealed!
“When it comes to
transforming good ideas
into fundable project
concepts, this worksheet
is the closest thing available
to a magic wand.”
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 17 ⁞
LESSON 1-B.
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 18 ⁞
With this grant, it is our
intention that:
� Who is going to do
what?
� When?
� Where?
� With whom?
� With what resources?
� To accomplish what
results? And …
� Why is it important?
WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
1. Grantmakers require a considerable amount of detail in order to
make an informed, intelligent decision about your request.
T F
2. Each grantmaker works with its own unique priorities, interests, and
guidelines – making it impossible to predict what questions you’ll be
required to answer in your proposals.
T F
3. 80% of effective grantsmanship is writing; only 20% is planning. T F
4. BONUS QUESTION: What do you think is the absolute most a funder
would award on the basis of a one-page grant proposal?
___________
READY, SET … GO!
Lesson 1-C.
The Magic of the One-Page Proposal Worksheet:
Your Blueprint Framework – Revealed!
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 19 ⁞
The One-Page Proposal Worksheet: Notes
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 20 ⁞
THE ONE-PAGE GRANT PROPOSAL WORKSHEET IN ONE SENTENCE,
summarize your project
idea. What will you do? When? With whom? Where? And why? In order to what?
Who are you as an
organization, and what are you all about? (What is your
mission or purpose?)
Describe the specific need or issue in your community
that this proposed project will address.
What specific changes do you intend to achieve in your community as a direct result
of your work? What will success “look like”?
What are the major steps
you will need to take to make these changes
happen?
Who else has a vested interest in working with you as partners on this problem
or opportunity?
What information, tools, data, etc. will you use to
decide how well you met your success goals?
What resources do you need to do this work? (Skills, labor, equipment, training,
supplies, services, etc.)
Estimated total cost (if you had to pay for every-thing).
How does this break down?
What broad categories of community needs or
opportunities does your
project address?
Submitted By: Date:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 21 ⁞
THE ONE-PAGE GRANT PROPOSAL WORKSHEET IN ONE SENTENCE,
summarize your project
idea. What will you do?
When? With whom? Where?
And why? In order to what?
By March 20--, Literacy Volunteers of “Our” County (WA) will train 50 new reading tutors to serve the rural communities to the west, working with
volunteers recruited from local churches, to reduce the waiting list for literacy
training in this underserved area.
Who are you as an
organization, and what are
you all about? (What is your
mission or purpose?)
Literacy Volunteers of “Our County” (WA) is a 35-year-old, volunteer-based 501c3 nonprofit whose mission is to empower adults with the ability to read and write, in order to achieve their full potential as individuals, as employees, as
parents, and as members of the community at large.
Describe the specific need
or issue in your community
that this proposed project
will address.
According to a 2010 survey by Literacy Volunteers of America, one out of six
adults cannot read or write at the basic sixth-grade level, leaving them
vulnerable to problems with parenting, employment, health, safety and self-esteem. And in the rural western half of “Our County” alone there is a waiting
list of 200 adults who want to learn to read.
What specific changes do
you intend to achieve in your
community as a direct result
of your work? What will
success “look like”?
1. Train and successfully match 50 new volunteers.
2. At least 75% of students will complete 6 months of tutoring. 3. Reading skills will improve an average of 2 grade levels. 4. At least 3 significant partnerships with local churches.
5. Reduce waiting list by at least 40 individuals.
What are the major steps
you will need to take to
make these changes
happen?
1. Contract with master trainer.
2. Training logistics: Materials, location, equipment. 3. Marketing to recruit potential volunteer tutors. 4. Conduct training.
5. Match and track tutor/learner pairs for 6 months. 6. Evaluate learner progress and program success.
Who else has a vested
interest in working with you
as partners on this problem
or opportunity?
Local churches Schools
Libraries Service clubs--?
What information, tools,
data, etc. will you use to
decide how well you met
your success goals?
Pre- and post reading evaluations of learners
Training logs of volunteer tutors
What resources do you
need to do this work? (Skills,
labor, equipment, training,
supplies, services, etc.)
Master trainer Training materials
Audiovisual equipment
Training site (+ refreshments?)
Estimated total cost (if you
had to pay for every-thing).
How does this break down?
$25,000
$500 per volunteer trained, matched and tracked
What broad categories of
community needs or
opportunities does your
project address?
Literacy Parenting skills Reading Workplace skills
Adult education Minority issues
Rural Church-affiliated
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
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The One-Page Proposal Worksheet: Notes
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LITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF “OUR” COUNTY, WASHINGTON
TUTOR TRAINING PROGRAM FOR RURAL COUNTY
OVERVIEW:
One out of six adults in the United States today cannot read or write at the basic sixth-grade level, leaving them
vulnerable to problems with parenting, employment, health, safety and self-esteem. The problem is especially
acute in rural communities, where the rate of adult illiteracy rises to nearly one in five.
Literacy Volunteers of “Our” County (WA) seeks $25,210 in funding from the local community to support the
training of 50 additional volunteers to serve as reading tutors in the hard-to-serve rural communities in the
western portion of the county, where there is a waiting list of nearly 200 people who want to learn to read. We
have already begun working with churches in the proposed service community to develop recruitment
partnerships, by which we will recruit our new volunteers from among the churches’ membership. Churches will
also support the training by providing training facilities, necessary audiovisual equipment, etc. Volunteers will
receive 24 hours training and full certification as Literacy Volunteers Reading Tutors and by March 20 will be
matched with adult learners who want to improve their reading skills.
The tutor-learner pairs will work together a minimum of 2 hours per week for six months, with support and
monitoring from Literacy Volunteers staff. On average we expect to see an improvement of two grade levels in
the reading skills, as measured by reading assessments administered at the beginning and end of the six-month
period. The total value of volunteers’ contributed time as reading tutors over the six-month project is $72,000,
which will be leveraged as the trained tutors continue their volunteer service beyond the six-month period.
ABOUT LITERACY VOLUNTEERS OF “OUR” COUNTY:
Over the past 54 years, Literacy Volunteers, a nonprofit volunteer organization, has earned its reputation as the
nation’s leading community-based resource for adults who read at or below the sixth grade level and want to
improve their reading skills. Literacy Volunteers beneficiaries rely on our innovative and diverse approaches to
reading learning to support their own goals for reading improvement and to meet the requirements of their
unique life circumstances and cultural values. The most well-known and still most valued approach is our one-
on-one tutoring, which matches learners with trained volunteer reading tutors; others include community-based
classrooms, computer labs, and at-home individual learning resources. By 2010, the network of Literacy
Volunteers branches had grown to more than 260 nationwide, serving an estimated 110,000 adult reading
learners each year.
SAMPLE MASTER PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT
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Literacy Volunteers of “Our” County joined the Literacy Volunteers network in 1963 as a grassroots effort of a
small group of dedicated library volunteers. From its humble beginnings, LVOC has grown to comprise more
than 1,200 active volunteers who collectively devote some 18,000 hours each year to literacy service. Our
computer learning lab was one of the first of its kind in the nation, serving as a model for other Literacy
Volunteer groups nationwide. In 2009, nearly 150 adults improved their reading skills an average of two grade
levels through LVOC’s services.
Literacy Volunteers of “Our” County receives no government or United Way funding, and is supported solely
through the generosity of local individuals, companies and foundations. LVOC pays no fees or dues to the
national Literacy Volunteers headquarters, so all funds donated to LVOC support students and schools in our
local communities.
THE NEED:
As hard as it may be to believe, at least one out of six adults in the United States today cannot read or write at
the basic sixth-grade level, leaving them vulnerable to problems with parenting, employment, health, safety and
self-esteem.
In 2010, a study conducted by the ABC Institute confirmed that fully X% of all adult Americans over the age of 25
are functionally illiterate – that is, they cannot read or write well enough to perform basic, day-to-day functions
such as reading instructions on medication, reading notes from their children’s teacher, or filling out job
applications. Other studies have shown that, compared with adults who can read at or above the minimum
level, adults who are functionally illiterate:
• Are X times more likely to be unemployed (Delta Institute, 2007);
• Are X times more likely to be involved in accidents in the home and workplace (Reading Matters,
published by the U.S. Department of Labor, 2009);
• Spend X fewer hours per week talking with their children about school or helping with homework (U.S.
Department of Education statistics, 2006); and
• Have children who are X times more likely not to complete their own 8th-grade education (Summit on
Literacy, Literacy Volunteers of America, 2005).
The issue of adult illiteracy cuts across all traditional boundaries of income, social status, ethnicity, national
origin – even employment and education levels. The illiterate adult looks much like you or me. X% of functionally
illiterate adults are parents with children under 18. X% work full-time; X% are unemployed. Studies have shown
that the inability to read and write is an intergenerational issue, too: When a parent is illiterate, the children are
at substantially higher risk for educational failure and illiteracy themselves.
Washington follows the national rate of 1 out of 6 functionally illiterate adults. That means that, in Parker
County alone, more than XX,000 workers, parents, and citizens cannot read or write at the sixth grade level. The
problem is compounded in the rural communities outside the major metropolitan areas, where the rate of adult
illiteracy rises to nearly 1 in 5.
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The 50 adults served by this project will receive the one-on-one tutoring they need in order to increase their
reading at least two grade levels. Their children will benefit, too, as the parents begin to appreciate their own
education and support their children’s academic achievement. And the community will benefit as the new adult
readers have greater opportunities to reach their full potential as productive, contributing members of society.
INTENDED OUTCOMES:
The overarching purpose of this proposal is to provide training for 50 new volunteer tutors, who will then be
matched with adults in the hard-to-serve rural communities who want to learn to read. Specific outcomes we
are targeting through this project are as follows:
1. Partnership and Outreach: By July 20--, LVOC will have firm commitments from at least three churches
in the target community to work with us as recruitment sources for prospective volunteer tutors, as
measured by signed Letters of Agreement secured from the churches’ boards of trustees.
2. Completion of Training: By September 20--, 50 new volunteers will have completed training as reading
tutors and will be ready to be matched with adult learners on our waiting list for services, as measured
by participation records and scores on the reading tutor certifying exam.
3. Learner Retention: At least 75% of the adult learners who are matched with the new reading tutors will
complete the full 6 months of weekly tutoring, as measured by weekly tutor logs and retention records
maintained by Literacy Volunteers administration.
4. Improved Reading Skills: After six months of one-on-one tutoring, 75% of the adult learners served by
this project will have improved their reading and writing abilities by at least two grade levels, as
measured by their scores on the Lumbard Literacy Evaluation Scale administered at the beginning and
the end of the six-month period.
PLAN OF ACTION:
Although the focus of this request for funding is to support the actual on-the-ground training of our 50
prospective new reading tutors, the real impact of this project comes when the new tutors are matched with
their adult-learner partners and begin their work together over the next six months. Our plan of action, then,
addresses not only the logistics of providing the training, but also the support provided by Literacy Volunteers of
“Our” County to the tutor-learner pairs during the initial six months of their partnership.
Literacy Volunteers of “Our” County has extensive experience in training enthusiastic volunteers to be successful
reading tutors, and in providing support to assure our students’ success. Drawing on our success in training and
supporting more than 330 tutor-learner pairs over the past four years alone, our work plan is as follows:
Contract with master trainer. Sally Walton, our Volunteer Training Coordinator, will contract with one of the
three master tutor trainers provided by the regional affiliate to offer the volunteer training. This contract will be
in place no later than May 15, 20--.
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Marketing to recruit potential volunteer tutors. Because we have targeted a community that has traditionally
proved hard to serve, our strategy involves recruiting volunteers from among the community members
themselves. We are eager to partner with local churches as recruitment sites for our volunteer tutors.
• John Robbins, our coordinator of volunteer services, will develop partnership relationships and secure
Letters of Partnership Commitment from three churches in the rural West Valley before the anticipated
funding award date, working with personal referrals of prospective partner churches and a regional
church directory.
• John and Sally will both work closely with the churches to host special presentations or “volunteer fairs,”
post notices and posters, and other methods for engaging the interest and commitment of prospective
volunteers from among the church members.
Training logistics: Materials, location, equipment. For the convenience of the volunteers, the tutor training
sessions will be held at their home churches on three successive Saturdays, from 8:30 am to 5 p.m. each. Our
church partners will be expected to provide a VCR and overhead projector; all other materials will be provided
by LVOC. The local Kiwanis Club has agreed to copy participant workbooks and certification tests, and The Bank
of the West will provide continental breakfasts and box lunches for the volunteer trainees.
Conduct training. Each volunteer will receive a total of 24 hours of training. This includes 4 hours of supervised
“practicum” coaching another participant in reading skills. It also includes a two-hour assessment exam. All
training materials and the assessment exam are from the national Literacy Volunteers headquarters.
Match and track tutor/learner pairs for 6 months. LVOC provides solid ongoing support to our volunteer tutors
as they meet weekly, for about two hours each week, with their matched student learners.
EVALUATION:
There are many measures of “success” in a reading program, including heightened self-esteem, improved job
opportunities, and stronger parenting skills. However, our key measure of success is the degree to which our
learners do in fact improve their ability to read and write. This is rigorously assessed by the Lumbard Literacy
Evaluation Scale; a verified test instrument that measures the grade-level of an individual’s reading skills.
Students will be given the LLES before they begin their tutoring, and again at the end of six months. The result
will be a clear comparison of their baseline reading abilities and the level at which they read after six months of
one-on-one tutoring. These results are reported to the LVOC board of directors on a quarterly basis, and will be
reported to our funders regularly as well. Experience over time has demonstrated that students completing the
six months of 2 hours/weekly tutoring improve their reading skills an average of two full grade levels.
BUDGET:
The overall organizational budget for Literacy Volunteers of “Our” County for FY20-- is $350,000. This does not
include the more than $600,000 in value of services provided by our volunteers.
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The budget for this special tutor training initiative to serve the rural West Valley is $25,210. This is just over $500
for each of 50 volunteers trained, matched and for the full six months, which has proven to be a consistent cost
average over the past five years.
Value of In-Kind Goods and Services:
• The grant budget does not include the value of anticipated in-kind support (donated training site,
audiovisual equipment, additional printing services, refreshments, and additional recognition/team-
building items) with an estimated value of $2,500.
• The total value of the volunteers’ actual services as reading tutors over the six-month tutoring period is
conservatively estimated at $72,000, calculated as follows:
o 50 tutors, at 2 hours/week x 24 weeks, valued at $30/hour (market rate for trained individual
reading tutor) = $72,000.
• The $25,210 grant investment will be further leveraged as many of the 50 new volunteer tutors will
continue their volunteer service beyond the six-month commitment of this grant.
A detailed budget for the project period follows.
PROJECT BUDGET – July 1, 20— through February 28, 20--
ITEM DESCRIPTION/CALCULATION: Grant Request
Salaries & Wages: LVOC staff support (volunteer service coordinator, outreach
coordinator): 100 hours each = 200 hrs at $30/hour (including EREs)
$6,000
Contract labor: Master trainer, $3,000 per three-week training x 3 = $15,000 $9,000
Materials: Purchase of proprietary training materials, 50 sets x $25 each $1,250
Materials: Purchase of tutor-support materials, 50 kits @ $25 each $1,250
Travel: Reimbursement of staff travel est. 1,200 total miles x $0.55 = $660
Travel: R/T airfare and lodging for master trainer, 3 trips @ $500 each $1,500
Travel: Reimburse volunteer tutor mileage to/from training and to/from tutoring
assignments at $0.55/mile: Estimated 100 mi x 50 tutors
$2,750
Office support/incidentals: Covers postage, office supplies, and phone/Internet in
support of project activities. Historic costs= $200/month x 9 months
$1,800
Recognition/Team-building: T-shirts and visors for volunteers – 50 x $20 $1,000
TOTAL GRANT BUDGET: $25,210
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From www.MindMapping.com:
Mind mapping is a highly effective way of getting information in and out of your brain. Mind mapping
is a creative and logical means of note-taking and note-making that literally "maps out" your ideas.
All Mind Maps have some things in common. They have a natural organizational structure that radiates
from the center and use lines, symbols, words, color and images according to simple, brain-friendly
concepts. Mind mapping converts a long list of monotonous information into a colorful, memorable
and highly organized diagram that works in line with your brain's natural way of doing things.
One simple way to understand a Mind Map is by comparing it to a map of a city. The city center
represents the main idea; the main roads leading from the center represent the key thoughts in your
thinking process; the secondary roads or branches represent your secondary thoughts, and so on.
Special images or shapes can represent landmarks of interest or particularly relevant ideas.
The Mind Map is the external mirror of your own radiant or natural thinking facilitated by a powerful
graphic process, which provides the universal key to unlock the dynamic potential of the brain.
The five essential characteristics of Mind Mapping:
• The main idea, subject or focus is crystallized in a central image.
• The main themes radiate from the central image as 'branches'.
• The branches comprise a key image or key word drawn or printed on its associated line.
• Topics of lesser importance are represented as 'twigs' of the relevant branch.
• The branches form a connected nodal structure.
BONUS LESSON.
… And Now, a Few Words About Mind-Mapping …
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2. Who are you as an
organization, and what
are you all about? (What
is your mission or
purpose?)
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3. Describe the specific
need or issue in your
community that this
proposed project will
address.
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4. What specific changes or
outcomes do you intend to
achieve in your community as
a direct result of your
project? What are your
“success indicators”?
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5. What are the major
steps you will need to
take to make these
changes happen?
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6. Who else has a vested
interest in working with
you as partners on this
problem or opportunity?
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7. What information, tools,
data, etc. will you use to
decide whether your
project succeeded?
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8. What resources will you
need to accomplish these
steps? (People, equipment,
materials, training, supplies,
services, etc.)
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1. IN ONE SENTENCE,
summarize your project idea.
What will you do? Where?
With whom? When? And
why?(in order to what?)
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 38 ⁞
10. What broad categories of
community needs or
opportunities does your
project address? (Think in terms
of general labels or frames)
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⁞ THE ULTIMATE GRANT PROPOSAL BLUEPRINT ⁞ ⁞ CHAPTER 1 ⁞ ⁞ PAGE 39 ⁞
LESSON 1-C.
Recommended