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Grant Writing EAL 6610 A Procedural Approach

Grant Writing EAL 6610 A Procedural Approach

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  • 1. Grant Writing EAL 6610 A Procedural Approach
  • 2.
    • 5 Elements of a Successful Plan
      • Describes all of the oversight activities
      • Include planning; implementation, oversight, and follow-up activities
      • Present activities chronologically, usually monthly
      • Allow enough time to complete activities
      • Strengthened by a detailed Time-Line
    Step Eight: The Management Plan Do You Really Know What Youre Doing?
  • 3.
    • Present specific details
    • Target tasks chronologically
    • Essentially cover a 12 month period
    • Coincide with the RFP fiscal year
    • Include administrative and program activities
    they inform when activities should take place Time Lines
  • 4. Time Lines Reflect All Aspects of Program Management
    • Service delivery
    • Monitoring progress
    • Ongoing evaluation
    • Reporting to local authorities and grant source
  • 5.
    • Program Activities drive the budget
      • There are no surprises in the budget for the reader who is familiar with the program.
    • Cost estimates should be credible and realistic
      • Inflated budgets lose points
    • Never use the term miscellaneous.
    Step Nine: Building the Budget Budget Recommendations
  • 6. What are the factors that influence budgets?
    • Programs and services
    • Spending history
    • Agency needs
    • Consumer needs
    • Staff needs
    • Agency partner needs
  • 7. Budget Categories
    • Direct Costs
      • Monies you are asking for from the funding source
    • In-kind or Local Contributions
      • Services, goods, and cash donated to the grant program
    • Indirect Costs
      • Local costs (usually administrative) associated with the operation of the program
        • Actual payroll expenses for program employees
  • 8. Direct Costs + Indirect Costs + In-Kind Contributions = Real Cost of Operating the program
    • Personnel
    • Fringe Benefits
    • Travel
    • Equipment
    • Supplies
    • Contractual
    • Facilities
    • Curriculum
    Direct Costs Include:
  • 9. Personnel: Developing Salaries
    • Contact your personnel office
    • Check with other, similar programs
    • Determine range of salaries and allocate the median range
    • Offer higher salaries, grant jobs are soft money, short term
    • Use salaries as a ladder for existing employees
    • If none of the above work, guess
  • 10. Calculating Salaries Budget 10/01/05-09/30/06 Personnel Year 1 Year 2 (See Appendix C for detailed job descriptions) 1. Project Director: $35,000 annual salary with start date of 11/15/05 $30,618 $36,400
    • Year 1 Calculation: $35,000 /12 = $2,916 per month
    • 10.5 months x $2,916 = $ 30,618
    • Year 2 Calculation: 35,000 + 4% cost of living = $36,400
  • 11. Fringe Benefits
    • Fringe benefits are those taxes and other benefits the employer pays
      • Primarily based upon gross salary
      • Range from 21% to 25%
    • Estimate 4% more than the current rate
    • List them as Standard Government Fringe Benefits Package As Required By Law
      • Some reviewers dont know what they are and can be distrustful of them
    • Required
      • FICA (Social Security and Medicare) = 7.65%
      • FUTA (Federal Unemployment Taxes) = 0.8% of first $7,000
      • SUI (State Unemployment Tax) = 0.6% of first $7,000
      • Workers Compensation = $300-$1000 group policy
  • 12. Travel
    • This is an area that receives a lot of scrutiny.
    • Why?
      • Travel is viewed as a luxury
      • Agencies typically cut travel when funds are tight
    • What can be done to ensure that travel gets funded?
      • Provide detailed formulas and documentation for why you must travel and how you calculated line items
      • Break travel into different categories
      • Avoid rounding numbers (e.g. $2,000)
        • If it costs $1,850 then put that figure on the line
      • Use realistic but conservative numbers
  • 13. Equipment
    • Funding sources are usually suspicious of equipment purchases
      • Computers are one such area drawing concern
      • Some funding sources will not purchase computers but allow you to lease them.
    • Grant writers must document the need for the equipment before budget reviewers will approve
    • Provide specifications on the equipment (see the computer lines from the budget you were given)
    • Never state brand names, use compatible this allows you to search a wider range of equipment. If you use IBM or Gateway, you are limited to those brands.
  • 14. Supplies
    • Most federal agencies define supplies as any purchase under $5,000
    • Read the RFP carefully to determine how the funder defines supplies
    • How does the state government define supplies
  • 15. Contracted Services
    • Contractual work is any service that requires a contract, written agreement or verbal agreement to implement.
      • The agency has no control over how the product is developed, but it does approve the end product
      • The agency may or may not be able to dictate when the contractor works. (Depends on the contractor)
      • The agency does not provide office space for the contractor
      • No fringe benefits are paid for the contractor
    • Contractual work is best defined as a service or a product
  • 16. Other
    • What if it doesnt fit into the first 6 categories?
    • Other is a catch-all category
      • Postage
      • Advertising
      • Printing
      • Video Services
      • Subscriptions
  • 17. In-Kind Contributions
    • These donations prove the community cares
    • Required in Matching grant applications
    • Essentially called donations
    • The value of them is based on their street value
      • What would a person pay or be paid for the service on the street?
    • They do impress the reviewer
    • Examples
      • Percentage of a staff persons time
      • Volunteers
      • Use of a building and utilities
      • Janitorial supplies
      • Use of existing telephone lines
      • Contributions of desks and chairs
      • Donation of books
      • Accounting, bookkeeping; and payroll services
  • 18. In-direct Costs
    • Remember that these are the costs associated with the operation of the grant
      • Typically they are administrative in nature
    • The RFP will specifically state the maximum allowable percentage of the funding that can be spent on In-direct costs.
    • Some applications will require a line-item for each In-direct cost others will allow a percentage
  • 19. Budget Appearance
    • Start the budget on a new page if possible
    • Use columns that are aligned (insert a table)
    • Name categories when listing items
      • Ex. Educational supplies
    • Designate main categories with a Roman numeral, all caps, and bold
      • Ex. I. PERSONNEL
    • Fully justify text and right-justify dollar figures
    • Subcategories should be titled and include descriptive text and appropriate formulas
    • Budget detail should allow the budget to stand alone
      • Even if the reviewer did not fully understand the program narrative, they should get a good idea of what you are trying to do by looking at the budget.
      • By standing alone, we mean that it is self-explanatory