CYS Fiscal Management Training Writing Competitive Grant Proposals

CYS Fiscal Management Training Writing Competitive Grant Proposals

Writing Competitive

Grant Proposals

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CYS Fiscal Management Training Writing Competitive Grant Proposals

OVERVIEW

Public and Private Grants

CYS Fiscal Management TrainingWriting Competitive Grant Proposals

Federal Grants: Use of Funds (Non-Profits)

• OMB Circular A-110 (Uniform Admin Req.)http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a110/a110.html

• Cost Principles for Non-Profit Organizations http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a122/a122_2004.html

• Audits of States, Local Gov, and Non-Profit Orgs http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/circulars/a133/a133.html


Federal Grants: Rule Against Supplanting

Federal funds must be used to supplement existing funds for program activities and must not replace those funds that have been appropriated for the same purpose.


Federal Grants: Miscellaneous Considerations

• Life of Funds (3 – 4 years after appropriation)

• May Involve MBE/WBE, EEOP, Environmental Requirements

• Federal Approval of Indirect Cost Rate

• Typically Involves Both Fiscal and Programmatic Reporting

• May Involve Intensive Audits (GAO)


Foundation Types:

• Independent

• Corporate

• Family

• Operating


Public Charities:

• Community Foundations

• Corporate Giving Programs

• Churches

• Medical Research (Hospitals, Universities)


Private Application Process:

• See individual guidelines

• On-line eligibility test

• Letter of Inquiry (2-3 pages)

• Invitation from foundation to apply

• Electronic submission


PROPOSAL OVERVIEW


Statement of the Problem

Need for Assistance


• “Clearly identify the physical, economic, social, financial, and/or other problems requiring a solution.”

• Use demographics and statistics to support your identification of the problem. These should be as recent and as local as possible.

• Use scholarly/ policy research to support both the identification of the problem/ how your program will meet the need.


• Draw a logical connection between your organization and the problem to be solved.

• Outline your agency’s history: working within the community working with the targeted populationworking with similar programs


• Indicate how proposed project

will build on past work

what past work has been

what needs remain to be addressed

• Argue how proposed project will address need and why likely to succeed


Argument Strategies

•Use examples

•Use risk indicators,draw comparisons

•Use academic and policy center papers to support your identification of the problem, your

program design, your likely results

•Use tables, charts, and maps


GOALS and OBJECTIVES


Goal: General statement of what you hope to accomplish in addressing the identified need

Two Basic Components:

• Who will be affected

• What will change as a result of the program


Objective: The resulting change

SMART …

SpecificMeasurable

AttainableRealistic

Time-Bound


Goals

Poor: Child care staff will be more informed about early childhood development issues

Better: Child care staff will be able to recognize and report signs of early childhood developmental delays

Best: Child care staff will be trained in basic principles of early childhood development to enable them to

recognize and report suspected cases of developmental delays to special needs staff


Objectives

Our agency will partner with the University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration to design a 3-day training program specifically tailored for child care staff and focused on recognizing signs of early childhood developmental delays

Over the one-year project period, 50% of all child care staff will receive basic training in the recognition of developmental delays among pre-school children as well as training on the protocol for reporting suspected cases to special needs staff

During the first six months of the program, identified cases of developmental delays will increase by 10%


Goals

and

Objectives

Outcomes

and

Impacts


PROGRAM STRATEGY

ACTION PLAN: A set of activities that help to determine the methods and resources needed to reach goals


EVERY ACTION GOAL/OBJ

EVERY ACTION BUDGET

EVERY ACTION STAFF

EVERY ACTION MISSION


EVALUATION PLAN


Measuring Program Performance:

• Measure your accomplishments (outcomes) toward meeting your objectives.

• Identify and plan for gathering data pertinent to each objective.

• Data findings may inform/alter program strategies.

• Documentation of outcomes may build case for additional funding.


How Do You Measure Performance?

OUTCOMES

• Indicators of performance

• Program inputs and resources


Performance Measures

Goal: To deter youth from gang related activity and gun violence.

Objective: Staff will provide youth intervention services that will offer safe places for youth interaction and support adult supervised activities.

Performance Measures• Duration of services• Frequency of services• Youth participation• Youth arrest rates


BUDGET OVERVIEW


First Things First… Consider the Following:

• The Long Haul (It is safer not to anticipate that the income from the grant will be the sole source of support for your program)

• Use and Restrictions (Are all budgeted items allowable? Are matching funds required?)

• The True Cost (implementation, administration, phase-down – your local resources)

• Accounting Systems (fiscal reporting, audit trails)


Other Considerations…

• Inflationary Costs (salaries, rent, utilities, insurance)

• Consistency with Proposal Narrative

• Consistency with Past Practice and Organizational Parameters

• Consistency with the Field

• Not Currently Funded


Passing the Snicker Test

• Obvious Placeholders

• Calculations

• High Overhead Costs / Low Program Costs

• Suggests Dependency on Continued Funding

• Errors and Inconsistencies


Sample Budget(Note: Use the budget categories and forms provided by the funder)

Budget Line Description Cost

Personnel Administrative Assistant @ 1,750 monthly X 7 months X 2 positions

$24,500

Equipment 2 Computer Workstations @ $1,450 and 2 Printers @ $650

$4,200

Supplies 6 Printer Cartridges @ $95 and miscellaneous office supplies @ $350

$920

Travel Client Transportation (200 miles weekly X 28 weeks X .43 per mile)

$2,408

Total Costs $32,028


WRITING TIPS


DON’TS

• Avoid adjectives• Avoid adverbs• Avoid clichés• Avoid jargon


DOs• Keep the audience in mind

• Use spell check and grammar check• Use simple constructions

• Use topic sentences• Use examples• Use citations

• SHOW DON’T TELL


Citation Guidelines

APA Style (American Psychological Association)

Footnote (at the end of the sentence, outside the period):

Author Last Name, Author First Initial. (Date of Publication). Title of Publication. Place of Publication: Publisher.

Frey, W. (2005). Diversity Spreads Out: Metropolitan Shifts in Hispanic, Asian and Black Populations Since 2000. Washington DC: Brookings Institution, Metropolitan Policy Program.


• Reader should be able to use citation to find source;

• Be consistent;• Italics for free-standing publication title,

quotations for piece of larger whole.• Use “Ibid.”


BREAKOUT SESSION





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CYS Fiscal Management Training Writing Competitive Grant Proposals