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Dear Colleagues,
The GrantProse vision is to provide high quality, personalized services and resources that are reasonably priced and widely accessible. Toward this end, we provide this newsletter free and hope you will forward it to your colleagues. We welcome your suggestions--please email ideas to Rita Lewis, newsletter editor.
In the coming weeks, GrantProse will adopt a new design for its website. Please be patient with us if you encounter problems . . . we are our own webmasters! We will continue to support favorite links such as Grant Alerts and Web Resources in a more user-friendly environment that provides you the latest and best information on grant development resources.
Also, we are in the process of developing webinars to provide training over the Internet. We anticipate hosting our first webinars in the next couple of months. As always, thanks for your appreciation of our work.
Bill CarruthersGrantProse, Inc.
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Bulletin Board
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| April 9, 2009. The Grants Information Network of NC meeting April 9th, 9-11 am, promises to be a very informative meeting. Two individuals will present at the meeting. John Tedesco, with Big Brothers / Big Sisters, will address grants management principles and practices in the post-award environment. You've won the grant; now, how do you administer the grant project with fidelity to the scope and objectives of the project and accountability for expenditure of grant funding!?
Also, speaking at the meeting, Dempsey Benton will address how the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding is entering North Carolina. Described as the "Stimulus Czar" for North Carolina, Dempsey Benton has been appointed by Governor Beverly Perdue to oversee the federal stimulus money coming to the state. For an agenda and directions for the April 9th meeting, visit the Grants Information Network of NC page hosted on the GrantProse website: www.grantproseinc.com/gin.htm
June 15-16, 2009. The Grants Information Network of NC will conduct its popular two-day grant-writing workshop in coordination with Wake Tech Community College. This workshop is designed for the novice to beginning grant writer. Contact Mary Brady for information.
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Tips & Resources
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NC State University is seeking applicants for the position of Grants Coordinator in its Proposal Development Unit. Applicants should have experience preparing federal grant proposals; excellent project management, and oral and written communication skills; and the ability to work in a team-based environment. For more information, visit NCSU's Employment Opportunities website and key in Position Number C-83-0901.
NC OpenBook. On March 30, North Carolina launched NC OpenBook, a government transparency website that provides a database of approximately 2,500 state contracts and 5,000 grants in a searchable format. Created by executive order of Governor Beverly Perdue, NC OpenBook will also feature detailed information about state agency performance measures and planning. In February Perdue also launched NCRecovery.gov, a guide to services of the newly created Office of Economic Recovery & Investment that allows visitors to track federal recovery funds in North Carolina and to learn about local contract and grant opportunities.
The International Center for Leadership in Education works with schools and school districts nationwide to make decisions that focus on providing rigorous and relevant education for all students. The ICLE's Stimulus Funding Resource Center is monitoring the federal government's emergency aid to public education, which affects schools, districts, and states. ICLE daily monitors emerging information on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, continually updating its website's links to education-related stimulus funding.
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Guest Column
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Introducing Michele Oros
GrantProse introduces Michele Oros, who will be contributing articles to our newsletter. Michele has written and managed grant-funded projects for Beaufort County Schools since 2003. She also helps nonprofit and for-profit organizations in her community find and obtain grants, and teaches grant-writing workshops through the state's community college system.
Think Big (but be careful what you wish for)
By Michele Oros
As grant writer for a small, rural school district in eastern North Carolina, I am eager to share my experiences with GrantProse readers to both inspire and instruct, with the aim of maximizing your success and preventing avoidable heartbreak. Like many in this field, I've learned the trade through trial and error, taking risks and jumping in, often way over my head. Still, I plug on, determined to help bring the proposal writing and grant submission process to a successful conclusion. I survive the exhaustion that inevitably follows the submission of a complex proposal, relax, and take pleasure in the excitement of the ensuing months as the project team awaits the announcement of awards. Grant seeking is a high-adrenaline occupation that can advance organizational goals by multiplying available resources. And in places like rural North Carolina, it's not difficult to build a strong case for need in all four domains of risk: individual, family, school and community.
While there are many reasons to seek grant funding, there are also cautions. As the Fairy Grant-Mother says, "Be careful what you wish for..." Little is gained if a grant award threatens the stability of the applicant organization or compromises its ability to deliver core services while managing a new project. Future columns will focus on organizational capacity, critical to seeking and managing grants. We'll explore ways to assess and build capacity, internally and through strategic partnerships. I look forward to sharing ideas with you through the GrantProse newsletter.
Michele Oros may be contacted at 252-414-7000 or micheleoros@embarqmail.com.
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Grant Opportunities
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The Institute of Education Sciences (US Dept. of Education) has released FY2010 Request For Applications (RFAs) for five NCER and three NCSER research and research training grant competitions. The NCER RFAs are: Education Research Grants (84.305A); Postdoctoral Education Research Training Program in the Education Sciences (84.305B); Education Research and Development Center Program (84.305C); Statistical and Research Methodology in Education (84.305D); and Evaluation of State and Local Education Programs and Policies (84.305E). The NCSER RFAs are: Special Education Research Grants (84.324A); Special Education Postdoctoral Research Training Program (84.324B); and Special Education Research and Development Center Program (84.324C). The RFAs are available at http://ies.ed.gov/funding/.
Deadline: 4/20/09
Program: Green Communities Planning and Construction Grants
Agency: Enterprise
Description: Grants to improve the feasibility of integrating green building items throughout affordable housing developments. Enterprise also offers below-market-rate acquisition and development loans and competitively priced tax credit equity.
Award Amount: $20,000 - $75,000
Website: Green Communities
Eligibility: Nonprofits, government agencies
New grant alerts have recently been uploaded to the GrantProse website. To view these and many more opportunities, visit www.GrantProseInc.com.
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Writing (Grant) Prose
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Eliminate Excess Baggage
Is your writing peppered with such phrases as "in order to," "due to the fact that," and "for the purpose of"? If so, it's time to for your writing to go on a diet.
We often Inflate our writing with extra words, hoping it will make us seem more competent and more worthy of funding. We try to fill space, assuming that words are lonely and need superfluous companions to keep them company. This is almost crazy behavior for a grant writer, given the space limitations of most proposals.
Instead of "in order to," try a simple "to." "Due to the fact that" becomes "because," and "for the purpose of" is just "for." Here's another example: "This affects potentially what the outcome may be." Saying "potentially" and "may be" in the same breath is redundant. Try, "This affects the potential outcome," or just,"This might affect the outcome."
Try doing a word count on a paragraph you've written. Now rewrite it, reducing the number of words by 25%. Now rewrite again, and aim for 50% of your original word count. I guarantee you'll discover all sorts of words that can be eliminated and simpler ways to get the point across.
Questions about writing? Email Rita Lewis, newsletter editor, and we'll address your concerns in future issues.
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