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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 continue to add
features to our website to better serve
the grants community.
Our Grant Alerts are now divided into two
parts: opportunities with fixed deadlines, and a new webpage--Foundations--where we list
foundations and other agencies that conduct their grant programs on an
ongoing basis, making awards throughout the year.
If you have news or a point
of view you'd like to share, please email Rita Lewis, newsletter editor--we're always
interested in items that
might benefit our audience.
As always, thank you for your appreciation of our work.
Bill CarruthersGrantProse, Inc.
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Bulletin Board
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November 13, 2009. Conference on Philanthropy of Community, a program of NCGives and the Center for Community Action, at UNC-Wilmington. The conference will offer presentations on an inclusive approach to philanthropy; program materials include tools for assessing, demonstrating and developing the giving of time, talent and treasure in nonprofit organizations and communities, rural and urban alike. Visit the NCGives website for further information.
December 7-8, 2009. The Grants Information Network (GIN) 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. At $65, it's an inexpensive introduction to the essentials of writing
successful grant proposals. Contact Mary Brady at Wake Tech for information.
December 10, 2009. GIN meeting, 9-11 am.
December's meeting is the annual business and networking
meeting. Everyone interested in anything grant-related--management, writing, funding
opportunities--is welcome to attend. Bring something to eat or drink; GrantProse will provide the coffee to fuel our discussions! Visit GIN's webpage
for directions.
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In the Spotlight
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Comments Invited for i3
The U.S. Department of Education is inviting comments on proposed terms of competition for its Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund. The
department has proposed priorities, requirements, definitions and selection
criteria for grants for local educational agencies and nonprofit
organizations to expand innovative educational practices that improve student achievement. Grants from the fund--established under ARRA--will allow
applicants to develop their work to serve as models of best practices. See the Federal Register for
directions on submitting comments, which are due November 9, 2009.
Director Sought The University of Oklahoma is seeking a founding director for its new proposal development center at the Norman campus. The goal of the center, which is still in the creation stage, is to help researchers prepare and submit competitive grant proposals. Visit the university's website for further information; key in job requisition number 08408.
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Guest Column
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The Human Equation By Michele Oros
The bigger the stakes, the
more likely a grantor will require an experimental or quasi-experimental
evaluation design that can compare individuals who receive a
treatment with similar individuals who do not. Experimental designs assign qualified
members of a target population to subgroups that receive different treatments,
including no treatment, to determine the comparative effect of each treatment on
the problem being studied. Quasi-experimental designs may provide the same treatment to all members
of the target population and compare performance of the target group to a
similar group (often called the control or comparison group) that does not
directly participate in project activities.
Experimental designs are
considered the gold standard of project evaluation, with the potential to yield
the most reliable, replicable information. While the assignment of non-human
subjects to experimental and control groups is standard practice, most people
will think long and hard before agreeing to participate in a randomized study
in which they, or their child, may or may not receive the preferred treatment
although they qualify for the intervention. For this reason, experimental
designs are quite difficult to implement in many human service settings, such
as schools.
The control group in a
quasi-experimental design may be largely unaware of its participation if public
data are used for comparison. Although the control group can't prohibit the use
of public information, it may be unpleasantly surprised to find itself in the
spotlight unless its role in the project was understood from the outset.
Be sure to discuss these
challenges with all participating groups before proceeding with a proposal that
requires an experimental or quasi-experimental design, and strongly consider
including a professional evaluator or researcher on your project team. Grant budgets typically allow up to 10%
of an award to be used for project evaluation, a worthwhile investment if the
evaluation includes some type of experimental design.
Michele Oros has written and managed grant-funded projects for Beaufort County Schools since 2003. She also helps organizations in her community find and obtain grants, and teaches grant writing workshops through NC's community college system.
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Tips & Resources
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Federal Resources: The U.S. Department of Labor Searching for federal grant money takes time and patience,
but the government provides tools to help. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) is
an online catalog of federal programs and services that benefit the American
public--state and local governments, nonprofit and for-profit organizations,
institutions and individuals alike. Besides grants, assistance includes loans,
scholarships and other types of aid; each program is assigned a unique
CFDA number. In coming issues, we will review some of the 64 federal agencies
in the catalog; please visit our newsletter archives for past issues.
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) identifies 10 offices in
the CFDA and 42 grant programs. Among the grant programs, 13 are described as
formula grants, and 29 as project grants--typically the competitive grants that
appeal to grantseekers. Grant programs vary from year to year; two grants
awarded in 2009 included YouthBuild grants and grants for worker training and
placement in high growth industries. Both were Recovery grants offered through
the Employment Training Administration (ETA), an office within DOL. Many agency offices have
their own websites with additional resources and information about their grant
programs. ETA's website, for example, posts an excellent guide to its competitive grants process.
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Grant Opportunities
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In addition to the grant opportunities below, be on the lookout for an RFP from the NC Green Business Fund in mid to late November. The fund awards competitive grants to North Carolina organizations with innovative projects to develop and commercialize promising renewable energy and green building technologies.
Deadline: 11/20/09 Program: Biogen Idec Foundation Micro-Grants in Science Education Fund Agency: Triangle Community Foundation Description: Funding to support science education programs and projects that might otherwise go unfunded. The foundation will consider a broad range of projects, as long as they expand and enhance science education at the middle- and high-school levels. Award Amount: $250 to $2,500 Website: Triangle Community Foundation Eligibility: K-12, nonprofits
Deadline: 12/10/09 Program: Summer of Service, Learn and Serve America (CFDA 94.018) Agency: Corporation for National & Community Service Description: Grants to support collaborative efforts implementing community-based service-learning projects during the summer months for middle school students. Award Amount: Unspecified Website: LearnandServe.gov Eligibility: K-12, colleges, nonprofits, government agencies
Deadline: Ongoing Program: Curbside Recycling Rollout Cart Grant Program Agency: NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources Description: Funding to assist local governments with implementing curbside recycling programs using roll-out carts or transitioning existing curbside recycling programs from bins to roll-out carts. Award Amount: $100,000 Contact: Jim Hickman Eligibility: Government agencies
Eighteen new grant alerts have been uploaded to the GrantProse website. To view these and many more opportunities, visit www.GrantProseInc.com.
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