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Dear Colleagues,
Want to learn how find, write and manage grants? GrantProse, Inc. conducts a series of high quality grant writing workshops for a reasonable cost. Sign up for our grant writing training today.
In partnership with the Wake Tech Business & Industry Center, we are offering a series of one-day workshops for novice grant writers and a two-day workshop for intermediate and advanced grant writers. Check out "In the Spotlight" below, or our training webpage, for a detailed description of this dynamic series.
The GrantProse mission is to assist institutions, agencies and organizations expand fiscal resources and program operations, helping clients locate and secure grant funds matched to their interests and needs. Thank you for being a part of this mission with us, and for helping us disseminate information about our Grant Alerts, consultation services and training workshops.
We are encouraged by your active engagement with us through social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. We also hope you mark our website as a favorite on your computer, and return often to learn what's new in the grants world.
As always, thank you for your appreciation of our work!
Bill Carruthers
GrantProse, Inc. |
 | In the Spotlight | |
Workshop Series on Successful Grant Writing
The presenter, Dr. Carruthers, and GrantProse associates will instruct a "systemic" approach to writing grants--an approach that can be used time and again with small and large grants from funding sources as varied as federal, state, local, foundation, corporation, professional associations and other sources. Central to Dr. Carruthers' system is the logic model. Dr. Carruthers will show how a well organized logic model provides the foundation to all major elements of a grant proposal. And, if you've ever struggled with writing a goal statement or those pesky SMART objectives, he will show you an easy way to tackle these elements.
Previous attendees have consistently rated this program with high marks; we're proud of the feedback that we've been getting. Compliments about the program include:
"It is better than any other grant writing I have taken...even better than Duke." . . . "Thank you for an excellent training session. The goals, objectives and performance measures portion was invaluable to me." . . . "Way cheaper for better information."
Visit the GrantProse website for information on how to register. |
| Training Calendar | |
January 20, 2011 Novice Grant Writing Workshop
Are you new to grants...? GrantProse, Inc. will conduct a series of full-day novice grant writing workshops for $110 on the dates listed here. Visit the GrantProse website for information on how to register.
February 23, 2011 Novice Grant Writing Workshop
March 28, 2011 Novice Grant Writing Workshop
April 26, 2011 Novice Grant Writing Workshop
May 4-5, 2011 Intermediate/Advanced Grant Writing Workshop
Are you experienced with grants and want to advance your skills...? GrantProse, Inc. will conduct an intermediate, two-day grant writing workshop for $235. Visit the GrantProse website for information on how to register. |
| Have You Ever Wondered . . . ? | |
How to write with more clarity and precision?
Writing with clarity and precision will strengthen your proposal's chance of being funded. This is a matter of style so there are few concrete rules. By clarity, at GrantProse we mean writing in plain language. By precision, we mean well organized text.
In the broad sense, make no assumptions about the knowledge of your readers. Remember that your proposal must describe the organization, its program and the issue it addresses to people who may have no prior knowledge of all three. Avoid using esoteric language (e.g. jargon, Latin and French terms), uncommon words and too many acronyms. Reviewers read many proposals so, unless you are applying to the National Science Foundation, write so that your neighbor could understand the proposal and less like a dissertation. Even with agencies such as the National Science Foundation, write so that the person who is unfamiliar with your field of study can understand your proposal. No matter the funder, ensure that your proposal is written with clarity from beginning to end.
Before starting the narrative, create an outline and use it to guide your progress. If the funder provides instructions (e.g. in the RFP or NOFA), organize your outline to match their order. This organization will promote precision by safeguarding the narrative from veering off topic.
For us, precision also means maintaining a distinction among your terms and concepts...a goal is one thing, an objective is something else, and an outcome is another thing. Reserve your terms for narrow purposes. If you use a term like "at risk", be precise in how and when you use such a term; avoid overusing the term and risk confusing the reader. Another term that we often see abused is "need". It is easy to indicate there are numerous needs in your population; however, do you show in your proposal how you will address each need?
Once you have started to build narrative around an outline that is aligned with the RFP and you have defined your terms and concepts carefully, then another level of precision to address is what terms you will capitalize, when you will use commas, how you will use bulleting, whether you will call your proposal a project or a program, and so forth. While writing guides will differ on these issues, if you are consistent in your style then this too improves precision. As you develop narrative, create a style guide so that you can record each decision that you make about these issues; the style guide is especially useful if there are two or more people contributing to the text.
And, let us not forget to mention the paragraph! Most people know the rules for writing a paragraph, but few follow them. What is the function of the first sentence, the middle sentences, the ending sentence? We like to emphasize, "Tell them what you're going to tell them; Tell them; and Tell them what you told them." This mantra applies to the entire narrative as well as the individual paragraph. How you construct your paragraphs and serially order your paragraphs is also a matter of being precise. Organize your narrative in an orderly fashion with one paragraph leading to the next.
At best, the reader may be annoyed by narrative that is not clear and precise. At worst, they may be confused and misunderstand your proposal.
For more about clarity and precision, see William Strunk's The Elements of Style. |
| Program Research and Evaluation
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Need an independent evaluator?
Compass Evaluation & Research, Inc., is a woman-owned and -operated firm offering an array of program evaluation and research services. Compass may be reached at 919-544-9004 or info@compasseval.com.
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| Client Events | |
Save the Date! April 28th, 2011
GrantProse is pleased to promote our clients' events. The City of Raleigh's Project LIFT is hosting its second, all-day, capacity building conference for area nonprofits on April 28, 2011 at the McKimmon Center in Raleigh. The conference will feature 12 workshops on topics such as grant writing, board development and legal issues for nonprofit organizations. Early registration for this conference costs $35 and will begin on February 1, 2011.
For more information please email Barbara.muffoletto@raleighnc.gov
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| Grant Opportunities
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Once again, per a request from our friend Dave "down east", we are investing more energy in finding and highlighting resources for muncipal governements, and the following grant alerts are highlighted because they both include "local governments" in the Eligibility section. These are for you, Dave!
NEW
Deadline: 02/04/11
Program: Conservation Innovation Grant
Agency: North CarolinaNatural Resources Conservation Service
Description: Funding is intended to provide support for mature, market-ready techniques, products and market-based approaches that directly improve the condition of natural resources on farms and non-industrial forests.
Award Amount: $75,000
Website: http://www.nc.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/
Eligibility: local governments, colleges and universities, nonprofits, and individuals
NEW
Deadline: 02/23/11
Program: Grants to Encourage Arrest Policies and Enforcement of Protection Orders Program
Agency: U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women
Description: To encourage state, local, and tribal governments and state, local, and tribal courts to treat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking as serious violations of criminal law requiring coordination with nonprofit, nongovernmental victim advocates and representatives from the criminal justice system. This program challenges the whole community to communicate, identify problems, and share ideas that will result in new responses and the application of best practices to enhance victim safety and offender accountability.
Award Amount: Awards will be given based on service area population:
$400,000 for population less than 500,000
$750,000 for populations 500,001 to 900,000
$1 million for population over 900,000
Website:http://www.ovw.usdoj.gov/arrest_grant_desc.htm
Eligibility: local governments that enter into collaborative working relationships with a nonprofit, nongovernmental sexual assault and/or domestic violence program in the community to be served
Looking for something specific? Email us a description (25 words or less) about the grant funding you are seeking, and we'll keep an eye out for suitable grants as we build our Grant Alerts. We post new Alerts twice a month. To view the latest listings, and many more opportunities, visit our Grant Alerts webpage and join us on Facebook.
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