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Dear Colleagues,
Today's grant opportunities are more competitive than ever and, at the same time, organizations have less time to dedicate to developing proposals for them. For this reason, it is important to make wise decisions regarding whether or not to pursue a particular grant. For guidance on this issue, please see our featured article below, entitled "Top 10 Reasons Why NOT to Apply for a Grant."
For further guidance, please see our training schedule facilitated by Wake Technical Community College. If you have not yet been our training class, please see the schedule below for details about how to sign up. If you have been to our training before, please recommend us to your colleagues and/or via our social media profiles (e.g., our LinkedIn or Facebook profiles).
As you may know, the publication of this newsletter signifies that we have updated our Grant Alerts. We hope that you successfully utilize these resources to enhance and expand your development efforts. Further, we hope that you share our newsletter, website, and resources with friends and colleagues whom it may also benefit.
We are providing all of this information because it is our mission 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.
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Training Schedule | |
SUCCESSFUL GRANT WRITING
2012 Calendar
Grant writing training programs are scheduled for the 2012 year. At present, we will offer two types of program:
1) A one-day program for Novice and Beginner (little to no experience with grants), and
2) A two-day program for Intermediate and Advanced (some experience with grants)
Training dates are as follow:
* Novice/Beginner - January 24, 2012 (Course #76903)
* Novice/Beginner - February 21, 2012 (Course #76922)
* Novice/Beginner - March 20, 2012 (Course #76932)
* Intermediate/Advanced - April 24-25, 2012 (Course #76935)
* Intermediate/Advanced - May 22-23, 2012 (Course #77023)
For information and to register, please visit our Training page on our website at http://www.grantproseinc.com/training.html . |
Feature | | |
Top 10 Reasons Why NOT to Apply for a Grant
In today's economic environment, nonprofits are tempted to apply for just about any funding opportunity with the hopes of keeping the organization going until things get better. This may not be a good strategy. Before deciding to pursue a specific grant opportunity, please consider the following 10 reasons why it may not be worth spending precious staff time on it:
1. Mission Fit. Is the grant opportunity compatible with your organization's mission?
2. Eligibility. What are the eligibility restrictions regarding the type of organization, geographic area, and/or other specifications?
3. Funding Adequacy. Is the funding available adequate to achieve the goals of the program? Are there any restrictions on the type of costs covered by the grant, e.g., operating, administration, or indirect? If needed, is funding available for training or travel? How about necessary building renovations and/or equipment?
4. Matching Requirements. If there are any matching requirements, are they realistically attainable?
5. Available Resources. Does your organization have enough qualified staff, or anticipate difficulty securing staff, in the type and number needed to run the program? Does your organization possess the necessary facilities and equipment to run the program, or anticipate difficulty in securing adequate facilities needed to run the program?
6. Scope of Work. Is the scope of work beyond your organizations capacity to handle? Will you be able to conduct the required reporting and/or evaluations?
7. Target Population. Is your organization able to attract the type of client/participants needed for program? Are you in the right geographic location in relationship to client/participant base?
8. Proposal Requirements. Is the RFP or RFA too complex or too time consuming to complete?
9. Competition. Is the number of grants to be awarded too small and/or is the anticipated competition too great?
10. Timeframe. Do you have enough time to adequately create a proposal, given the complexity or need to establish collaborations?
[This article was originally created by Mrs. Judy Hills and is reproduced here, with her permission. Mrs. Hills is the Director of Economic & Community Development for the Eastern Carolina Council (ECC). ECC is a quasi-governmental planning organization serving Carteret, Craven, Duplin, Greene, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow, Pamlico and Wayne Counties.] |
Congratulations! | | |
Congratulations to our client, Saint Augustine's College, for receiving a $400,000 grant from the Mellon Foundation!
Saint Augustine's College has received a three-year, $400,000 grant to conduct a summer bridge program for incoming freshmen. This program will continue to improve the retention and academic success of students by better preparing them to meet the academic and social rigor of college. With the previous support of the Mellon Foundation, the College was able to identify areas of need and resources to match these needs for all students at the College in an effort to improve the overall success of the College with raising student academic achievement, improving year-to-year persistence, and increasing graduation rates. Additionally, through participation in the summer bridge programs, these students are connected to a network of resources, faculty, and peers available at the College to support the student throughout the year. |
DOD SBIR/STTR Training | | |
Want access to federal funding for R&D from the Department of Defense?
The Small Business and Technology Development Center is offering training sessions on how to prepare successful SBIR/STTR grant proposals for the Department of Defense. While we have not attended this training and therefore cannot attest to its quality, we are bringing it to your attention because it is a niche opportunity that you may be interested in. According to their website, this training is for "technology companies in IT, engineering, energy, and educational software, biotech, medical devices, diagnostics, and health IT."
For more information, please see their website at http://www.sbtdc.org/events/dod/index.htm. And, if you do attend, please let us know if you enjoyed it. |
Grants Digest | | |
Employee vs. Contractor
For deciding whether people should be classified as employees or contractors we suggest that you read the most recent IRS publications, starting with:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=187534,00.html
There are several links on the page that contain more information, including both the employer link and the charities and nonprofits link. Tax obligations as a nonprofit may be slightly different, but it depends on the exact tax status (if you're unsure, please check with your agency's tax professionals).
Also, there is a helpful section of Publication 15a devoted to employee vs. contractor relations at:
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p15a.pdf
Further, the IRS has an online tutorial for employers, which explains the employers' obligation for each of the federal taxes. Lesson six addresses the employee vs. contractor taxes, and other parts may be helpful as well. This tutorial starts at the following url and, once it begins, you can click on the lessons you want:
http://www.irsvideos.gov/virtualworkshop/ |
Grant Opportunities
NEW Deadline: 12/05/11
Program: Governors' Institute for Community Design
Agency: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Description: According to the request for proposals, the Agency "seeks to fund one applicant to operate the Governors' Institute for Community Design. The institute will select and work with interested state leadership (governors and their cabinets and staffs) to deliver technical assistance that supports state efforts to implement smart growth and sustainable communities development approaches that protect the environment, improve public health, facilitate job creation and economic opportunity, and improve overall quality of life."
Award Amount: $2,000,000
Website: http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/grants/#rfgpa
Eligibility: local governments, colleges and universities, and nonprofits NEW Deadline: 12/15/11 Program: Rural Senior Housing Capacity Building Grant
Agency: Housing Assistance Council
Description: Funding for organizations to build, preserve, or advocate for housing for low-income older adults living in rural areas.
Award Amount: $50,000 (one to three years, cap of $20,000 per year)
Website: http://www.ruralhome.org/
Eligibility: nonprofits | | |
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 Alertswebpage and join us on Facebook. |
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