Today’s Plan:
- Refreshing the ARC Projects
- Homework
Refreshing the ARC Projects
I met with Amelia and Larry over the break. Today, we are still caught in something of a holding pattern as I am waiting for two things from Amelia–a jump drive containing images that we can use in any flyers, tweets, or promotional materials and a detailed annual calendar of events. I should have both of those things soon. Grant writing folks–I do have the 501(c)3 identification number; I’ll email that out to the group.
Let me write brief updates for each group.
Grant Writing: We have the 501(c)3. I want the preliminary grant writing grid to be completed by the start of Wednesday’s class. Include a link to the grid in today’s memo and let me know how is finished and who has work to complete by Wednesday. Once the grid is complete, I see three or four tasks for this group.
- First, I’d like you to develop a better sense of the kinds of proposal Amelia writes. I’d like everyone in the team to read and evaluate the 4 completed grant applications Amelia has provided us. Use Lesson 6 of the Grant Writing Book (“Writing Proposal with Style: 12 Basic Rules”) to develop your evaluation. This evaluation should produce some kind of report; perhaps a recommendation report to Amelia? Or a memo to me detailing the assets? Both? I don’t know exactly what the evaluative criteria in the Grant Writing book will say about Amelia’s writing. But I do know that I would like all of you to examine every grant, have some way of collaborating your findings, and then report them to me/Amelia
- Second, we need to go through our initial list of 28 grants and figure out which ones are strong potential candidates for ARC. You’ve started this work with the grid. Now that we have the 501(c)3, we can take a closer look at those applications
- Third, once we identify candidates, we need to complete as much of the grant application as we can. We can create a Google Doc for each application. Go through the application, and copy/paste the different sections into a Google Doc. Go through Amelia’s completed grants and use her copy as needed
- The possible fourth step will be determined based on whether those first 28 grants provide us with suitable candidates. If we adjust our search criteria, we get a list of 80 grants. There might be a diamond in the rough there. We’ll see
Promotions Group: I think y’all are in the biggest holding pattern right now, since we are waiting on both the calendar and the images. But I do think we can get a sense of what can be accomplished. Try to brainstorm a calendar from what we know (Colorado Gives Day, Families in Action, Movie thing).
Organizational History Group: Where are we on getting call backs on interviews? Do we have any scheduled? Amelia said Margaret Brown is waiting for a call, so let’s double-check that we are calling the right number. Also, let’s confirm who is/n’t available for the Cathy Orosz interview on Friday, March 22nd.
I’d like your memo to include a list of potential interview questions. Writing good interview questions can be trickier than you think. You want them to be open-ended enough to give the interviewee a sense of freedom in their answers. But you also want to have some specific questions to ask–events, people, etc. in case the interview stalls.
Today I would like each group to write me a memo. The memo should have a few sections. First, pin down what tasks need to be performed and who will be responsible for each task. Let me know if you have subteams. I also need to know when these tasks will be completed. I’ve got some information down below for you to incorporate into this section. I’ll respond to the memos before Wednesday’s class, in which I’ll have each team produce a gantt chart to help me keep track of progress and deliverables. Finally, remind me if you need something from Amelia (promotions group: I know you need the calendar and images).
Homework
This will vary by group. Some of you have things to do by Wednesday.
