Today’s Plan:
- Parts of a Grant
- General Strategies
- Grant Research / Tools
- Revising a Grant Application for Concision and Readability
Parts of a Grant
Let’s take a look at the Community Resource Center’s Common Grant Application. While there:
- User’s Guide
- Tips
- Length of a Narrative: 4 pages, single-spaced
Grant writing 101: A Few Introductory Tips
- Invention/Organization: Always be sure to read an RFP / application form extremely carefully and provide exactly [only] what the app / prompt is asking for
- Invention/Diction: Always scan an organizations website and promotional materials for language and terms
- Research: It is easier to find funds for “new” projects than for “general operating costs”
- Style: Your prose must be concise, yet detailed and engaging. Every word or sentence has to count (because)
- Organization/Style: Your reader is under no obligation to read your entire proposal. They will likely skim. We have to do everything we can to make the most important part of our application the most prominent and accessible
Grant Writing Research Tools/Process:
- UNCo Library: CRC Database (I’ve got the username and the password)
- Denver Library, Foundation Directory Online (tutorial video if needed; let’s watch the first 3 minutes in class). Let’s talk about the 24 hour day pass.
- CRC Grant Writing User’s Guide, a handy step-by-step guide to the sections in the CCGA
- The CCGA itself
- We start a funding research project with a spreadsheet of targets we identify from the CRC search engine and general Google searches.
- We then use the Foundation Directory to do further research, taking screenshots and archiving them in a Google Slides
- Here’s a professional example of what I am training you to do.
Homework
Revise the program section of our sample grant.
Find and take a photo of an “ugly” or “ineffective” flyer.
Also, here’s the calendar for the next few weeks:
- Tuesday, Week 7: Grant Writing Crash Course. Homework: Revising the Project section of a grant application.
- Thursday, Week 7: Design Crash Course. Homework: Redesigning a bad flyer. Read Fadde and Sullivan.
- Tuesday, Week 8: Discuss Fadde and Sullivan. Designing Information crash course.
- Thursday, Week 8: Social Media Crash Course. Homework: Designing social media materials. Work on Major Project. Begin drafting Presentation script.
- Tuesday, Week 9: Designing Professional Presentations crash course. Homework: Complete Team Presentations.
- Thursday, Week 9: Team Presentations [October 20th]
