Wellesley Urban Health

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Wellesley Urban Health Capacity Building Workshop
Series CAP 103 Write a Winning Grant
Proposal !
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Learning Outcomes

• Upon completion of this program you will be able
  to
• Distinguish between a project, operating or
  capital grant
• Use funders' guidelines as a map to a successful
  application
• Identify what funders are looking for and how
  they measure success
• Understand the politics of grantmaking, what the
  guidelines don't tell you
• List the factors to consider when working with a
  proposal writing consultant
• Determine who needs to provide input, feedback,
  and approval for your proposal
• Decide whether to go it alone or plan in
  partnership with other agencies
• Describe the importance of avoiding "mission
  drift"
• Create a proposal outline
• Create a proposal summary statement

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Agenda

• Welcome / Intro
• Types of Funding
• The Grant Proposal Upfront Considerations
  Sample Assessment Criteria
• Exercise 1 Thinking Like a Funder Proposal
  Evaluation
• What the Guidelines Dont Tell You
• To partner or not to partner
• Avoiding Mission Drift
• Getting Started Creating a Working Outline
• Writing an Effective Proposal Summary
• Exercise 2 Practicing Enhancing your Own
  Proposal Summary
• Additional Sources of Funding / Resource
  Information
• Wrap Up / Close

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Types of Grant Funding

• Project Grant
• A one time initiative with a defined timeframe
• May have several deliverables
• Operating Grant
• Support of an ongoing program
• Support for administrative costs
• Capital Grant
• Renovation and construction
• Equipment purchases

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Thinking Like a Funder -- Evaluation Criteria

• Goals Outcomes
• Community Base Involvement
• Collaboration / Partnering
• Value / Benefit / Impact to the Community
• Organizational Background
• Implementation Plan Schedule
• Financial Considerations
• Reporting Evaluation
• Risks
• Situations that May Require Additional Explanation

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Goals Outcomes

• Clear and specific ?
• Is the type of funding sought defined ?
• Is there alignment of Goals Outcomes with
• Agencys mission
• The funders granting objectives
• Are goals SMART?
• Is there mission drift associated with
  funding request?

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Practice 1 -Thinking Like a Funder

• Turn to Page 10 in Participant Workbook 1.
• Working in groups complete Exercise 1 Goal
  Objective

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Community Base Involvement

• Is the target population clearly defined?
• What is the scope of community involvement?
• Design, planning, implementation, etc
• Roles responsibilities
• How is the project structured?
• Top down / agency driven
• Community / consumer led
• Is there outreach to isolated groups?
• What, if any, is the role of business, local
  govt, service providers?

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Collaboration / Partnering

• Are partners needed?
• Who are the partners? Fit?
• Shared Vision?
• Equal Investment? How?
• History of collaboration? With whom? Outcome?
• Reputation?
• What do they bring to the project?
• What grants are they applying for?
• Are logical partnerships considered? Why? Why
  not?

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Value / Benefit / Impact to the Community

• Is the proposed project
• Needed?
• Proactive or reactive?
• New or a continuation of another project?
• Well researched?
• A real benefit to the community?
• A model for similar initiatives?
• Is the proposal written in a way to gain
  attention in a positive way?

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Organizational Background (Structure, History,
Reputation)

• Does proposal demonstrate organizational
  alignment?
• Board skills, leadership, policies and
  activities
• How confident are we in the organizations
  ability to implement the project if funded
  explained?
• (skills, resources, time, experience)
• Has we funded this agency in the past ..
• What were the outcomes, and achievements related
  to timely reporting, achieving deadlines and
  budget?
• What is community perception of the agency?
• Does agency support diversity through its
  programs?

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Implementation Plan Schedule

• 1. Does project plan include details related
  to
• Project scope
• Key milestones
• Activities timelines for completion
• Resources (appropriate , roles defined, etc)
• Reporting Plan
• 2. Is there clear alignment b/w goals,
  outcomes, activities, resources and budget?

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Practice -Thinking Like a Funder

• Turn to Page 11 12 in Participant Workbook 1.
• Working in groups complete Exercise 2 Schedule
  and Exercise 3 Resource Plan

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Financial Considerations

• Agencys financial viability history
• Does the agency have financial capacity
  accountability systems to make good use of funds?
• Are financial statements prepared regularly?
• Are financial statements regularly reviewed by
  the board or subcommittee?

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Financial Considerations Contd

• Is budget realistic to cover activities / costs?
• Is the budget
• detailed, realistic, accurate, complete,
  thorough
• Are other funding sources confirmed?
• What line items is the funder being asked to
  fund? Are there other funders?
• Can the project succeed with this funding?
• Can any budget items be replaced by community
  contributions?

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Reporting Evaluation

• What criteria will be used to measure success?
• Quantitative qualitative measurements?
• Is there an evaluation plan?
• Who is involved in the evaluation?
• When will evaluation occur?
• Is there a plan for sharing learning with others?
• Is it clear how the funder and agency will know
  if the project is successful?

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Practice -Thinking Like a Funder

• Turn to Page 13 in Participant Workbook 1.
• Working in groups complete Exercise 4 - Evaluation

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Risks

• What are the risks of funding this proposal?
  Risks to
• Organization /agency
• Community
• Funder
• Who will be happy / unhappy if this proposal IS
  funded by this funder?
• What headlines will be generated?
• What are the risks of not funding this proposal?
• Who will be happy / unhappy if this proposal is
  not funded by this funder?
• What headlines will be generated?

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Red Flags

• Significant budget surplus or deficit in a given
  year
• Significant accumulated surplus or deficit
• Financial statements with unusual circumstances
• Loans, unpaid salaries, large amounts of short
  term debit, overdue invoices, etc.
• Large variations in revenues/ expenses
• Narrow funding base for the organization
• Size of grant request compared to agencys annual
  budget

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Tips Best Practices

• Respond to questions in a clear, concise and
  comprehensive manner
• Be specific
• Use statistics effectively
• Present information in an easy to read format
  (table, matrix, chart, graph)
• Show commitment
• Write in an active vs passive voice
• Check spelling grammar
• Define acronyms and terms
• Ensure statements can be substantiated
• Provide evidence
• Avoid words like, could or should
• Showing support and matching funds from the
  community makes a stronger case
• Follow guidelines with respect to font size, of
  pages, type style
• Organize the proposal in the same sequence
  requested/outlined by the funder
• Use the same language and terms as the funder
• Read criteria carefully ensure answers address
  the questions that are asked
• Ensure the final proposal reads as if it were
  written by one person

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Practice

• Working in your groups respond to the criteria
  outlined below for the same proposal we have been
  working on throughout the class.
• Criteria Describe the materials that will be
  produced during the development
  phase of the project (worth 15
  points).

Time 20 minutes
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Getting Started Creating a Working Outline

• Key Concepts to Remember
• The key to a great proposal is the effort that
  goes into the thinking and planning stages.
• A thoroughly planned project has a higher
  success rate than one poorly conceived.
• Grant reviewers read many proposals and develop
  the ability to easily see through a well-written
  but poorly planned proposal.

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Getting Started Creating a Working Outline

• Purpose
• Helps with planning organizing information
• Forms the foundation to engage consultants,
  approach potential partners or pose questions to
  funders
• Value of a Working Outline
• Delegate sections to others to research and draft
  content
• Note The final proposal should appear to be
  written by a single author

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Working Outline Best Practice

• The person with overall responsibility for the
  proposal must
• have a thorough understanding of the entire
  proposal
• be able to speak knowledgeably about every aspect
  and item in the document
• If you engage a consultant to write the proposal
  they will require the information that follows to
  prepare the proposal in a thoughtful and
  comprehensive manner.

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The Working Outline

• The outline should include the following
  items
• Organizational background / Overview
• Proposal / Executive Summary
• Project Description
• How the project will be implemented (activities /
  tasks / timelines)
• Reporting (qualitative and quantitative measures)
• Other Sources of Funding (if applicable)
• Budget Major line items and costs
• Current Financial Situation
• Concluding summary
• Note Each funder may have slightly different
  requirements. Check before you start.

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Creating the Proposal / Executive Summary

• If available, use the format defined by the
  funder
• Include all essential information identified by
  the funder
• Make it clear, concise, comprehensive and easy to
  understand

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Creating the Proposal / Executive Summary

• Answer the questions
• How much, by when, what, how, for whom and
  results to be achieved

? timeframe action verb activities for
whom results / outcomes
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Elements of the Proposal Summary
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Elements of the Proposal Summary
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Examples of Summary Statements

• 43,000 over 2 years toward creating new
  playgrounds to improve fitness levels of
  preschool aged children in Ajax
• 78,000 over 8 months to repair and renovate the
  Markham Community Centre to improve accessibility
  and safety of this highly used neighbourhood
  facility

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Exercise 5 Creating / Enhancing your Own
Proposal Summary

• Using the materials in your workbook as a guide,
  create / enhance your own proposal summary.

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EXERCISE Create your own Summary Statements

• Using the elements of a proposal summary, create
  a summary statement for a grant you are applying
  for
• Be prepared to share with the group

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Learning Outcomes

• Having completed this program you should now be
  able to
• Distinguish between a project, operating or
  capital grant
• Use funders' guidelines as a map to a successful
  application
• Identify what funders are looking for and how
  they measure success
• Understand the politics of grantmaking, what the
  guidelines don't tell you
• List the factors to consider when working with a
  proposal writing consultant
• Determine who needs to provide input, feedback,
  and approval for your proposal
• Decide whether to go it alone or plan in
  partnership with other agencies
• Describe the importance of avoiding "mission
  drift"
• Create a proposal outline
• Create a proposal summary statement

34
Wellesley Urban Health Capacity Building Workshop
Series CAP 103 Write a Winning Grant
Proposal !