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Respone to each peer initial post with three to four sentences
The two most important aspects that should be included in a grant proposal are the narrative and the means for obtaining measurable results. The narrative is the means by which you bring facts to life through storytelling (Browning, 2014). Just sticking with cold, hard facts of what your program achieves in the community is not a currently recommended approach – rather it is recommended that you invite the reviewing committee to engage in the story of your program, the population you are trying to reach, and how this provides an overall benefit to the community in question (Browning, 2014).
Narratives should include background information about the organizations and community involved as well as excitement over current efforts and programs that have already been implemented (Browning, 2014). These types of details paint the picture for funders about how their grant can potentially build on work that is already ongoing, which drives home the investment potential of a grant to a particular organization. Additionally, narratives should be specific to the funder’s interests (Ward, 2011). If the funder has specifically shown interest in specific types of programs or causes, the applicant should be sure to include details about how their initiatives fit into the existing narrative of the funder. For example, if a funder almost exclusively issues grants to organizations that provide hunger relief programs, an applicant should demonstrate how their enterprise accomplishes the mission that the funder is already on or how their program can expand upon what the funder has already achieved. Grantees and grantors enter into a relationship once an agreement is signed (Ward, 2010) and the narrative should drive home that the relationship would be symbiotic.
Technical aspects of a grant include how the proposal is formatted and the specific information called for in an application. Each funder will usually have slightly different requirements for what they want to see in an application and how they want it presented. Some applications are entirely web-based, while others are paper-based. Some want to see years worth of tax forms like 990s while others are more interested in highly detailed program budgets. Reading the application instructions thoroughly and carefully (Browning, 2014) and having a competent staff that effectively administer a grant (Ward, 2010) is critical to executing the technicalities of a grant application.
Political implications for grant writing often occur within the organization. Higher level managers believe grants to be “magic” ways of obtaining money and will ask for grants without really thinking through the type of grant or how the money would be utilized (Ward, 2011). The best way to deal with this type of political situation is to educate the organization about the grant process (Ward, 2011). It is recommended that staff is required to use a basic grant request form that requires the submitter to provide the potential funders, project budget, available resources for the project to get them in the mindset of what would be required in seeking a grant (Ward, 2011).
Ethics are a significant part of grant writing. Funders are providing money to a program and organization based on their belief that the narrative and supporting documents are providing accurate information and promises. Ethical grant writers will make commitments for the organization that it can actually achieve, will be truthful about available resources, and honest about the shortcomings of stakeholders in the program (Browning, 2014). Failure to be transparent will almost always result in lack of funding and will jeopardize future funding opportunities.
Grant writing is an important tool to have when working for a nonprofit or anywhere that uses state, federal, and/or private grants for big projects. Although it is extremely important, it can be difficult to create a successful, effective grant. There are elements that a grant writer must know and consider when writing a grant proposal, and they refer to the technical, political and ethical aspects. The technical aspects of grant writing are: solid methodology, clear objectives, competent personnel, comprehensive evaluation plan, and adequate budget. A grant proposal should have a solid plan of operation and explanation of how the project will be completed. The second element, are the four types of objectives a grant proposal may have, as discussed by Ward: performance (specific level of performance for a specific type of behavior), behavioral (project participants and cognitive performance), product (used when a specific product will be designed or created), and lastly, process (the process or procedure that is going to occur that measures the progress of the project) (p.6). Although there are four objectives, a grant proposal does not need to include all four in every proposal; only those objectives to pertain to the need of the grant.
The third element is competent personnel. Staff members and project members may be responsible for collecting data or reporting purposes; therefore, “staff members not only have skills to function as project managers, but have the ability to complete required paperwork that is a part of the grants management process” (Ward, p.7). The next element, comprehensive evaluation plan, measures the success of the stated objectives and determines if the grant allowed the end goal to be met. Finally, an adequate budget is the last element of technicalities in grant writing. The budget is a “numerical representation of the information described in the methodology, personnel, and evaluation sections” (Ward, p.7). Although the budget should be comprehensive, Ward states a few costs that may be overlooked: time, evaluation report costs, and other costs such as, external evaluator, travel, and/or creation or utilization of evaluation tools (p.7).
After the technical elements of writing a grant proposal, political and ethical elements must be considered. When considering politics in writing a grant, the grant writer must consider involving local, state and/or federal representatives. As expressed by Grant Writing Proposals.com, the grant writer must explain: why the grant program is needed, how the agency will conduct the program, and how the grant will benefit the government/private investor and community (2017). Ethics is a major concern in every business and grant writing is no different. The Grant Professional Association (GPA) has a list of professional obligations and solicitation “do’s and don’ts” one should consider when writing a grant (https://www.grantprofessionals.org/about/ethics). A few ethical considerations that should be included are: relationships with new or ongoing funders (free of any conflict of interests); open and honest relationships with potential funders; honest about the capacity of the organization to perform the proposed program/project; a proposal that creates realistic expectations; and developed an accurate project budget (Leonard, 2013).
I believe the two most critical aspects to be included, discussed, in any grant proposal are clear objectives and evaluation. If a grant proposal has clear objectives, it makes it easier for the potential funder/investor to know exactly what their funds and resources are going towards, rather than guessing. A comprehensive evaluation plan is the second critical aspect, because again, it lets the funder/investor know if their funds and resources were used how they said they were going to be used and if the goal was reached; which in the investor’s eyes, is of most importance.