Transcript Public and Private Sector Grantseeking

Fundraising III: Writing
Successful Proposals
6th Annual Club MAC
June 15, 2006
Carole V. Rylander, CFRE
rylander associates
214.348.9086

[email protected]
Topics
 Gathering
Data
 Writing the Proposal
 Components of the Proposal
 Completing Your Proposal
 Proposal Format
2
Gathering Data
 Institutional
Information
 Brief
History
 Staff & Volunteers
 Client Profile
 Facilities & Services
 Success Stories
 Annual Report
3
Gathering Data (cont.)
 Use
graphics and tables to display your
data in concise form and make it clearer
and more interesting.
4
After School Program Users
by Native Language
45
40
35
Native Speakers
of English
30
25
Native Speakers
of Spanish
20
15
Other
10
5
0
1996
1998
2000
2002
5
Where our budget goes -Dallas County Art News
Rent and
utilities
Staff
Printing
Computers
and
6
Gathering Data (cont.)
 Board
Roster with Professional
Affiliations, Gender and Ethnicity
 Program Brochure/Materials
 Newspaper Articles/Publications
 501(c)3 IRS Letter(s) of Determination
 To
document name changes
 To show DBAs
7
Gathering Data (cont.)
 Financial
Information
 Most
recent monthly balance sheet &
revenue statement
 Audited financial statement
 Organization budget for fiscal year
 Program budget for fiscal year
 Letters
of Recommendation
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Letters of Recommendation
1.
2.
3.
Ask well in advance.
Request letters from community
stakeholders who will benefit from
your project (school
superintendents, social service
providers, etc.)
Offer to provide background
material for the letter
9
Letters of Recommendation
4.
5.
6.
Write a strong draft that includes the
address and the project benefits
E-mail/mail draft to community
stakeholder for revision & additions
Offer to pick up the letter so you can
proof it and have it in time.
10
Writing the Proposal
Step 1. Are you SURE You Want To
Do This? Ask Yourself . . .
 What
are we trying to accomplish?
 Does this project meet a genuine
need?
 Is the project a good fit with our
mission & strategic plan?
11
Writing the Proposal
 Who
will write the proposal?
 Can we afford to do the project? Is it
in our budget?
 If funded, can we carry it out?
 If we do this project, what other
projects will be delayed or
cancelled?
12
Writing the Proposal (cont.)
Step 2: Do You Have the Internal
Management Systems to Monitor the
Grant? Ask yourself:
13
Writing the Proposal
 Do
we have a project manager who
can:
 Manage
the project and oversee new
and/or current staff?
 Track the project expenses and time
spent on the project?
 Assure compliance with government
regulations?
14
Writing the Proposal (cont.)
 Do
we have a good accounting system in
place that will facilitate:
 Timely
financial reports?
 Comparison of actual to budget?
 Cost accounting?
 Allocation of administrative,
communications, and fund raising
expenses to programs/projects?
15
Writing the Proposal (cont.)
 If
you answered “no” to either of
these questions, think again!
16
Writing the Proposal (cont.)
Step 3: Start Early! If You Do, You Will
Have Time To . . .
 Call
the Program Officer and discuss your
project.
 Talk to organizations like yours that have
undertaken similar projects.
17
Writing the Proposal
(cont.)
 Read
& re-read the directions
 Send
in vital drafts for review, if
allowed
 Get
necessary “sign-offs” from your
board & ED/CEO/boss
 Handle
the unexpected
 Delivery
problems
 Colleagues who miss deadlines
18
Writing the Proposal (cont.)
 You
will be trying to convince funders
who may be strangers & who may have
no connection with your organization or
your project of the value of your project.
19
Writing the Proposal (cont.)
 You
must:
 Have
an idea worthy of their money
 Be meeting a genuine need
 Have the skills & organization to
make your project a success
 Have given it thought and know that it
is feasible
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Components of a Proposal
 Private
Sector Formatting:
 There
is no one right way to format a
proposal!
 Choose the format that best responds to
funders’ questions & communicates your
story
 Public
 Will
Sector Formatting:
be prescribed
21
Components of a Proposal
 Common
Private Sector Formats:
 Letter
proposal
 Most informal
 Three pages or less
 Narrative with cover letter
 More extensive
 Section headings & appendices
22
Components of a Proposal
 Cover
Letter or Executive Summary
 States
amount requested & for what
purpose
 Brief description of problem, impact, &
solution
 State what the grant will accomplish in
terms of benefit to target clients
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Components of a Proposal
 Introduction
/ History
 Problem / Needs Assessment
 Population


affected
Size
Demographics
 Hindrances
created by the problem
 Geographic limitations / boundaries
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Components of a Proposal
 Impact
of the Solution on the Problem
 Change
that could be or is being
created by the program
 Description
of program goals
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Components of a Proposal
 Methodology



or Action Plan / Objectives
Total clients to be served / benefit to be
delivered
Level of service / benefit provided thus far
Balance of service / benefit yet to be
provided
Client population
 Geographic limitations
 Staffing - professional & volunteer

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Components of a Proposal
 Sustainability
 Funding
needs (program budget)
 Funding secured to date (sources &
amounts)
 Funding still required
27
Components of a Proposal
 Request
 States
specific dollar amount
requested
 Identifies program grant will support
 Identifies what the grant will
accomplish in terms of benefit to
target clients
28
Components of a Proposal
 Evaluation
 Criteria
by which the program will be
evaluated (related to objectives)


Quantitative
Qualitative
 Describe
how evaluation information
will be collected
29
Components of a Proposal
 Evaluation (cont.)
 Funders
may ask for criteria by which
the grant will be evaluated


Related to program objectives, plus
What, specifically, will the grant
accomplish? Attract matching gifts?
Provide lead gift/initial funding? Why
is their funding important?
30
Components of a Proposal
 Appendices
 Letters
of recommendation
 Program/project newspaper articles
 Program/project brochure
 Brief organizational history
 Annual report
 Board roster
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Components of a Proposal
 Appendices
 Financial
(cont.)
information
Balance sheet & revenue statement
 Annual organization budget
 Project/program budget
 Audited financial statement
 IRS Letter of Determination

32
Components of a Proposal
 Handouts:
 Packaging
the Grant Request
 Essential Components of Program
Planning and Proposal Writing
 Proposal checklist
33
Good Proposal:
 Above
all else:
 Must
be written according to the
guidelines!
 The funding source’s guidelines are your
road map to success!
 Follow them to the letter!
34
Completing Your Proposal:
 Write
the executive summary or cover
letter last
 Make the executive summary or cover
letter a concise summary of your talking
points
 Make the type size comfortable for
reading - 12 point is best
35
Completing Your Proposal:
 Do
not exceed page limits & think no
one will notice
 Pay attention to instructions:
 Double-sided
& single-sided pages
 Bound or unbound
 Allowed attachments
36
Completing Your Proposal:
 If
page limits or space requirements
are too tight for you to make your case:
 Determine
if appendices are allowed
 Use your cover letter to tell your story
 Attach letters of recommendation, if
allowed
37
Completing Your Proposal:
 Proofread
 Proofread
 Proofread!!!!
 Consider
having the application
professionally photocopied
 Enclose the required supporting
materials
38
Completing Your Proposal:
 Remove
any barriers that make it
difficult to understand
 Follow the “Grandmother” principle
 Recognize that your proposal will not
be reviewed if it does not meet
guidelines
39
Completing Your Proposal:
 Dissemination
 Who
needs to know about the
request?
 How will you tell them?
40
Proposal Formats
 Title
page - Mellon
 Table of contents
 One-page application - Wray Trust
 Letter proposals
 Mosher
 Los
Barrios Unidos
41
Proposal Formats
 Narrative
proposal
 Luce
 Narrative
proposal with cover letter &
appendix page
 Fikes
 Two-phase
proposal with “PPQ”
 Abell-Hanger
42
Credits:
 The
Center for Nonprofit Management,
Dallas, TX
 Roxann
Garcia, HOSTS Corporation
 Grants
Unlimited, Glenda J. O’Neal,
Danville, CA
 David
Lawson, Norman Beach, FL
43
Thank you!
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