Turning Words into Money

Workshop Description:

This workshop covers everything you need to know to succeed in grant writing, even if you do not have previous experience. You will learn how to locate the right grant funding opportunity and write a grant proposal that gets funded, using proven strategies and models developed by the successful grant writing team at Educational Resource Consultants.

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the workshop you will be able to:

• Transform your project idea into a powerful, persuasive proposal that inspires a funder to write a check for $50,000, $100,000, $500,000 or more.
• Locate the right funding sources for your project.
• Read and understand all the jargon in a grant application.
• Satisfy a funding agency’s most important questions.
• Create a convincing case for funding that includes all of the most critical elements and flows from one section to the next.
• Describe your university, college, department, or key staff in a way that inspires the funders’ confidence!
• Avoid the most common novice grant writing mistakes that kill your chance of getting funded.
• Understand how a grant proposal is scored and use expert strategies to optimizeyour proposal for a higher score.

Workshop Designed For:

K-12, college and university administrators, faculty, or staff with basic writing skills and who need money for new projects. Also, leaders of non-profit organizations that seek grant funding.

Workshop Outline:

Lesson 1: Getting Ready for Grant Writing

• A step-by-step method to turn your idea into a fundable grant project.
• The 12 questions to ask before you start any grant writing project…..so you can be ready to tell the funding source exactly what they want to know.
• 7 ways to improve your grant’s chance of success before you turn on your computer to type.
• How to position yourself for grant funding…..even if your organization is brand new, has no track record, or a small operating budget.

Lesson 2: Finding the Right Funding Source

• You will learn the top sources of grant funding in the United States.
• How to use two websites that put a wealth of grant opportunities at your fingertips…..no more endless searching.
• How to pick the funding agencies that are most likely to say “yes” to your project.
• What to write in a letter of inquiry to pique a foundation’s interest.

Lesson 3: Understanding the Grant Application

• How to understand the language of grant application guidelines, a.k.a. request for proposal (RFP), request for application (RFA), or funding opportunity announcement (FOA).
• How to use the grant application as a reference…..so you can find the information you need to know without going crazy trying to read 50 to 100 pages of grant lingo all at once.
• The 12 key items to look for in any grant application and how to find them.
• The differences between government and foundation grant applications…….and why this matters.

Lesson 4: Planning the Grant Writing Process

• How to create a timeline for writing with multiple mini-deadlines.
• How to establish sources of information for your proposal…….so you can avoid writer’s block.
• How to identify and work with key people or project partners during the grant writing process.
• The importance of identifying all of the supporting documents that will be required - forms, letters, signature pages, or other attachments early, and how to get the ball rolling on getting them completed.

Lesson 5: Constructing a Case for Funding that Flows

• 10 features of a funded grant proposal, and how they fit together.
• How to outline your writing, section by section, into one logical case for funding.
• How to determine the optimal length for each section of your proposal…..so you will waste no words and maximize your score.
• Simple ways to organize your grant proposal at the outset for easy reading and scoring.

Lesson 6: Writing a Compelling Problem (or Needs) Statement

• 7 helpful tips for convincing a funding agency to contribute to a worthy cause in your community (not someone else’s).
• Time-saving sources of statistics to document the need for your project.
• Eye-catching ways to display information to strengthen your case for funding.
• How to breathe life into your problem statement….. to trigger compassion and urgency in the grant reader.

Lesson 7: Stating Clear Goals and Objectives

• How to write goals that create the dynamic feeling of a win-win with the funding agency.
• Words you should and should not use when stating your objectives.
• To follow our proven, 4-step formula for wording objectives…..all you have to do is fill in the blanks!
• How to avoid the #1 mistake novice grant writers make when writing goals and objectives that will KILL your chances of being funded.

Lesson 8: Pitching a Powerful Plan of Action

• Our 7 secrets for selling your solution to a problem.
• How to pair your activities with measurable benefits……this one strategy will make your action plan stand out among the competition.
• Easy ways to organize your activities on a timeline……so the reader can understand your action plan at a glance.  (You’ll get several templates for this).
• Guidelines (and helpful models) for citing research to add credibility to your methods.

Lesson 9: Conveying Your Capacity, Credibility, and Commitment

• Confidence-building ways to communicate your organization’s mission and history…..even if your organization is new.
• How to describe the expertise of key people….. even if they haven’t been hired yet!
• How to develop Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) and Letters of Commitment with other agencies to demonstrate community support for your project. (You will see examples of these from funded proposals to make it easy to write your own).
• More tips to let to funder know the project will be in capable hands.

Lesson 10: Designing an Effective Evaluation Plan

• Ideas for measuring the success of your grant project…..to assure the funder you are serious about delivering real results.
• How to speak (and write) the language of an evaluator, even if you don’t have a background in statistics or research.
• How to get a professional evaluation plan written for you…….absolutely free!
• How to know when you should involve a third-party evaluator and what questions you should ask when interviewing one.

Lesson 11: Building a Better Budget

• Easily adaptable formats for displaying budgets and writing budget narratives.
• Our handy formulas for showing estimated expenses……to indicate that you’ve done your homework and are responsible with money.
• Tips for linking your budget to your action plan…….to prove that every dollar will contribute to the cause.
• Creative ideas for showing matching resources……to give the funder the most for their money.

Lesson 12: Packing Your Proposal with Persuasion

• Promising ways to promote your ideas as an authority....and be seen as an expert on your topic.
• Our 7 Golden Rules of Grant Writing that have proven successful in bringing in grant money for over 10 years.
• Clever techniques for making your key points pop off the page so that your reader will not miss them.
  

Lesson 13: Summarizing Your Story

• How to write an impressive introduction…..so you can capture the reader’s attention in the opening lines and make a positive first impression.
• How to pack your proposal into a 1-2 page executive summary or abstract…..to clarify the bigger picture for the busiest of bureaucrats.
• How to turn your executive summary or abstract into an invitation to read more.
• When to mention money in a proposal summary – and where.

Lesson 14: Polishing and Packaging Your Final Presentation

• To create and use checklists to confirm that your content is complete. (You’ll get the checklists we use).
• Our error-free editing advice……..so you can look for and catch the most common errors made in grant proposals (you’ll get a list of these, to save you from learning the hard way!).
• How to handle all the forms and supporting documents (MOUs, resumes, letters, newspaper articles, etc.) without getting a headache.
• How to avoid mailing mistakes..…..so it absolutely, positively gets there by the deadline.