Giving: Grants/Workshop Documents

Funders often ask for brief 1- to 5-page concept papers prior to submission of a full proposal. This helps them save time by eliminating ideas that are not likely to be funded. The purpose of writing a concept paper is:

• to interest potential funders
• to determine whether a project idea is fundable
• to serve as the foundation of a full proposal

Funders that request concept papers often provide a template or format. If templates or formats are not provided, the following can serve as a useful concept paper structure.

Executive Summary

The Executive Summary identifies how and where the applicant’s mission and the funder’s mission intersect or align. It addresses the reasons why the funder should support projects in the given general area. It also introduces the applicant’s partners and shows why the partners want to participate in the project.

This section may include a brief organizational history and target audience description if relevant to the project or funder program goals.

Rationale

The Rationale or Need section focuses on the problem to be solved, or the need to be addressed by the applicant’s proposed project. This section states the purpose or need in such a way that the applicant’s project is the best possible solution to the problem.

This section should list reasons why the project should be supported.

Project Description

The Project Description addresses why the applicant has the best solution and presents a compelling case for funding.

The project description includes the project’s measurable Goals and Objectives. The project description also includes an overview of the project’s Methodology or Action Plan. The goals, objectives, and action plan should align closely with each other and accomplish goals within a proposed timeline.

The project description typically concludes with a statement of outcomes and impact that indicates the funder’s return on investment (ROI).

Budget

Budget information within a concept paper can be a basic outline of main categories for the project’s revenue and expenses with a bottom-line funding amount. If the funder is interested in the project, a detailed budget will be requested.

If a given funder provides a specific template or format for a concept paper, the applicant must use the required structure.

Office of University Advancement

• IRS 501(c)(3) Letter of Determination
• A&M-SA Foundation Audited Financial Reports (Revenue/Expenses, Profit/Loss, Cash Flow)
• List of Board Members
• W-9 Form
• 990 Form
• Certifications (Accreditation, Insurance)
• Formation Documents (Certificate of Formation, Affiliation Agreement, Bylaws)
• University Organizational Chart

Success in grant writing depends on three factors:

• Strong Programs
• Good Relationships
• Compelling Proposals

To determine if your application is competitive, it is helpful to consider the following questions and how much of an impact they might have on your “fit” to the foundation’s priorities depending on the answers.

1. When are funding decisions made? If decisions are made after you need the money, should you even bother applying?
2. If you are blessed enough to be awarded a grant, when can you expect the dollars in-hand? Will the dollars come in time for the project and if not, do they have another cycle that will be during the timeframe of the project?
3. What is a realistic ask based on your organization, your need, your project and the foundation’s current priorities? This usually requires a conversation with foundation staff. Don’t assume you should ask for the top end of their range just because they have a range listed. This is a mistake I see with folks all the time.
4. If matching funds are a requirement, can the match be in-kind or does it have to be dollar-for-dollar? Be sure to get Letters of Support, Memorandums of Understanding/ Agreement as necessary to prove these matches as required.
5. You might be a perfect fit “on-paper” for what a foundation wants to fund, but do you have to have a history of success for a certain period of time (typically 3-5 years minimum) before they will consider an application from you?
6. Do you have to have a formal/official audit for the foundation to consider funding your organization or will a compilation report suffice? Keep in mind that a 990 is NOT an official audit.
7. If you start a project before dollars are in-hand, can you “repay” yourself once grant dollars are received? Or, can you only use dollars on expenses that occur after grant funds have been received?
8. Are there more dollars given out during a particular cycle? If so, should we wait until that cycle to have the best chance of an award?
9. What are the policies of the foundation for amending budgets during a grant cycle?
10. Based on an analysis of your program, project or organization’s current Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities or Threats, does this grant proposal:
    1. solve or address any of the weaknesses or threats facing your program, project or organization?
    2. bring to fruition any of the opportunities listed?
    3. give your organization a competitive advantage or build upon its existing strengths?

If you cannot answer yes to any of the items listed above, the next question you need to ask yourself is, “Why are we writing this grant?”

There are many more questions that may need to be addressed prior to working on a grant application. I encourage you to ALWAYS have a conversation with the foundation prior to working on any application (unless they expressly say not to contact them) because building relationships is the most important part of all fundraising.

I hope these questions will help you as you work on securing grant funding for your programs, projects, and organization in the coming months!

Source: The Foundation Center, 2014. Due to rounding, figures may not add up. Updated October 2014.

The funder is looking for answers to the following questions:

1. When was your organization founded?
2. Who founded the organization?
3. Where was it founded (city, county, and state)?
4. Why was it started (purpose then)?
5. What services does it provide now (purpose now), and who benefits from the services?
6. What is your mission statement, and how do you fulfill it today?

The funder’s proposal review staff is asking themselves the following questions about the applicant organization:

• Experience. Is the grant applicant a new organization or a well-established organization?
• Reputation. Who founded the applicant organization? Am I familiar with this person? Has anyone on our board of trustees heard of the founder? Do we have positive or negative information on this person or persons?
• Location. Is the applicant organization located in our geographic priority area.
• Value association. Does the applicant organization’s mission align with the funder’s values or mission?
• Services and benefits. Does the grant applicant provide services that the funder has previously supported in its grant awards? Does the grant applicant serve a population that the funder has a special interest in?
• Focus and purpose. Does the grant applicant continue to fulfill its original mission, or has it changed its focus since the organization was founded?

The funder is looking for answers to the following questions:

1. If the applicant organization is new, what strides has the board of directors made since applying for IRS nonprofit status?
2. If the applicant organization is experienced, what strategic planning goals were developed, and how many of the goals have been reached?
3. Has the applicant organization received any awards or recognitions from governmental units or other community organizations?
4. Have any of the applicant organization’s clients or patients achieved notable success because of programs or services provided by the applicant organization?
5. Has the applicant organization completed any planning goals?
6. Has the applicant organization completed any program implementation goals?
7. Have any programs provided by the applicant organization been adopted as models by other similar organizations?

The funder’s proposal review staff is asking themselves the following questions about the applicant organization:

1. Are the achievements relevant to the proposal’s purpose?
2. Does the application organization know how to set goals and reach them?
3. Are the achievements in alignment with the organization’s mission?
4. Are the accomplishments relevant to the purpose of the grant request?

The funder is looking for answers to the following questions:

1. What are the applicant organization’s current programs and activities?
2. Is the applicant organization providing programs and activities that serve constituencies that we have an interest in assisting?
3. Do the programs and activities show growth from when they first started until now?
4. Are any of the programs or activities duplicating services already available in the target community for the population served?
5. Are any of the programs and activities grant-funded? If so, by whom, and what is the level of funding support?
6. Are any of the programs based on national models that have already been proven successful?
7. Is the number of constituents served clear?
8. Does the applicant organization partner with other local, regional, or state agencies to provide coordinated programs or shared activities?

The funder’s proposal review staff is asking themselves the following questions about the applicant organization:

1. Applicant organization capacity. Does the applicant organization have too many programs going at the same time? Do the programs appear to be running smoothly? If the applicant organization only has one primary program, do I have sufficient detail in order to determine the qualitative aspects of the program?
2. Stability. Does the grant applicant operate programs that have spanned over one year or more?
3. Similar target populations. Does the grant applicant serve the same constituents in whom the funder has an interest?
4. Ability to maintain and improve existing programs. Does the grant applicant present a written track record for creating, maintaining, and improving its programs?

The funder is looking for answers to the following questions:

1. Who is the applicant organization’s target population (another term for constituency)?
2. Is there more than one target population served?
3. Is this target population the primary beneficiary of the applicant organization’s mission, goals, and strategic plan?
4. What is the ethnic breakdown for the applicant organization’s service levels?
5. What is the age range for individuals served?
6. What is the economic status of the individuals served?
7. What are the education levels of individuals served?
8. Has the grant applicant included all relevant information about the target population in relationship to the grant proposal request area?
9. Has the target population been included in the planning for the grant proposal?
10. Are the target population's characteristics represented on the applicant organization’s board?

The funder is looking for answers to the following questions:

1. Who are your partners?
2. Do the partners represent a broad sector of the applicant organization's target population?
3. Are your partners' roles included in the overview?
4. What is the level of each partner's commitment; is its contribution monetary or in-kind?
5. Are the partners that you list past partners, current partners, or proposed partners for the grant proposal project?
6. Did all of your partners involved in the grant proposal project write letters of commitment or memorandums of understanding (MOU), and have you included them?

The funder is looking for answers to the following questions:

1. What problems, needs, or issues does this grant proposal address?
2. Who is the target population? Who are your subgroups within the target population (these should be presented by age range, ethnicity, economic status, and other social indicators)?
3. Is the target population one that the grant applicant already serves or has programs in place to serve?
4. Is this a new target population?
5. Does the applicant organization present sufficient factual information about the target population's circumstances (why they need help)?
6. Have we funded grants to solve this type of problem?
7. Is our board of trustees still interested in the grant proposal's target population?
8. Is the problem too large to solve with a single-year grant award?

Get Ready for Scrutiny by the Funder

Funders will go over the Program Design section of your grant proposal with a fine-tooth comb, reading every word and checking every line. Since there are so many parts to the whole that make up the Program Design section, I will show you how the proposal review staff breaks down each part of your Program Design section narrative.

Experienced grant reviewers will scrutinize your grant proposal by asking themselves these questions:

1. Is the purpose of the grant proposal clear? (Do I know how our money will be spent, and is it stated in one sentence?)
2. Do the goals provide the needed solution for the problem or needs presented by the grant applicant? (Is there a connection between the problem and the solution?)
3. Are the goals realistic? (Are there too many goals for a one-year program design?)
4. Do the grant applicant’s goals mirror our own goals for the target population? (Has this applicant done their homework on our foundation or corporate giving interests?)
5. Is there at least one objective for each goal? (Is this a strong program design?)
6. Are the objectives measurable? (Is this applicant an experienced proposal writer?)
7. Did the grant applicant include more than one type of objective? (Does this applicant understand the various types of measurable objectives?)
8. Is the timeline realistic, and does it fall into our funding cycle? (Did this applicant do their homework in regards to our deadlines and funding announcement dates?)
9. Can the grant applicant continue the grant-funded activities after the grant period ends? (Is the applicant going to be able to fund this somewhere else besides our organization once our monies run out?)

The funder looks for your answers to the following questions:

1. Is the applicant organization’s staff going to have the time and expertise to be effective grant managers? (Many funded projects fail because staffing is insufficient.)
2. Are the key personnel qualified to carry out the day-to-day activities outlined in the Program Design section? (Many funded projects fail because the staff has no experience in the project area.)
3. Is the project director allocating sufficient time to management tasks? (Many funded projects fail because the project director is not around often enough to monitor the progress of the implementation plan.)
4. If the key personnel are yet to be hired, did the applicant organization include brief job descriptions in the narrative or indicate that full job descriptions are in the attachments to the grant proposal? (Many funded projects fail because the grant applicant tries to fill technical positions with existing, unqualified staff.)
5. Have key staff members managed similar programs or projects in the past? (Many funded projects fail because inexperienced staff cannot get the project off the ground.)
6. What is the extent of their experience in working with the target population? (Many funded projects fail because staff cannot identify with needs of the target population.)

The funder is looking for answers to the following questions:

1. How will the project's measurable objectives be evaluated? (This is the real test question; if you did not write measurable objectives, you cannot possibly write measurements.)
2. Does the Evaluation Plan section include more than one kind of data collection tool? (Valid data must be confirmed with myriad types of measurements.)
3. Has the grant applicant built checks and balances into the Evaluation Plan section? (Data must be reported objectively or subjectively.)
4. Is the evaluator internal or external? (Outside evaluators are preferred by most government funders.)
5. Does the grant applicant use a stakeholder evaluation team or a third-party evaluator approach? (Stakeholder evaluations are preferred by most corporate and foundation funders.)
6. How frequent will we receive evaluation reports? (Funders want to be kept abreast of project findings on a frequent basis.)
7. How will the findings of the evaluation be disseminated to stakeholders? (Funders consider themselves stakeholders, along with your board, end recipients, and the community-at-large. They want to know how your grant-funded project impacted its stakeholders.)
8. How will the findings of the evaluation be shared with other similar agencies? (Funders want your findings shared with other similar organizations.)

Why is there so much funder scrutiny for this section? The rule of thumb in proposal preparation is to set aside 15 percent of the project's budget total for the evaluation process. This is a large chunk of money, and funders have established this rule of thumb. It means that funders place a high value on planning, implementation, and follow-up when it comes to evaluation tasks.

Funders ask:

• How will we know that our money made a significant difference in our geographic funding area?
• How will we know that our money led to social or systemic change for the target population?

Funders ask these questions:

Funding Parameters

1. Does the total grant request fall within our range for grant funding? (Is this grant applicant looking to us for the entire amount?)
2. Is the applicant asking for one year of funding support? (Can we afford to start this project and continue it, as well?)
3. Is the applicant asking for multiple years of funding support? (What will happen if we start this project and cannot fund it in Year 2? Does the grant applicant have another plan for Year 2 funding support?)

Dependency on Grant Funds

1. If the applicant is seeking multiple-year funding, does the applicant gradually decrease the amount requested in Years 2, 3, and so forth?
2. How will the applicant continue this program or project when grant funds are expended?
3. What other sources of income does the grant applicant have for this program or project?

Salaries and Fringe Benefits

1. Are the salaries and fringe benefits reasonable for the project's activities?
2. Based on the grant applicant's region, is the salary line item inflated?
3. Are the salaries competitive and comparable to other nonprofit organizations in the grant applicant's geographic area?
4. Are the fringe benefits prorated for positions less than full-time positions?
5. Are the fringe benefits reasonable when compared to other nonprofit fringe benefit packages in the same geographic region?
6. Did the grant applicant build a cost-of-living allowance into the salary line item for multiyear grant requests.
7. Does each salaried position listed have an FTE? Note: FTE means Full-Time Equivalency. 1.0 FTE is 40 hours per week; 0.5 FTE is 20 hours per week.

Travel

1. Are the travel costs reasonable for the project's activities?
2. Is the travel necessary?
3. Is the cost for local travel reasonable?
4. Is the cost for out-of-town or out-of-state travel reasonable?
5. Is the mileage reimbursement rate in alignment with state and federal rates?

Equipment

1. Are the equipment costs reasonable for the project's activities?
2. What is the grant applicant asking for under the equipment line item?
3. Will equipment be purchased that costs over $300?
4. Will the equipment be maintained?

Construction

1. Are the construction costs estimated or bid?
2. Are the construction bids attached?
3. Is there a contingency cost built in?
4. Is there a site plan attached?

Contractual

1. Are the contractors' costs reasonable for the project's activities?
2. Are the contractors listed mentioned in the Program Design section of the grant proposal?
3. Are the contractors necessary?
4. Can staff perform the work that contractors are being asked to perform?
5. Are the contractors’ costs reasonable?
6. Are the costs broken down by amount per hour and number of hours?
7. Is there supporting documentation in the attachments on the contractors' credentials?

Supplies

1. Are the supply costs reasonable for the project's activities?
2. Are the costs broken down by month?

Other Expenses

1. Are the other expenses reasonable for the project's activities?
2. Are the other expenses detailed?
3. Are the items listed as other expenses under the correct line item?

Accuracy

1. Are the column totals correct?
2. Are the forms, if required, filled out correctly?