Seminar in Grants Writing for
Public and Nonprofit Administration
(PAD 6233)

Do you really want to be in this class?

Aggressive, motivated people do grant writing because they need resources to do important stuff. I can teach you how.  But if you do not plan to write grants, if you just need three credits on a certain evening, I am not going to try to make you happy.

Most of what you will learn in here is not written down anywhere, at least not in a well organized way. You will have to show up on time every time, having studied in advance the material below, and pay attention; and you well have to ask questions, then go out and study the additional materials that I direct you to. You can't be passive. By the way, if you are late or skip class or let your attention wander, you are sure to miss something important. And that's your tough luck.

I do not try very hard to be well organized. I launch into stream of consciousness lectures, and you get the point if you pay attention and ask questions, or you don't. If you don't, that too is your tough luck.

"Bad things happen to people who do not follow my advice." -- My mentor, Hayman Kite

Various ways to really annoy the professor (the guy who assigns your grade)

1. Skip classes without offering a job-related reason.
2. Skip classes while repeatedly offering a personal reason you should have anticipated before you enrolled.
3. Skip one of his classes to accommodate a less senior professor (any other professor at FAU).
4. Turn in homework late.
5. Turn in HW extra-late.
6. Turn in HW late and then act surprised that the professor has misplaced it.
7. Same as above except that the HW has been faxed or e-mailed, even if it arrives before it is due.
8. E-mail him a crucial inquiry under the epithet  "La-Dee-Da" and expect him to figure out you are "Lakme de Dario." 
9. Fail to retrieve the HW when the professor returns it and then act surprised that the professor has misplaced or trashed it.
10. Leave the HW in a mailbox that the professor checks infrequently or does not even know exists.
11. Fail to put your name on every single page you submit.
12. Submit HW that is so vague that the professor cannot tell which assignment it is supposed to satisfy.
13. Ask if you can have an "incomplete" until the next time the course is offered. There is no known next time.

"Skip" means arrive late, fail to arrive, or leave early.

On Web updates and email.

Several times a week you will please have to check this Web page for additions and clarifications. Go the bottom and check for added notations.

To send me email, please use mendelljay@gmail.com.  In the subject line type "I am a student in PAD grant writing."  And when you send me e-mail, be sure to include your name, not just your e-mail address. It is helpful if you include your phone numbers at home and work and your cell phone number.

Grading.

Your grade will principally be based on how well you complete the individual pieces of a proposal that I assign and on your grade on the quizzes.

For the first class.

 1. I have written a mock solicitation of a letter of inquiry (http://GollyGrantsOnline.com/download/RWF-Mock-request-for-proposal.PDF) and a responsive letter of inquiry (http://GollyGrantsOnline.com/download/SSS-Center-mock.PDF). The example is quite a bit shorter than the proposal you will write this term.

2.  An exercise in writing a concept paper for a public school is located on my site, "Write a Winning Grant Proposal on Your First Try." 

Unit 01

Required

1. Read the Foundation Center's online course on proposal writing.

Recommended readings (this means you read the materials before class and perhaps reread them after class.)

1. Browse the EPA's grants tutorial.

2. Review the mock request for proposals from the Ralph Waldo Firestone Foundation, and my letter of inquiry.

Please start to collect the following, if you plan to write a proposal for a private nonprofit.  It will be due later; but start ASAP.

1. A clear copy of the IRS letter of determination [2-3 pages] establishing that the organization has 501 status. If your organization is a school, church, or other organization that does not require to file for 501 status, submit a typed explanation of why it is exempt.  

2. Provide clean copy of the most recent annual budget (income, expenses). 

3. If the organization is 2 years old or older, the name, address, and phone) of its auditor. 

None of this will be considered confidential. At the end of the term it will be part of your final project and will not be returned.

Please start to do the following, if you plan to write a proposal for a governmental agency. It will be due later; but start ASAP.

1. Simply state that you are a governmental agency and are therefore are  federally tax exempt. One sentence will do the trick.

2. A clean copy of the most recent annual budget, for instance, your city's/county's budget summary.

3. Explain who audits your agency and how the results are reported and to whom. Give name, address, and phone

None of this will be considered confidential. 

Please do the following if you plan to write a grant for an organization that is not governmental and has no IRS nonprofit status: Find another organization, or discuss the situation with the professor.

Unit 02

Due 2007-01-22

1. The items listed above for a nonprofit organization; or

2. The items requested above for a governmental agency.

Recommended readings

1. Read the Foundation Center's online course on proposal writing.

2. Start browsing hard-to-classify worksheets and examples. Don't miss this.

3. Review the EPA grants tutorial.

4. Start browsing proposals available online. An interesting source of exemplary proposals (http://www.guru.com/category.cfm/504)

Unit 03

Due 2007-01-29.  Use a single sheet of untabbed colored paper to separate the sections.

1. Give me a 200-300 word description of a new project you would like to undertake through a grant. It must not be a request for seed or general operating support or the extension of a currently funded project or funding for a project that is about to expire for lack of funding. It has to be something new in the range of $3000 to $200,000. 
   
   The description should be labeled "Executive Summary."

2. On a separate sheet, set off by an un-tabbed sheet of colored paper, give me a statement of why you are doing this project and why writing this proposal will advance your career. This section should be labeled "What's in It for Me." If all you can write is "I need to write a proposal to pass this course," you are hopeless.

Required readings

1. Read the Foundation Center's online course on proposal writing.

Recommended readings

1. Proposals available online. An interesting source of exemplary proposals (http://www.guru.com/category.cfm/504)

2. The EPA grants tutorial4

   ---

Unit 04

Due 2007-02-14.

Need analysis is due. Write a one, two, or three page need analysis for your organization's fundable project. Label this "Need analysis."

Required readings

1. Here is a crisp explanation of needs analysis (which happens to be embedded in a top-notch essay on grants writing).

2. Proposals available online. An interesting source of exemplary proposals (http://www.guru.com/category.cfm/504) Study many proposals until you find one that resembles one for your project.

Recommended readings.

1. Read the Foundation Center's online course on proposal writing.

2. If you want to see a typical set of federal specs for a need analysis, visit and browse in http://gollygrantsonline.com/download/Pages from hud youthbuild.pdf

Unit 06

HW Due 2007-03-14 REVISED
Label this "Searching for funders."

Who is going to fund your proposal? Name a potential Do a free online search using online search tools.

Go to the FAU online library and visit GrantSelect.  First, get an Owl Card. Then use the proxy server to log in (https://login.ezproxy.fau.edu/login). Then go to the electronic collection (http://www.library.fau.edu/ecollect/ecollect.htm) and find GrantSelect.

The Foundation Center's complete database may be consulted at four locations in the Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. In WPB, go to the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties.(http://www.yourcommunityfoundation.org/) In Boca Raton, a few blocks east of FAU is the Junior League of Boca Raton.(http://www.jlbr.org/) In Fort Lauderdale, Nova University (http://www.nova.edu/library/nsulibs.htm) is the archive, and in Miami, the United Way. (http://www.centeronnonprofiteffectiveness.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.resource_center)

For governmental grants, see the Florida Resource Guide, the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, and grants.gov. To do an additional search for state Florida grants go into Google.com and use
SITE:MYFLORIDA.COM (GRANT OR GRANTS) YOUR-TOPIC-GOES-HERE.

Unit 08

Unit 09

Due  2007-04-18 or on and class night before the last day of class (your choice) Label this "Qualifications."

Give me a concise statement of the organization's qualifications to carry out its program. Emphasize past and current grants and contracts, accreditations, and professional qualifications of the staff.

Links on best practices
http://www.bestpractices.org/ 

Here is access to the Welfare Information Network's "cheat sheets."

Visit the FAU library online to register for netLibrary.com. This requires an Owl Card.

Here is material on fundraising.

Grantwriting and fundraising for arts and letters.