For Jay Mendell's book on overcoming stigma in fund raising, please surf to http://black-sheep-library.com  That's Black Sheep Fundraising: Obtaining Dollars Despite Stigma and Prejudice toward Abortion, AIDS, Alcoholism, Birth Control, Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Drug Abuse, Eating Disorders, Gambling, Homelessness, Homosexuality, Mental Disorders, Partner Violence,  Sex Education, Teenage Pregnancy, the Unemployed, the Ex-Offenders, the Illegal Immigrants, the Juvenile Offenders, the Elderly, and Other Outcast Causes .

 

Click here to add your name to a free electronic mailing list  for the latest Florida grants information. 
Click here for the flyer and registration form for our fall 2003 grant programs in Fort Lauderdale and Jupiter.
Visit Jay Mendell's many Web pages on grants and fundraising.

First Time Grant Writing for the New Nonprofit and the New Grant Writers
20 September 2002 in Fort Lauderdale

 Organize a tax-deductible nonprofit.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS File deals with starting and running a nonprofit organization. There is information on how to start a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Among the best documents on the Internet, these deserve careful study and frequent visits. 
Tax information for nonprofits. This material is extensive and complicated. But you should understand it before you jump  into nonprofiting.
To apply for 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, your have to file a form 1023 with the IRS.  Here is a worked-out example from the Internet Nonprofit Center.
Material on board of directors--recruiting, duties, insurance, etc.
 

Exploit the free services that FAU's Center for Urban Redevelopment and Empowerment offers in the FAU service area.

CURE's Grantswriting Services. Address, Location Requirements.
Internet pages on grantswriting. A free site on the Internet's World Wide Web which provides easy access to tutorials on grants writing, maps and statistics for use in needs analysis, and many other Internet-based services. GollyGrantsOnline.com/grants-central-station.htm A free service.

Requires an Internet connection and Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer.

No fax or printing-mailing available. Don’t even ask.

A free service.
Virtual  library of successful proposals. Exemplary grants which can be obtained on the Internet. GollyGrantsOnline.com/grants-central-station.htm#Examples of grant proposals  

A free service.

Requires an Internet connection and Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer.

No fax or printing-mailing available. Don’t even ask.

A free service.
Free searches in a database that contains  keyword searchable grant opportunities.  Phone Professor Mendell at home, at 954.597-0574.

Or send e-mail to mendell at bellsouth dot net.

Be sure Jay knows yourname, phone number, fax number, e-mail address, and street address. Explain in one paragraph what your organization does and what it needs money for.

Free for persons and organizations in the FAU service area. A thank-you note is requested by e-mail..

 

Where to find free booklets on grant writing.

Free booklet. Internet location.
See the Foundation Center's sensational on-line course on proposal writing, plus several examples of grant application forms. http://fdncenter.org/onlib/shortcourse/prop1.html
Here is a condensed version of Oryx Press' Guide to Proposal Planning and Writing by Miner and Miner.

http://www.uvm.edu/~reshmpg/miners~1.htm

 

Consider launching your grant writing career by applying for uncomplicated, proposer-friendly grants.

 Organization. Source of funds. Links.
The Sun-Sentinel Report to the Community.
Various other Sun-Sentinel charities
Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel.
Broward Cultural Arts
Broward County.
Broward Cultural Affairs flyers.

For those who want to see a RFP for "serious" grant writers, (that is, a burdensome RFP)

Here is the Palm Beach County RFP for a Community Development Block Grant. Please notice all the marginal notes by baffled grant writers.

Where to  look for funding opportunities.

Do your own keyword searches for grants through the Foundation Center's online search engine. (But expect to spend some time learning the keyword list.) 
Straight to private foundations.
Straight to corporate grant givers.
Sraight to public charities.

A very nice, though far from exhaustive list, from the Welfare Information Network, of grants for social services.
For additional tips, including Catalog of Domestic Federal Assistance, Federal Register, and Florida Administrative Weekly, see my Web site on Internet for Grant Writers.

Top U. S. grantgivers in various categories. 
Top South Florida grantgivers (names, with only a few links.

 

 "Must-have" items

Before you start your first proposal, see that the following are on hand.
Official name of the federally tax exempt organization, as listed with the Florida Secretary of State. Permanent address.
Report from the Florida Secretary of State's Web page.
Copy of the most recent IRS letter of determination on 501 tax status
IRS letter of determination of a nonprofit.
List of the directors of your 501 organization, their names, occupations, places of business, and business phones.
 
Copy of the state charter.
A state of Florida charter.
Copy of the articles of incorporation.
Articles of a Florida nonprofit.
Annual budget, approved by the board of directors. Must show executive director's salary.
Annual budget of House of Hope.
Copy of audited financial statement
Audits from the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency.

When you read a "request for proposals" or "notice of funding availability," see if they reveal who is involved in their organization. Whom do you know?

Who is behind the Diversity Venture Fund?


When you read a "request for proposals" or "notice of funding availability," take care that your organization is among those eligible to apply.

The Sun-Sentinel Report to the Community. A list of recipients and their awards.
Broward Cultural Affairs.  eligibility.


Pay special attention to the scoring scheme.

Broward Cultural Affairs , for scoring.


Here is the mock Request for Proposals from a fictitious foundation.

Here is a mock letter of inquiry to response to the RFP of the RWFF.