developing a strong grants program

Developing a Strong Grants ProgramTips, Trends, and Two Very Good ToolsCynthia M. Adams, CEO, GrantstationJeffrey A. Sobers, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Blackbaud Financial Solutions

AGENDA

Knowledge-based Grant Seeking

Grant writing: Blending Trends Into Your Proposal

How GrantStation and Blackbaud Can Help You

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Build Leading Edge Grant Requests

2. Capture the Grantmaker’s Attention

3. Discover New Work Tools

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KNOWLEDGE-BASED GRANT SEEKING

ATTITUDE

DATA

TECHNOLOGY

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

Like all technology, social media is neutral but is best put to work in the service of building a better world. - Simon Mainwaring

Social media – be it Facebook, blogs, Twitter, RSS feeds, You Tube or the multitude of other information sharing methods are a key element

in doing research today!

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

New Music USA’s project grants will help our funded artists to promote themselves, and help us to promote all the projects we fund. Instead of filling out a grant application, you’ll create a simple project page on this site with all of your work samples and project information. Pages will remain invisible to the public through the course of the review and decision process. If your project is awarded, we will make your project page public on our website. Once that happens, you’ll be able to post updates as your project unfolds.

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

Someone who knows technology is now participating in the

review process.

ATTITUDE

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Today we think of scale = big

Tomorrow we will think Of scale = networked

“. . . you can form consortiums and apply for grants as it is more attractive to go after these funds as a group. I have formed consortia as small as two districts and as large as 21 school districts. It works!”

- Jane EricksonDEVO Consultants /Detroit

ATTITUDE

Impact

Efforts

Outcomes

Process

ATTITUDE

The outcome of your project or program becomes a community asset.

Integrate this

thinking into your request

ATTITUDE

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“Philanthropy is reinventing itself . . . to be bolder and more investment oriented.”

Nancy Roob, President & CEOEdna McConnell Clark Foundation

Evidence building is key!

DATA

Markets for GoodConnect, align and accelerate

Financial SCANUsed by organizations &

grantmakers. Up & running!

PerformWellIdentify & share common metrics.

Up & successfully running!

Strategy Landscape

Mainly used by grantmakers.

Still in development

DATA

Find the data

Interrogate the data

Visualize and “mash

up” the data

TIPYou can become an expert at observing and illuminating

what is happening in your community and learn to effectively share that information with grantmakers.

AGENDA




DEFINING THE NEED Data will dictate what your

next steps should be. Current conclusions will be

examined allowing you to explore new solutions.

Using reliable data speaks to your credibility, and the credibility of your proposal.

If you survey stakeholders,

be sure to include at least one open ended

question to unearth new

issues.

TIP!

DEFINING THE NEED

OUR VIEW THEIR VIEW

Your goal is to reach agreement that this is

a true need.

Data must be objective & compelling

Is this need something we must address immediately?

This problem is just growing worse. We need support today.

DEFINING THE NEED

Your statement of

need is objective.

Your project is the right response.

Cast a wide data collection net

Look at both internal and external data

Run that data through a sieve

DEFINING THE NEED

Get to know your data sources!

Find good resources that deliver excellent data – and use them regularly.

Consistency of use instills confidence in your writing.

There are a number of high quality, peer-reviewed subject directories on line.

DEFINING THE NEED

INFOMINE is a comprehensive virtual library and reference tool for academic and scholarly Internet resources, including Web sites, databases

Searchable by Author, Title, Key Word, Subject, and many other areas.

INFOMINE offers an email alert service so if new data arrives you’ll be the first to know.

DEFINING THE NEED

Stateline is an editorially independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit news service of the Pew Charitable Trusts that provides daily reporting

and analysis on trends in state policy.

Searchable by state, issue, and date.

Stateline offers an RSS feed so you’re always getting the latest

news coverage.

DEFINING THE NEED

Archives and distributes child abuse data sets to researchers.

Find several resources that

speak directly to your work. Use this data with

the data development tools already discussed.

GENERATING A SENSE OF URGENCY

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Urgency of opportunity

Discontent with the

status quo

Every delay causes harm

You can incorporate one or more of these

approaches.

GENERATING A SENSE OF URGENCYEvery year the Jennifer Perkins Literacy Project

works with hundreds of young people, ages 17 to 23, and their families in the inner city to promote literacy and the pursuit of knowledge.

Every month we graduate several dozen young adults from this program – moving them into jobs throughout the community where recruitment of good workers continues to be a challenge for local employers.

Every week the Literacy Project turns away 9 to 15 youth and their families who have asked for our help because we don’t have the staff to open our doors any wider.

Every day is a challenge for the employers in our community who struggle to find well-educated workers to help build their businesses.

Discontent with status

quo

Every delay

causes harm

GENERATING A SENSE OF URGENCY

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Establish a window of

opportunity

Scarcity of product or

service

Note genuine deadlines or emergencies

Be selective in your use of writing

techniques

AGENDA




APPLY A CONSISTENT RESEARCH METHOD

Look for government & private sources

Review background materials

Determine questions

Create a script

Contact funder

Build strategy

Six specific, easy to do steps

Unlock the door to the right grant

makers

APPLY A CONSISTENT RESEARCH METHODCheck out all government fundingFederalStateLocal government(s)

Research private grantmakersFoundations (regional, national, global)

Family Trusts, Community Foundations

Corporations (local business, regional, national, global)

Religious grantmakers (cross denominations)

Associations and clubs (local, statewide, national)

APPLY A CONSISTENT RESEARCH METHODReview and eliminate

First Cut

Deadline date(s)

Average grant award

Geographic focus

Areas of interest

Types of support

Second Cut

Who have they given to in the past year?

Have they funded a project similar to ours?

Develop questions• Can they share with you the

review process?

• Should the proposal be written for reviewers with technical or non-technical backgrounds?

• As a first time applicant, should you ask for a less amount then average?

• Can they tell you the probable award announcement date?

• Are there unannounced programs or unsolicited funds available to support your project?

APPLY A CONSISTENT RESEARCH METHODCreate a scriptLet the funder know, right up front, that you have done your homework Don't ask questions that are

already answered in their published materials.

Do introduce yourself, your role, and one or two sentences about your organization.

Don’t give them a lot of information about your organization or project at this juncture.

Engage the grantmaker

Contact via email or phone

Don’t go off script!

If you are writing an email, make it short and easy for them to answer specific questions.

If you are calling, tell them exactly how much time you need (5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc.) and stick to it.

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GrantStation is a terrific "one-stop" for comprehensive information about grant opportunities... Federal, State and Foundation. I have found it to be a better resource than any of the other "directories."Dr. Mary C. HokeNon-Profit Administrator and University FacultyJewish Family & Children’s ServiceSt. Louis, MO

Comprehensive, searchable databases of private and public sector funding in the U.S. and throughout

the world.

Here’s what we offer to help you in your good work!

On-going, on-line education to help in

every aspect of grants research, grant writing,

and grants management.

ABOUT BLACKBAUDServing the nonprofit and education sectors for 30 years, Blackbaud (NASDAQ: BLKB) combines technology and expertise to help organizations achieve their missions. Blackbaud works with more than 28,000 customers in over 60 countries that support higher education, healthcare, human services, arts and culture, faith, the environment, independent K-12 education, animal welfare, and other charitable causes. The company offers a full spectrum of cloud-based and on-premise software solutions and related services for organizations of all sizes including: fundraising, eMarketing, social media, advocacy, constituent relationship management (CRM), analytics, financial management, and vertical-specific solutions. Using Blackbaud technology, these organizations raise more than $100 billion each year. Recognized as a top company by Forbes, InformationWeek, and Software Magazine and honored by Best Places to Work, Blackbaud is headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, and has operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

ARE YOU MAXED

OUT?

The #1 reason you lose your funding is

inefficiency

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What should you do about it?

38

THE FINANCIAL EDGE FOR GRANT FUNDED ORGANIZATIONS

CYNTHIA ADAMS

[email protected]

@GrantsCEO

For more information, resources, and conversations, visit:

GrantStation.com

JEFF SOBERS

[email protected]

@jeffsobers

For more information, resources, and conversations, visit:

npEngage.com

Blackbaud.com/fund-accounting/financial-edge

Save the Date!

October 6 – 8, 2014, Gaylord Nashville, TN

developing a strong grants program

Economy & Finance

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