Jennifer A. PolandM.A.

jenniferapoland@gmail.com(706) 616-4238

Presentation OutlineThe Need for Grant WritingBackground

Nonprofit Revenue Diversification Grant Writing Resources Common Elements of Success in Grant Writing

Thesis Survey Research Methodology Development of the Questionnaire Results

Grant Writing Application Grant Inventory Summary & Grant Proposal developed for

Horse Time

The Need for Grant Writing Survey ResearchThe vulnerability of nonprofit organizations is critical

as 16% of organizations survive for only the first five years of operation (NCCS, 2000-2005).

Competitiveness for the estimated $38.44 billion given out by grant making organizations is great (Giving USA, 2010).

Nonprofits are particularly subject to resource dependency, a reliance on any one stream of revenue that greatly impacts nonprofit organizational structures and financial health (Carroll & Stater, 2008).

Grant programs may only fund 10 to 30 percent of applications (Porter, 2005).

EAAT Nonprofit organizations at risk for resource dependency? Equus: The Center for Equine Assisted Therapy, located in Kansas City, Missouri provides children, youth, and adults critical life skills through activities with horses reported 96% of their income from program service revenue alone in 2009 (Guidestar, 2010).

In Tuscon, Arizona, Desert Dove Farm offers a horse therapy program for at risk youth reported 70% of their income from program service revenue alone in 2009 (Guidestar, 2010).

Stride Ahead, in Atlanta, Georgia, provides youth development, animal related activities and general rehabilitative services using horses reported 100% of their income from contributions and grants in 2009 (Guidestar, 2010).

Triple Creek Ranch in Redding, California, providing youth development, mental health treatment and general rehabilitative services using horses reported 78% of their income in 2008 from contributions, gifts, and grants (Guiedestar, 2010).

Grant Writing Resources

Summary of Grant Services offered by different organizations(1) listing of grant consultants, (2) resources, research and/or reports, (3) searchable database for grants, and (4) workshops, classes, trainings, and/or

certifications.

Grant Opportunities Specific to Nonprofit EAAT Organizations

Grant Services Offered by Different Organizations There are positive and negative attributes to EAAT organizations utilizing a

listing of grant consultants. A grant consultant would be beneficial to an organization due to their knowledge and experience composing the proposal and following a timeline. Adversely hiring a grant consultant maybe a poor option for organizations due to the lack of institutional memory, choosing the wrong individual, or a high cost.

Resources to organizations in grant writing, research and reports related to grant writing or fundraising are valuable to EAAT organizations. Nonprofit organizations that provide services to the community are under increased pressure to justify their expenditures and demonstrate their value to the community (Grant, 2006)

Nonprofit organizations choosing to use grants as a source of funding will require knowledge of where to access searchable database to locate potential funders for identified projects or programs. Searchable databases are a benefit to organizations as they are fast, user friendly and help focus the search for grant funders.

Nonprofit organizations offering EAAT services may benefit from workshops, training, certifications or conferences in grant writing. Organizations may need training or development due to a lack of knowledge in grant writing, or a planned change in the organization to utilize grants. The benefits of networking and increasing employee efficiencies in process and the adoption of new methods may result in financial gain through awarded grants.

Grant Opportunities Specific to Nonprofit EAAT Organizations(1) EAAT organizations interested in conducting research can benefit from

searching for grants to legitimize the effectiveness of their program.(2) The American Horse Council and their affiliate state Horse Council

Member Associations represent the horse industry in government (AHC, 2011). Examples of three of the Horse Council Associations that offer grants include Nebraska, Minnesota, and Iowa.

(3) Breed Associations can be a potential source of funding through grants, fundraisers, or benefit events. Further involvement with breed associations can increase marketing sources, donations, volunteers, horse donations and clientele.

(4) Any organization utilizing horses in their EAAT programs, unless the animals are leased, or the facility use is leased, could consider utilizing sustainable, eco-friendly, horse keeping practices.

(5) Funding for program costs can emanate from a variety of funding sources equine and non equine oriented

(6) Nonprofit organizations operating a horse rescue, and utilizing these horses for EAAT programs.

(7) Funding for the variety of programs offered through nonprofit organizations can have a beneficial impact on EAAT programs even if the funding is not directly related if the programs share staff, horses, and facilities.

Summary of Grant Services Available to Nonprofit OrganizationsGrant Writing Resources Specific to EAAT

Traditional Organizations offering Grant Writing Resources

Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association

NARHA Association for Experiential Education Quick Start Grant Writing for Equine-Assisted

Therapeutic Riding and Learning Programs (Bowman)

First Strides: How to Create a Thriving EAP Program Without Losing your Money or Your Mind (Corcoran)

Equinomics: The Secret to Making Money with Your Horse Business (Cordell)

EAGALA Business Development Guide Horse Sense Business Sense: Practical Tools for

Building a Successful Equine Assisted Program (Knapp, & Dammann)

How to Start en EFP/EFL Program (NARHA) Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Business

Planning Guide and Workbook (Scott) Planning your Business in the Horse as

Healer/Teacher Professions (Strozzi)

American Association of Grant Professionals

The Foundation Center Grant Professionals Association of Fundraising

Professionals The Grantsmanship Center Grant Writing USA Federal Government Grants Federal Grants Wire Fundsnet Services Online Grants Alert National Grants Management

Association Grant Advocate Resource Center Giving USA Foundation & Giving

Institute

Summary of Grant Writing: Funding Resources

“The lives of all the people involved [can] be enriched by the experience (Schaff & Schaff, 1999, pg. 106)."

Traditional funding sources include money received through direct mail fundraising, telephone-fundraising, major gift fundraising, planned giving fundraising, online/internet fundraising, special event fundraising, different foundation organizations, government agencies at either the national, state or local level, United Way, Lions, Kiwanis Club, Rotary Club, local community organizations (AFP, 2009; Smith, 2010).

Flying Change (2011) lists different funding opportunities on their webpage to encourage the awareness of diversification of funding sources and focuses including: (1)suicide prevention; (2) domestic violence; (3) responding to the aftermath of disasters; (4) responding to the aftermath of crisis; (5) youth and social services (6) health; (7) schools; and (8) communities.

Summary of Grant Writing: Writing Skills

Writing that includes originality, problem solving, timelines, compelling need, and outreach; is needed to convey stewardship in any proposal (Blum, 1996).

The purpose of writing within grant writing is to enlighten, educate, persuade and entertain (Smith, 2010).

Resources include: A Writer's Reference (Hacker, 2010), How to Write: Advice and Reflections (Rhodes, 1995), Writing to Change the World (Pipher, 2006), Writing for a Good Cause: The Complete guide to Crafting Proposals and other Persuasive Pieces for Nonprofits (Barbato & Furlich, 2000), The Elements of Style (Strunk & White, 2008).

Summary of Grant Writing Skills: Proposal DevelopmentCover LetterProposal Narrative (Smith, 2010)

Proposal abstractHistory of the organization and mission statementNeeds assessment and problem statementGoals of the organizationObjectives of the proposalPlan of activities (who, what, where, why, when and

how)Past year’s accomplishmentsQualifications of key staffAccountability and evaluation plan of agency programs

and progressSustainability planbudget

Summary of Grant Writing Skills: Managing the Grant ProcessGrant Management Activities (Smith, 2010):

Facilitation and/or supervision of a grant project team,

Proposal research,Identification of funding and bid sources,Grant and proposal writing,Agency capability statement, and Program management and financial

management.

Summary of Grant Writing Skills: Grant Management Checklist

Thesis Title: An Examination of Developing Grant Proposals for Nonprofit Equine Facilitated Learning and Psychotherapy ProgramsThe purpose of the qualitative study was to

extend the research on EAMH nonprofit organizations commonalities in successful and unsuccessful elements within grant development.

Survey Research Design a QuestionnaireAssessed representatives of NARHA and EAGALA

nonprofit organizationsGrant Writing Projects with Horse Time

Grant Inventory SummaryGrant Proposal

Survey ResearchQuestionnaire

25 questionsQuestions are separated based on content

starting with: Demographic Information (q. 1-5), Financial Information (q. 6-13) , Grant Writing Experience and Resources (q. 14-20),

and Successful and Unsuccessful Grant Elements (q. 21-

25)

Survey Results188 (82 NARHA, 106 EAGALA) potential

participants were contacted for the research survey, 51 (19 NARHA, 32 EAGALA) participants agreed to participate, 24 (8 NARHA, 16 EAGALA) participants declined participation.

Eight Participants returned survey, all female representatives of five NARHA nonprofit organizations, and three EAGALA nonprofit organizations.

Survey Results - Demographic Information

All participants represented nonprofit organizationsOn average organizations registered with NARHA and

EAGALA have been in operation for five or more yearsThe majority of EFMH nonprofit organizations rely on

less than five paid employeesThe EAGALA participants commonly ranked EFP

services first followed by EAL services, the NARHA participants commonly ranked therapeutic riding services first

The majority of participants, NARHA and EAGALA representatives, reported offering services to children, adolescents, and adult groups

Survey Results – Financial InformationParticipants most commonly reported their budget

being $100,000-$200,000NARHA participant members typically ranked grants

as the primary source of income. EAGALA participants revealed no trends in the ranked sources of income

The majority of NARHA and EAGALA participants reported grant funds increased with a subsequent increase in grant applications when the past year and previous five years where compared.

75% of participants responding as receiving both foundation and community grants

Survey Results - Grant Writing Experience and Resources No commonalities were found in relation to budget

and years experience in grant writingParticipants where split between individuals versus

teams composing grant projects.50% of participants reported using only one of the

grant systems (funding development plan and grant inventory), 25% reported using none of the systems, while 25% reported using two or more of the systems.

The majority of organizations employees will be accessing less than two sources, both traditionally and EAAT oriented, when searching for grants

The majority of organizations employees will be accessing less than two resources, both traditionally and EAAT oriented, to improve their grant writing knowledge and experience

Successful Elements in Grant Writing

Gerding, (2008), Eight elements of SuccessGerding & Mackellar, (2006), Ten Points to RememberHimes, (n/d), Four Proven Keys to SuccessBourne & Chalupa, (2006), Ten Rules in Successful

Grant WritingSmaglik, (2004), Five Factors Grant Reviewers Choose

as Successful in Grant ApplicationsPorter, (2007), Five Strategies to Improve Academics

Grant Writing SkillsMcCume, (2007), Ten Elements of SuccessPorter, (2005), Six Grant Reviewers Expectations &

Seven Characteristics of a Good ProposalWhatley, (2000), Ten Ways to Improve Proposals

Unsuccessful Elements in Grant WritingPorter (2005) reports common grant writing

mistakes as reported by grant reviewers. Grant reviewers critiqued: (1) writing that is vague and unfocused; (2) lack of proofreading; (3) incomplete response to the program announcement; (4) the project is too ambitious; (5) the research plan is vague; (6) the principal investigator lacks proven competence to do the research.

Carlson, & O’Neal-McElrath (2008) discuss common difficulties in writing grants including: budget issues, ensuring proper requirements of a grant proposal are fulfilled to avoid rejection, and having a well written research proposal.

Survey Results - Successful and Unsuccessful Grant Elements Questions 21 & 23 Participants Ranked

Successful and Unsuccessful Commonalities in Grant Writing on a Linear Scale of 1-7, 1 – Extremely Unimportant, and 7 – Extremely Important

The inter item correlation lacked statistical significance due to the low sample size.

The Frequency Distribution for Questions 21 and 23 indicated that participants rated 68.4% of the elements as Quite Important (6) to Extremely Important(7)

Survey Results - Successful and Unsuccessful Grant Elements Successful Commonalities

Unsuccessful Commonalities

Grant work should always begin with planning

Include the appropriate background and preliminary data

Create an evaluation strategy and build the method into the project from the start

Clearly defining the needs of the organization

Detailed budgets that match the proposed program or project

Not being clear and concise with the proposal idea

The grant proposal not matching the grant funders concept

Not beginning grant work with a plan

Failure to use an evaluation strategy

Expenditure and/or cost estimating that is not thoroughly detailed

Survey Results - Self Reported Answers Self Reported Answers for Questions 22, 24, and 25: Q. 22"reporting back to show accountability and desired results

were met”,"be sure your project falls within the realm of the grantors

guidelines”,“make sure the request falls within the giving guidelines of

the grant maker" Q. 24"how many grants are submitted, they may like the project

but it could be the wrong time to submit" Q. 25"collaboration with individuals that have been successful

and or familiar with the grant offering group" "grantors like to see background facts"

Grant Writing Projects with Horse TimeGrant Inventory Summary

Three projects, grants identified for each The first project is a brick and mortar initiative, as the organization

needs a multi-use building The second project is a program initiative, to provide a social skills

group for boys at the Sharp Learning Center, an alternative school located in Covington, Georgia

The last project as being a staffing initiative, to provide funds for a Volunteer Coordinator/Recruiter at Horse Time

Commonalities in Grant Inventory Development Process Finding grants for operating expenses such as the staffing

initiative was the most difficult portion of the process the government database was extremely difficult to navigate

and understand the qualifications necessary to apply and the application process

Grant funders had different formats and applications required for their grant proposals, no trend in requirements was evident, providing minor direction in a successful grant submission.

Grant Writing Projects with Horse TimeGrant Application

Robert W. Woodruff Foundation (Preliminary Planning Construction Grant – Brick and Mortar Initiative)

Commonalities in Grant Application DevelopmentThe funding focus area of human services,

particularly for children and youth, was heavily emphasized in the grant proposal to ensure linking the funders initiatives to the project

The majority of the information for the organizational history and program overview included in the grant was available on Horse Time's website or within the clinical training manual

The grant proposal aspects of writing including: relevant statistics, program information, quotes, concise and clear writing were most prevalent.

Thesis LimitationsLimitations of Survey Research

Low number of ParticipantsSurvey as a word document compared to an online

surveyThe best individual within the organization to approach

regarding grant writing survey research was unknownQuestionnaire designLimitations of Grant Writing Projects

Lack of an evaluation of the chosen grants appropriateness for each of the three projects

Lack of an evaluation of successful and unsuccessful tendencies in the developed proposal

Thesis RecommendationsThe first recommendation is the movement in

the field towards research specific to EAAT grant writing

The second recommendation specific to the application of grant writing skills by nonprofit organizations, is the increased devotion of staff to utilizing more knowledge and resources to grant writing

Future grant writing research should consider assessing grant funders beliefs of successful commonalities in grant writing specific to EAAT nonprofit organizations

Thesis ConclusionThe non experimental design was utilized to

determine what individuals are involved in EAAT nonprofit programs are thinking and doing in regards to successful commonalities in grant writing.

The survey research demonstrated a lack of significant results regarding successful elements in grant writing. There were strong similarities in participants' ranking of successful and unsuccessful elements surrounding planning, budgets, and evaluation strategies in grant writing. A policy change in grant funders providing clear criteria for evaluation of grant applications is needed.

Grant Writing Conclusions in Nonprofit EAAT ProgramsA large factor in business success is the ability to maintain a

consistent cash flow, nonprofit organizations offering EAAT programs benefit from traditional business knowledge of diversifying funding.

Sources of funding need to reliably support an organization through consistent funds respectively to maintain income to strengthen an organization within the current economy.

Nonprofit organizations seeking grant funding are attempting to make a lasting and profound impression on grant reviewers, in hopes of receiving grant funding.

The success of EAAT nonprofit organizations receiving and utilizing grant funds for their businesses is dependent first on the decision and devotion to integrating grant writing policies and procedures as one of many sources of diversified funding within the nonprofit organization.