Typical Steps for the Grant Development Process
- Define funding objectives, e.g. what projects you want funded
- Grant search to meet your strategic objectives
- Analysis of opportunity based on decision-criteria
- Decision to pursue a specific opportunity
- Develop a project development plan outlining activities, time lines, and responsibilities
- Outline, identify elements of response, support, input
- Develop support, partnerships, memorandums of agreement, letters of support
- Provide readily available existing information
- Request for information from grant writer
- Gather data and information for gaps
- First draft
- Feedback, and continuous elaboration
- Second draft
- Feedback on second draft
- Additional drafts and reviews as time permits
- Continuous improvement
- Quality Assurance/Independent Review
- Final draft
- Feedback, improvement, completion
- Final product and submission
These are typical steps in a grant development process, all projects are unique and our services are tailored to meet the customers specifications.
Example: a customer may desire to conduct their own grant search and develop their own support with partners to include letters of support.
After speaking with you about an opportunity we will propose a project plan/checklist for the development of a grant application, to include: activities, responsibilities, and timelines.
Are You Grant Ready
Your organization should have a clearly defined purpose or mission, provide a good product or service that fulfills a community need and have a credible reputation.
Funders want to know your organization is:
- Fiscally secure
- Well-managed
- Provides important community services
- Capable of managing the grant based on credible evidence
- Experienced providing services
- Successful relative to the proposal
- Able to provide data to show your success
Is your project concept aligned with their mission and vision?
Does your project meet an objective of your organization and fulfill the purposes of your organization?
Does the proposed project meet the present or future needs of your customers?
Do you have a plan or a concept and the time to develop a plan?
Do you have a champion that can lead this project?
Do you have the capacity to manage the project successfully if you are awarded?
Can you sustain the effort?
Decision Criteria on Pursuing a Funding Opportunity
- Is this opportunity aligned with your: Vision, Mission, Strategies, Actions, and Objectives?
- Are you eligible for the opportunity?
- Do you meet the priorities of the funder?
- Will the opportunity have a positive return on investment?
- Do we have the time to be involved in the program development process?
Example:
20% award probability x 400,000 grant award = 80,000 Expected Value
Grant writer costs 5,000 + your time costs 9,000 = 14,000 Cost
ROI of 571% = recommend pursuing
Other Considerations
- Requirements to include matching funds
- Competitiveness
- Administrative requirements
- Your ability to provide input and feedback
- Length of support
- Partner requirements
- Readiness and resources availability
- Other relevant decision-making factors
Elements of Success
- A developed and evidence-based concept.
- Fit with the funder’s criteria, requirements, and priorities.
- Data, document and measure your needs and your successes, perhaps as part of your strategic planning and implementation process.
- Organizations capacity and readiness.
- Involvement of project lead and organization.
- Feedback, input, and review.
- Grant writers ability to tell your story the way the funder wants to hear it.
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