Gain a full understanding of the criteria funders use to determine whether your grant proposal gets funded or rejected.
In this course, an experienced grant writer will show you how to research and write winning proposals that get funded. You will become proficient in the proposal format used by the vast majority of public foundations. Learn what to do and what not to do on your cover sheet, narrative, background page, and your stakeholder and third-party evaluation plan. Discover the quickest and most efficient ways to gather the information you will need to develop your proposal's attachments, including information on your organization's structure, administration, and finances. Gain a full understanding of the criteria funders use to determine whether your grant proposal gets funded or rejected.
Before this course is over, you will have discovered a number of significant finishing touches that can give your project the edge over others. You will learn about the importance of obtaining community and political support before submitting a proposal to any government agency.
Requirements:
Hardware Requirements:
- This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.
Software Requirements:
- PC: Windows 8 or later.
- Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
- Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
- Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.
Other:
- Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.
Instructional Material Requirements:
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
Learn from an experienced grant writer how to research and write winning grant proposals. This course will provide you with a complete understanding of all the components used to determine whether to fund or reject a proposal and how to give your project an edge over others.
Types of Proposal Formats
In this lesson, you'll learn the different types of grant proposal formats for corporations, foundations, and state and federal government agencies. This lesson is important because you'll discover who reviews your proposals at each step, what format the proposal review staff expect to receive, and how and why decisions to fund or reject grant proposals are made.
Match Funders With Projects
This lesson will teach you how to carefully research the funding agencies so you can match your grant funding needs to their interests. You'll learn how to find and use Internet research sites to identify multiple funders for grant proposal projects. You'll also learn how to spot the funder/project matches that result in a 90 percent or higher funding success rate.
Write the History and Major Accomplishments Sections
In this lesson, you'll learn how to prepare the first section of the grant proposal narrative: the research and major accomplishments section. You'll learn how to sift through organizational documents and write useful information that will answer the dozens of questions that grant reviewers ask when reading your narrative. Most importantly, you'll learn how to avoid the mistakes that can cause your grant proposal to lose points during the initial stages of the funder's review process.
Write the Current Programs and Activities Section
This lesson will teach you how to develop a current programs and activities section narrative template. You'll also learn where to find the type of information a grant reviewer needs in this section of your grant proposal. Finally, you'll learn how to confidently answer all of the questions that funders ask when they read this section of your grant proposals.
Write the Target Population Served Section
In this lesson, you will learn how to write accurate and magnetizing copy for the target population served section of your grant proposals. You'll also learn how to conduct extensive research on your target population and how to order, organize, and write the information for this critical section of your grant proposals.
Write the Partnerships Section
This lesson will teach you how to find the most current information on your organization's partners in the community, region, and nation. You'll also learn how to identify potential partners when your organization has few or no partners. Most importantly, you'll learn how to organize and present your partnership information in an appealing format for funders.
Write the Needs Statement Section
In this lesson, you'll learn how to understand the needs statement section from the funder's viewpoint. You'll also learn the type of information to collect on the target population and your organization in order to glean language for this section.
Write the Program Design Section
This is perhaps the most important of all the lessons. You are halfway through the main writing sections for your grant proposal narrative and gaining more confidence in your skills. This lesson will teach you how to show the funder that you have a well-thought-out plan for spending grant monies. You'll learn how to look at the program design section from the funder's viewpoint, how to collect the right information, and how to spot poorly written narrative in this section.
Write the Management Plan Section
In this lesson, you will learn to understand the thinking patterns of grant funders when they read the management plan section. You'll also learn how to avoid the most common types of errors made by other grant writers when writing this section, and how to cull the right information from your program staff or administrators.
Write the Evaluation Section
This lesson will teach you how to look at the evaluation plan section from the funder's perspective. You'll also learn how to steer clear of the age-old errors that other grant writers make when planning and writing this section. From learning where to find the information needed to write an award-winning evaluation plan to learning the common terms that funders look for, this lesson hits the target.
Develop the Budget Section
At this point, you're nearing the finish line for Advanced Proposal Writing. In this lesson, you will learn the standard definitions you need to know when it comes to planning your budget line items. You'll also look at examples of award-winning budget sections on the Internet. Most importantly, this lesson will teach you how to recover with the funder when you make a glaring budget error.
Apply Finishing Touches and Conduct Follow-Up Tasks
This last lesson will teach you how to view your entire proposal package from the funder's viewpoint. You'll also learn how to use words that work, some final formatting techniques, and how to prepare the supporting documentation for your grant proposal-the attachments. The lesson will also teach you the ins and outs of signatories, copies, and how to mail your grant proposal the right way. Lastly, you'll learn how to follow up on all outstanding items, such as verification of proposal delivery and checking back with funders. Finally, you'll learn the next step to take when your proposal is either funded or rejected.
What you will learn
- Learn the different types of grant proposal formats
- Learn how to research funding agencies so you can match your grant funding needs to their interests
- Learn how to prepare each section so that you use the most useful information and avoid mistakes that can cause you to lose points
- Learn to look at your proposal from the funders viewpoint
- Learn to have a well-thought-out plan for spending grant monies
- Learn standard definitions you need to know when it comes to planning your budget line items
- Learn to use words that work, formatting techniques, how to mail your proposal
- Discover the next step to take when your proposal is either funded or rejected
How you will benefit
- Discover how to research and write winning grant proposals that get funded
- Know what steps to take next once your proposal has been funded
Dr. Beverly A. Browning
Dr. Beverly A. Browning is a grant writing consultant and visionary who uses thought leadership to work with nonprofit organizations struggling with the woes of revenue stream imbalances. She has been researching grant funding, grantmaking trends, and board-related barriers to nonprofit capacity building for over 40 years. Together she and her team have helped her clients win over $750 million in grant awards.
Dr. Browning is the founder and director of the Grant Writing Training Foundation and Bev Browning, LLC. She is the author of 44 grant writing publications, including six editions of Grant Writing for Dummies and the 6th edition of Nonprofit Kit for Dummies (to be published in 2021).
Dr. Browning holds graduate and post-graduate degrees in organizational development, public administration, and business administration. She is also a Certified Strategic Planning Facilitator (CSPF), has a McNellis Compression Planning Institute Facilitation Training distinction, and is an Approved Trainer for the Grant Professionals Association (GPA), the Certified Fund Raising Executive International (CFRE, and the Grant Professionals Certification Institute (GPCI).