Grant Writing Tools and News You Can Use

There are some tools on the website and news coming this week that I wanted to be sure to share with you.

Help with Writing Letters of Support for Grants - As you put together grant proposals over the next few months, don't shortchange your proposal by including poor letters of support. Recently, we posted a blog post on Writing Good Letters of Support for Grants that you should check out.  Because I couldn't get all of the information in a short, easy to scan post, I also recorded a webinar on the topic. The recording is free and will be available for viewing on demand (within the next day or so) on our Webinar Resource page. While you're there, check out the other grant writing webinars.

FY 2011 Proposed Federal Budget Update - On Friday, February 19, 2010, our Tips from the Grant Goddess show on BlogTalkRadio will focus on some highlights of the President's proposed FY 2011 budget.  We will speak specifically about what the budget proposes for education and social services. You can listen to the show live online on Friday, or listen to the recording later on demand.  We have many other recoded radio shows available at that link, too, on a variety of grant-related topics.  They are all free for you, so take some time to browse the topics. One last thing about the FY 2011 Proposed Budget Highlights - We'll be posting additional highlights, beyond those we discuss on the radio show, on our  GrantGoddess.com member site. If you are not a member, check out what you can get if you gain access to the largest collection of grant seeking, grant writing, non-profit development, and program evaluation resources on the web!

New Mini-Grants Posted on Mini-Grant Central - Some folks are interested in large state, federal, and foundation grants, but many others are perfectly happy writing for mini-grants (small grants ranging from $500 - $10,000). Mini-grants are everywhere, but they can be hard to find if you don't know where to look.  That's why we added Mini-Grant Central to the forum on the GrantGoddess.com member site. I just added 10 more mini-grant sources this morning.  We added 12 last week.  The list will keep growing and growing. If you're interesting in mini-grants, membership is for you.

New Grant Tips iPhone App - Just three weeks ago, we released an iPhone (and iPod Touch) application.  Grant Tips includes over 100 grant writing tips organized into categories designed to provide support through all stages of proposal development. We have heard some great feedback on this tool, so take a look here for more information.

We are constantly adding new resources to the Grant Goddess website.  Take a few minutes and see what gold you can find there!

Writing Good Letters of Support for Grants

One of the most difficult parts of the grant writing process is getting good letters of support from project partners. Collecting lots of letters is not the point.  In fact, having a big handful of poorly written letters will actually hurt your chances of funding, rather than help.

The whole point of submitting letters of support with a proposal is to document your collaboration and the contributions to be made by various partners. If your letters do not accomplish that point, they are more of a hindrance than a help.

Here are some tips to help you write and gather great letters of support:

• Don't use a form letter.  Yes, everyone is really busy, but using a form letter for all of your letters of support (just substituting the letterhead and the name of the organization) actually demonstrates a lack of collaboration, which is opposite to the effect you want. If you want to provide samples for your partners, fine, but be aware that some folks will just copy those samples unless you work with them very closely.  If your partners are unable to put together the kind of letters you need, it would be a better idea to write each individual letter for them and submit them to your partners for their approval and signature.  They can then make any changes they need before putting the letter on letterhead and signing.  They will be grateful for the help, and you'll get better letters.
• Include the identity of the partner, the nature of the relationship, and the nature of the contribution. That's three core paragraphs.  The identity of the partner paragraph should include basic information about the agency authoring the letter.  The nature of the relationship paragraph should discuss the history of the relationship and how the parties are working together on the project in question. The history of the relationship would go here, too. The nature of the contribution paragraph should focus on what contributions the partner agency will make to the project during the life of the grant, or at least over the next year.  It should clearly delineate if the contribution is an in-kind donation of services or if the agency will be compensated for the contribution through the grant.
• Quantify contributions whenever possible. Contributions can be quantified, but folks often hesitate to do so because they are afraid they will be asked to produce that donation in cash at some point.  That is not the case.  If you're that worried about it, say in the letter that the contribution is in the form of services, not cash. An estimate of the actual dollar value of the contribution is enough.  This is a letter of support, not a tax receipt.
• Put the letter on agency letterhead. This makes it look much more official than a letter on plain white paper. Remember, in the computer age, letterhead can be easily created for free.
• Include the signature of the organization decision maker. The signature of the superintendent or executive director is generally more valuable than the signature of a coordinator or project manager; however, if a letter from a lower level employee in the organization would be more inclusive of details about how the agencies work together, go for it! Remember, the content matters.
• Make sure the letters match what you said in the narrative.  This is why grant planning and writing can be so challenging.  Your partner letters need to reinforce and support what you said in the main grant narrative.  That means your partners really need to play some role in the planning and know something about the proposal.  They don't necessarily need to see the full proposal before you can expect a letter, but they should at least know something about it. The more they know, the stronger the letters will be.

Taking the time to gather really good letters can make a big difference in your chances of funding.  Sometimes, the letters will make the difference.  Don't make the mistake of underestimating their value.

On Friday, February 26, 2010, we'll be hosting a Tips from the Grant Goddess BlogTalkRadio episode on this very topic. You can listen to the show live (and call in to ask questions, if you'd like) or you can listen to the recording of the show on-demand any time after the live broadcast at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Veronica-Robbins . Of course, it's free!

In addition, sometime within the next few days, we'll be posting a FREE webinar on the topic (Writing Great Letters of Support for Grants).  You can access it through the webinar page on our website.

Working with a Grant Writer

Today's BlogTalkRadio Tips from the Grant Goddess show will focus on Working with a Grant Writer. We will be discussing how to know if a grant writer is right for you, what to look for when hiring a grant writer, what should be included in the contract, and what services you can expect from a grant writer.

Join us today online at 3:00 p.m. (Pacific) to hear the show LIVE. During the live broadcast, you can call in with your questions or comments.

If you can make it to the live broadcast, you can access the archived version from here on our blog, or by going to our show page at BlogTalkRadio.

Click here to read some quick tips about working with a grant writer.

The radio show will cover many more tips than those you can read on the website, so plan on taking 30 minutes to listen to the broadcast.

Current Federal Grant Opportunities

Today at 3:00 p.m. PST, Tips from the Grant Goddess on BlogTalkRadio will focus on Current Federal Grant Opportunities.

In this episode, the Grant Goddess will review several current federal grant opportunities for schools, school districts, and social service non-profit agencies. She will discuss the key features and requirements of each opportunity, her tips for success, and some things to consider in making the decision if each opportunity is right for you. You won't want to miss this one!

Top Five Mistakes of Novice Grant Writers

If you missed today's BlogTalkRadio show about The Top Five Mistakes Made by Novice Grant Writers, you can click here to access the archived version of the show, as well as other archived episodes of Tips from the Grant Goddess.

If you would like to read about some of the issues we highlighted in the radio show, go to our Hubpage on the same topic.

What to Look for in a Request for Proposals - BlogTalkRadio Show Today!

Today's BlogTalkRadio show topic is "What to Look for in an RFP." We'll be talking about the things you should look for in an RFP when making the decision about whether or not to apply for a grant, and what detail items you need to look for to be sure you don't miss anything in your application.

Remember, if you miss the live broadcast today at 3:00 p.m. PST, you can listen to the archived version by following the same link below.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Veronica-Robbins

BlogTalkRadio Show About Mini-Grants

If you missed Friday's radio show about Getting Started with Mini-Grants, listen to the archived version now. You can access it by clicking on the BlogTalkRadio button on the right hand side of this page. In addition to giving some tips on how to get started and be successful with mini-grants, we also highlighted some excellent sources of mini-grants that you can download and apply for today.

Evidence-Based Violence Prevention Strategies

If you missed our BlogTalkRadio show last week on Evidence-Based Violence Prevention Strategies, be sure to listen to the archived version as soon as you can. Marjorie Rist, Probation Program manager responsible for Juvenile Probation, from the Yolo County Probation Department, was our special guest.

She used the hour to share her experience with some excellent evidence-based violence prevention programs for youth, and she provided some excellent resources to help you find some good evidence-based programs.

To listen to the archived version of that radio show, click on the link on the right side of this page, or go to our BlogTalkRadio profile page.

To get links to some of the excellent resources Marjorie talked about during the show, go to the Grant Goddess website, click on the "Forum" tab at the top of the page, and then look for the thread on Violence Prevention Strategies.