Grant Opportunities in Tough Economic Times - Separating Myth from Reality

It's hard to escape messages about the troubled state of the economy these days. On television, the radio, even in casual conversations on the street, it seems like everyone is talking about difficult economic conditions and the dismal prospects for the next few years. I have had several conversations about grant writing with folks in the last few days, and the theme I hear is the same - "There probably won't be any good grants out this year because of the economy." Well, that is not necessarily so.

Let's separate some myth from reality:

Myth - A downturn in the economy always means fewer grant opportunities. This is just not so. There are many factors that affect the availability of grant opportunities.

Myth - There will not be any grant applications out this year. Not so. I already have the scoop on several RFPs that are in the editing process and on their way out. Keep your eyes open.

Myth - The change in presidential administration will mean fewer grant opportunities. Again, this is not necessarily so. In fact, Democratic administrations historically have favored discretionary grant opportunities as a way of distributing funds, particularly for programs for disadvantaged youth. Republican administrations prefer direct grants to states, but they have never eliminated discretionary grant competitions completely (case in point, haven't there been a bunch of federal grants available in the last eight years?).

Reality - We are going through an economic rough patch and this will have some effect of federal and state budgets. Indeed, it has already had some effect on grant funding. It is unclear, though, exactly what the full impact will be.

Reality - With a change in presidential administration, there are many uncertainties in the grant world. So, we have to watch and wait a bit. What's new?

Reality - Most economic downturns don't last more than a year or two.

Reality - When economic times are hard, grant opportunities have historically been one way that government officials have chosen to distribute limited funds.

So, let's all stay calm. Be patient. There will be grant opportunities available this year - and next year, too. We just need to be prepared for change and ready to take advantage of opportunities as they arise. Do your grant planning as you would in any other year, and watch for the right opportunities for your organization to become available.

Are you ready?

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.

The Importance of Respect When Working Collaboratively with Others

Several years, I visited a new church. It was an inviting place to be - the people were nice, the chairs were comfortable. Then the minister began to talk. He spent 30 minutes or so chastising the congregation because there weren't more people there. I remember thinking, "Does he realize that he's upset with the wrong crowd?" Needless to say, I never returned to that church.

This weekend, I had a similar experience at a Youth Substance Abuse Summit I attended. I was invited to attend, as were there other 80 - 100 people who were there representing 6 or 7 different communities. We were there to explore ways we could collaborate to decrease youth substance abuse.

We heard some good speakers who shared some excellent information. Then we were sent off to work in community groups to come up with action plans for addressing the issue that we would continue to implement long after the summit activities ended.

In my community group, we had some good discussions. We went back and forth on several issues, and we struggled with finding a good starting point. Many of group left early (it was a Saturday, after all!). Our facilitator was a bit inexperienced, but she did her best to keep us moving forward. I admire her efforts because keeping us on track was probably a little like herding kittens. As we approached the end of the day, we had a plan to meet again and a priority list of issues we would address. Not bad.

Then, with 30 minutes left to go, a new facilitator came in the room and starting chastising us for all that we had not accomplished on that day. He said some rather inappropriate and untrue things about our community. He spoke to the group harshly and cruelly. In the end, all of the good will and excitement that had been built up over the past 24 hours was gone.

As you can imagine, I was angry. I was a bit upset about some of the things he said about our community that were not true (clearly, he has not been involved with the work in our community in recent years and months), but I was most upset about the way he treated those dedicated and hardworking people who were volunteering their time on a Saturday to do something good for their community.

The people he was most upset with were all the people who were not in room, but he took it out on the dedicated folks who were hanging in and working to the end of the day.

We expressed our frustration about what had happened with the organizers of the summit, but in the end, we have decided to let it go. We know that we are planning to move forward with the work in our community. We know we have done good work thus far. We know the really hard work lays ahead.

Here's the lesson I pulled from this experience ---Organizations are working collaboratively with other organizations more than ever. Not only is a collaborative approach the best way to leverage the most existing resources within a community, but most state and federal grants (and many private grants) now require inter-agency collaboration as a condition of funding.

How are we treating our collaborative parnters?

Are we showing them the respect they deserve for giving of their time and energy to help the effort?

Are we showing respect for their dedication to their community?

If not, it's time for an attitude adjustment. Remember, working with groups of people and agency representatives is not easy. Tasks that seem like they should be simple can take much longer than we expect. The discussions we have with our partners as we negotiate details and ideas are extremely important in paving the way for future progress.

Now, I could choose not to go back to that church were I was chastised years ago, but I cannot (I will not) choose to walk away from my own community. Collaborative partners simply must find a way to work together. We must get passed the petty hurts and offenses and keep moving forward - together. The stakes for our children are too high to let someone who is ill-informed and rude throw us off track.

The gift I got this weekend was a reminder about the importance of treating my fellow community members with respect.

What You Need To Know About Grants.Gov

O.k., I'll admit it. I was not very fond of http://www.grants.gov/ when it first came out. It was glitchy. It was cumbersome. It cramped my creative style.

Things have changed. Not only have major improvements been made to the whole grants.gov system, but I have adjusted to change...and now I embrace it. It helps that I have no choice.

What is grants.gov? It is the online source for finding and applying for federal grants. Most, although not quite all, federal grants must now be submitted through the grants.gov website.

Here are some important things for you to know about grants.gov:

• Your organization must be registered on grants.gov prior to submitting a federal grant through the system. Registration is not too difficult, but it is a multi-step process that can take up to a week to complete. If you think you might want to consider submitting a federal grant this year, I highly recommend that you register now. Waiting until the wee before your grant is due is a bad idea.
• If you were registered in the past, you may need to update your registration. Log on to the system and make sure that your registration is still valid. Update any authorized users and email addresses that need to be updated.
• Grants.gov has a new blog now with some nifty information. It is definitely worth checking out. For example, today I learned that there are 165 different grants closing on September 30/October 1 (63 for HHS and 101 for EPA). The system is going to be really busy (translation = expect long upload times and glitches), so we should all plan on submitting our applications early.
• You can sign up on the website to have notifications of all new grant announcements sent to you via email. You have to wade through announcements for pesticide grants and loads of medical research grants, but it also gives you access to the announcements you want as soon as they come out.
• The website now has an RSS feed so you can subscribe to find out about any updates to the website as they happen.

If you are even remotely thinking about applying for federal grants, you should check out grants.gov. Accept it. You'll be happier.

Learning the Wii Way

I bought a Nintendo Wii today. I had been holding out for months, in spite of my teenager's black-belt level of whining and begging. What changed my mind?

Last week, I heard about an after school program in northern California that had purchased a Wii system. Now, the context in which I heard about the purchase was interesting. It was shared with me that some school administrators were questioning the value of such a purchase. I can almost hear the conversation...

'At a time when budgets have been cut and funds are low, and everyone is being asked to be a bit more frugal than usual, can we really justify spending money on a video game system? Don't we need books and other real instructional materials?'

But the second I heard about the purchase, I knew it was genius. In fact, I can't think of any other school-related expenditure that would guarantee a better return on investment (ROI).

Here's why:

• It's hard enough to motivate junior high and high school students to attend after school programs. Since Wii is all the rage right now, it seems like it would be a great motivator for attendance...and for participation in general ('If you get your homework done, there may be some time for Wii...').
• At a time when childhood obesity is at an all time high, and experts are searching for ways to combat it, an activity that kids like that also gets them moving can't be a bad thing, right? And the youth attending the after school program are the ones who most need the additional motivation for physical activity. The athletes are already in sports. The teenagers who are not in organized sports get little physical activity. Wii could really make a difference for some of them.
• We know from research that some kids learn best when they can be physically involved in their learning. Wii, and the huge assortment of Wii games, can provide a unique opportunity in that area.

Video games have typically been a stationary, and often solitary, activity. Yes, I know all about online games and even the hybrid of video system/online games, but most kids don't have access to those, and those youth who need additional academic support and participate in state and federally-funded after school programs are typically the ones who do not have the resources to afford those systems.

So, the news about this school's purchase got me thinking. . .

and I bought a Wii.

For five hours this afternoon, my 16-year-old, my 4-year-old, and I played video games. We laughed, we sweated, we moaned when it was time to stop. In what other world (other than this virtual Wii world) could the 4-year-old take on the 16-year-old in a boxing match - and have a chance to win? We all burned a few calories and had a great time together.

I have never been a big supporter of video games, but this was different.

We spend a lot of time in education trying to get young people to come into our world of print and mathematics, and we usually do it in ways that are not very engaging.

Maybe we should all spend a little more time in their world. We may all learn more.