Handouts

English 4510/6510
Grant & Proposal Writing

Syllabus    Schedule    Projects    Handouts

Here, you will find various handouts I use in this class as well as sample projects. Each handout will have a brief description to let you know what it’s about.

Final Project Ideas
Below are the final project ideas I’ve received so far. If you’re interested in someone else’s project, contact that person directly. The names are the email links. Some of the projects, especially those proposed by graduate students that involve technical knowledge of their particular discipline, might not be appropriate for a group project. Once you have formed a group (not more than four people), notify me who the group members are.

Name Organization Project
Rania Bashir

Mary Shields

Jahri Rivers

Atlanta Contemporary, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that plays a vital role in Atlanta’s cultural landscape. Funding possibly needed for some of their events: Contemporary Kids, Contemporary Cocktails, and Contemporary Talks which they would likely need funding for.

 

 

Corey Bryan Poetry Pretentious Georgia State literacy grant 
Quincy Chapman    
Sho Dixon Foundation  Educational Pipeline for young minorities in the film industry 
Tramunda Hodges

Marlena Fields
Sydney Tyler

Hodges Empowerment Relation Zones We empower scholars with mild learning disabilities in secondary and post-secondary environments to develop in healthy relationships, social and emotional skills, effective self-advocacy for their academics while having an accountability partner, and a community support system. Website: herzones.org

 

Lindsay Howell D&E A Housing and Economic Empowerment Center I currently work at a nonprofit and I am in the process of completing a grant application for a grant titled “Distressed Area Recompete Pilot Program”. This grant has 2 million dollars in funding available for a nonprofit that has programs to help bring employment into areas with very high unemployment rates.

 

Olivia Jarrett

Mitzy Sanchez

Paola Rodriquez

Atlanta Watershed Alliance project to incorporate farm space where members of the community can take free produce to combat the effects of food deserts.The Watershed Alliance is looking for a Federal Grant to build a new project.
Jahri Rivers    
     
Diane Brown Michael J Foxx Foundation For Parkinsons Disease 

 

Rachel Coleman Fertile Ground I worked Fertile Ground with last summer during my apprenticeship and have kept in contact with the founder. I approached her about writing a grant and she immediately agreed. She already has a grant in mind and will be sending me details about it this evening.
Pamela Foster Self My final project idea is a book proposal on which I would like to work alone. I am exploring the following funding opportunities:

·       https://www.neh.gov/grants/research/public-scholar-program 

·       Cambridge Scholars Publishing book proposal

·       http://rarebookschool.org/admissions-awards/fellowships/sofcb/

 

Abdullah Kutubi GSU Computer Science Dept. Developing Diffusion Model for Diversified Image Data Augmentation

 

Marian Russell Lanier Technical College’s health department (nursing) a grant on behalf of to improve their professional networking efforts in the Metro-Atlanta area and to help educate nursing students on how to handle medical, ethical dilemmas. Board grant from the Josiah Macy Jr. foundation that has a ceiling of $100,000 annually for a three-year span, and at least two of their priority areas will be covered in the current plan I have laid out.

Introduction to Proposal Writing
A brief presentation on what is entailed in proposal writing as well as a couple of taxonomies.

ABC Figures (pdf)
Here’s sketch of the key figures in ABC, their work experience, their educational background, and the hierarchical relationship among them.

A Sample Harassment Policy
Here is a copy of a company harassment policy. Carefully examine this policy to see if it’s adequate or inadequate.

Baseline Logic
A summary of some of the aspects discussed in Chapter 2 of our textbook.

Writing Effective Junk Mail
A brief discussion of the various aspects of designing promotional and sales letters.

Writing cold call sales letters
10 Rules for Writing an Effective Sales Letter

Sample Sales Letters

The Foundation Center: http://www.candid.org
The Foundation Center, one of the only four such centers in the nation, provides helpful resources for non-profit organizations in seeking grants. Arrange to visit the center at a time convenient to you.

The foundation center is located at 133 Peachtree Street NE, Lobby Suite 350, Atlanta, GA 30303-1804.

GSU’s University Research Services and Administration
This website offers helpful links to various resources that provide information on grants, foundations, and funding opportunities.

Writing the Letter of Inquiry
Below are a few links to several online articles on and samples of letters of inquiry. The fact that I’m providing these links here doesn’t necessarily mean these are perfect or good examples. I think every one of them offers something valuable. At the same time, always read others’ articles with a critical eye.

Georgia Center for Nonprofits: http://www.gcn.org
This is another good resource in helping you identify potential clients for your final project. For starters, they have a list of nonprofit organizations in Georgia at http://www.gcn.org/joinlis.html. I’ve contacted this center and they will put in an annoucement for our class in their next newsletter due out on Feb. 16, 2004. This center is loacted in the same building as the foundation center: 50 Hurt Plaza, Suite 845.

Some Questions You Should Ask the Organization

  • What’s your mission?
  • What programs/services do you offer?
  • What programs/projects are you seeking funding for?
  • Do you have a project plan?
  • Do you have anybody on staff working on writing grants?
  • How much access would I have to information and the contact people?
  • What’s the scope of the project and what’s the timeline like?
  • How much access to us do you expect?
  • What available information on the organization do you have that we can currently access?
  • What’s your history of grant seeking? Any successful grants in the past?

Strategic Planning
Use this as a guide for your initial research. See if you have (or can easily obtain) all this information. There’s no need to turn this in.

Some Considerations and Expectations for the Final Project
Just some friendly advice on things to consider when you do your final project.

RFP Analysis
Here’re the RFP analyses by students in the current class. Go through the analyses not only to see how others have done theirs but also to see if there’s any foundation that could potentially be useful for your project. Click on the student’s name to see the analysis, and click on the foundation’s name to go directly to the foundation’s website.

Research Proposal Sample
Here’s a research proposal written by a chemistry professor at GSU.

Slots
Here’re some PowerPoint slides that serve as brief summaries of the chapters on respective sections.

Some Samples
Here’re some samples of the beginning sentences of various sections. Take a look to see what you like and don’t like and think about why.

Sample Grant Proposals
Here’re a few sample grant proposals, most of which were written by students from a previous class. Although there might be some minor problems, both proposals are well written, with a strong audience awareness, persuasive arguments, good supporting details, and good format design.

  • Sample 1–By Jeremy Russie on behalf of Project Healthy Grandparents
  • Sample 2–By Brian Clifford on behalf of the terminus magazine
  • Sample 3 + Cover Letter–By Brian Clifford on behalf of Latin American Association; won $150,000 for the association

Research Papers by Graduate Students
Below are the research reports written by the graduate students in this class. Read through these, and I’m sure you’ll learn something new about grant writing.

Letter to Organizations
This is the letter I send out to organizations for whom we’re writing grants.

Final Project in Progress

Research Aspects
The following is a list of things a previous class came up together that typically should be researched for when you’re preparing for a grant writing project. It’s certainly not an exhaustive list, but nevertheless is a good starting point for research. We hope it will serve as a guide for your research plan.

  1. Expected cost
  2. Number and names of people working on the project
  3. Timeline
  4. Method for tracking outcomes, assessment, evaluation
  5. Whom the project will impact/benefit
  6. Goals and objectives
  7. Possible sources of funding
  8. Implementation plan
  9. Previous funding
  10. Location/facilities/equipment
  11. Partnerships and affiliations
  12. Finance management
  13. Expansion on their past projects/connection/relationship to other projects/programs at the organization
  14. Decision maker
  15. Budget
  16. Outline of research
  17. Sustainability
  18. Past performance records/achievements
  19. Competitors/competing projects and organizations
  20. Need/problem it addresses
  21. Dollar leverage for amount of service

 

 

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