Writing Successful Grants KnowledgeBase

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

The Writing Successful Grants KnowledgeBase is an online resource aiding education professionals in their pursuit of public and private grants to support local programs. Its five elements contain information and resources that assist the grant seeker with developing their project, writing the grant proposal and managing the grant upon its award.

Task 1: Identify Needs

Guideline: The project idea must have a direct connection to the needs identified through the organizational assessment. As the project plan is developed it should address the identified needs. A successful grant proposal will state a need and how it will be addressed. It is critically important the project idea matches the organization's identified needs and the grant funders' requirements. Each funding proposal competes against many projects with equally critical needs. The grant seeker should consider these questions when formulating the project need statement. Why should the project be funded over the competition? What makes the project stand out? What is the emotion within the project when blended with the facts will sell the project? What would be the "gotcha" statement convincing a reviewer to fund the project?

Resources

Tools

Educational Needs Index

This link is to the Educational Needs Index website. As noted at the website, "The Educational Needs Index (ENI) is a study of educational, economic and population pressures that influence educational policy and planning." Grant seekers may find this website useful when identifying local educational needs.

Guidelines

Conducting a Comprehensive Needs Assessment

This tool from the U.S. Department of Education's An Idea Book for Planning is useful for managing the data collected during the needs assessment. It consists of two parts: Data Sources Matrix and Data Collection and Analysis Plan.

"The Data Sources Matrix helps organize needs assessment data collection by identifying information sources and methods of data collection. In the matrix, fill specific sources of information you already have on hand from the school profile (e.g., student achievement data, results from a parent survey with results that are pertinent to the planning effort), so you do not duplicate efforts. Then, list any additional information the team decides to collect. Examine each focus area to make sure that there are data describing the status of major aspects of the priority focus areas."

"The Data Collection and Analysis Plan prioritizes the "focus areas" for which data will be collected, and it lays out the data collection and analysis plans. First, define the team's key questions, the data collection methods (i.e., surveys, interviews, focus groups, shadowing, etc.), instruments to be used by analysis subcommittee members and summarize the plans for analysis. List two to three "focus areas" the team plans to study in order of highest (#1) to lowest priority for data gathering. Respond to the questions for each focus area."

Implementing Schoolwide Programs - Presentation

References

Needs Assessment

The needs assessment is one of four key parts of project proposal. This document identifies the four components of a needs assessment and what it should address.