The Basic Components of a Government Grant
Proposal
The Basic Components of a Government
Grant Proposal
There are eight main components to creating
a government grant proposal package:
(1) Your grant proposal summary
(2) Your introduction of organization
(3) The problem statement (or needs assessment)
(4) Your project objectives
(5) The project methods or design
(6) The project evaluation
(7) Future funding (seperate article)
(8) The projects budget (seperate article)
The following should provide an overview
of these grant proposal components for you.
The "Grant Proposal Summary"
Should Contain the Outline of Project Goals
The summary will be most useful if it is
prepared after the grant proposal has been developed in order to include
all the key summary points necessary to communicate your objectives of
the project. The grant proposal summary outlines the project and should
always appear at the beginning of your proposal. It can be in the form
of a cover letter or as a separate page, but it should always be brief
and no longer than two or three paragraphs total. This document will become
the cornerstone of your proposal, and the first impression it gives wil
be critical to the success of your idea. The summary will probably be the
first part of the proposal package seen by the government agency and will
most likely be the only part of the package that is reviewed carefully
before any decision is made to consider your project any further.
You must select a proposal which is fundable
and can be supported by a local need. Your should point out alternatives
in the absence of Federal support. The influence of the project both during
and after the project period should be explained. The end result of the
project as a result of funding should be highlighted for the governing
agency official.
Your "Introduction" Should
Present a Credible Applicant or Credible Organization
You should gather data about your organization
from any and all available sources to you. Most grant proposals will require
a description of your organization to describe your past and present operations.
Consider some of the following inclusions:
- A brief biography of your board members
and staff members and their experience.
- Your organization's goals, the philosophy,
your previous progress record with other grantors, and any success stories
you can include.
- Your data and information should be
relevant to the specific goals of the Federal granting agency and it should
also establish your credibility.
"The Problem Statement" States
the Purpose at Hand
The problem statement (or needs assessment,
as is commenly referred) is a key element of a proposal that makes a clear,
concise, and well supported statement of the problem to be addressed. The
best way to collect information about the problem is to conduct and document
both a formal and informal needs assessment for a program in the target
or service area. The information provided should be both factual and directly
related to the problem addressed by the proposal. Areas to document are:
- Your purpose for developing the grant
proposal.
- The nature of the problem (provide as
much documentd evidence as possible).
- The social costs and economic costs
that will be affected by your grant proposal
- How your organization came to realize
the problem exists, and show what is or isn't currently being done about
the problem.
- Who are the beneficiaries and "how"
will they benefit if your grant proposal is accepted
- The remaining alternatives that will
available when the funding has been used. Explain what wil happen to the
project and any impending implications.
- Most important, the manner whereby problems
might be solved specifically. Review the resources needed, considering
how they will be used and the implied results.
There is a considerable body of literature
on the exact assessment techniques to be used. Any local, regional, or
State government planning office,or local university offering course work
in planning and evaluation techniques should be able to provide excellent
background references. Types of data that may be collected include:historical,
geographic,quantitative, factual, statistical, and philosophical information,as
well as studies completed by colleges, and literature searches from public
or university libraries. Local colleges or universities which have a department
or section related to the proposal topic may help determine if there is
interest in developing a student or faculty project to conduct a needs
assessment. It may be helpful to include examples of the findings for highlighting
in the proposal.
"Project Objectives": The
Goals and Desired Outcome Program
Objectives refer to specific activities
in a proposal. It is necessary to identify all objectives related to the
goals to be reached,and the methods to be employed to achieve the stated
objectives. Consider quantities or things measurable and refer to a problem
statement and the outcome of proposed activities when developing a well-stated
objective. The figures used should be verifiable. Remember, if the proposal
is funded, the stated objectives wil probably be used to evaluate program
progress, so be realistic. There is literature available to help identify
and write program objectives.
"Program Methods and Program Design":
Your Plan of Action
The program design refers to how the project
is expected to work and solve the stated problem. Be sure to lay out the
following:
- Any activities that will occur along
with any related resources and staff that will be needed to operate the
project (inputs).
- Your flowchart of the organizational
features of your proposal. It's important to describe how the parts interelate,
where the personnel will be needed, and what the staff are expected to
do. You should also identify the kinds of facilities, transportation, and
support services required (throughputs).
- Explain what wil be achieved through
1and 2 above (outputs). Project staff may be required to produce
evidence of program performance through an examination of stated objectives
during either a site visit by the Federal granting agency and/or grant
reviews, which may involve some reviewing commitees.
Whenever possible, try to justify in the
description the course of action to be taken. Show the most economical
method to be used that will not compromise the projects quality. Show the
financial expenses associated with the operation of the project which might
later become points of negotiation with the Federal granting staff.
Carefully consider the pressures of the
proposed implementation, that is, the timeand money needed to acquire each
part of the plan. A Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) chart
could be useful and supportive in justifying some proposals. Highlight
the innovative features of the proposal, which could be considered distinct
from other proposals under consideration.
Whenever possible, use appendices to provide
details, supplementary data, references, and information requiring in-depth
analysis. These types of data, although supportive of the proposal, if
included in the body of the design, could detract from its readability.
Appendices provide the proposal reader with immediate access to details
if and when clarification of an idea, sequence or conclusion isrequired.
Time tables, work plans, schedules, activities, methodologies, legal papers,
personal vitae, letters of support, and endorsements are examples of appendices.
Evaluation: Product and Process
Analysis
The evaluation component is two-fold:
(1) product evaluation; and
(2)process evaluation.
Product evaluation addresses results that
can be attributed to the project, as well as the extent to which the project
has satisfied its desired objectives. Process evaluation addresses how
the project was conducted, in terms of consistency with the stated plan
of action and the effectiveness of the various activities within the plan.
Most Federal agencies now require some
form of program evaluation among grantees. The requirements of the proposed
project should be explored carefully. Some evaluations may be conducted
by an internal staff member, an evaluation firm or even both. You should
state the amount of time needed to evaluate, how the feedback wil be distributed
among the proposed staff, and a schedule for review and comment for this
type of communication. Evaluation designs may start at the beginning, middle
or end of a project, but you should specify a start-up time. It is practical
to submit an evaluation design at the start of a project for two reasons:
1. Convincing evaluations require
the collection of appropriate data before and during program operations
2. If the evaluation design cannot
be prepared at the outset then a critical review of the program design
may be advisable.
Even if the evaluation design has to be
revised as the project progresses, it is much easier and cheaper to modify
a good design. If the problem is not well defined and carefully analyzed
for cause and effect relationships then a good evaluation design may be
difficult to achieve. Sometimes a pilot study is needed to begin the identification
of facts and relationships. Often a thorough literature search may be sufficient.
Evaluation requires both coordination and
agreement among program decision makers (if known). Above all, the Federal
grantor agency's requirements should be highlighted in the evaluation design.
Also, Federal grantor agencies may require specific evaluation techniques
such as designatedd ata formats (an existing information colectionsystem)or
they may offer financial inducements for voluntary participation in a national
evaluation study.The applicant should ask specifically about these points.Also,
consult the Criteria For Selecting Proposals section of the Catalog program
description to determine the exact evaluation methods to be required forthe
program if funded.
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