HORIZON’S HOSTS WORKSHOP
A Grant Writing Workshop was hosted for the Big Timber community in response to an invitation from Mayor Dianna Taylor. The workshop consisted of two consecutive Thursday evening sessions, from 6:00pm-9:00pm. Crystal Coffey-Avey, local Horizons Community Coordinator, organized a ‘lite’ buffet dinner for each session which was held in the new addition to the library. The dinner buffet was set up in the kitchen next to the conference room and attendees made their dinner selections and found seating at tables in the conference room. The workshop sessions began about 6:30pm. In spite of the fact that the local newspaper refused to publish an announcement about the grant writing workshops, there was good local coverage thanks to Mayor Dianna Taylor and Crystal Coffey-Avey. Mayor Taylor (who attended both workshop sessions) mailed a total of 56 flyers to people involved in every organization that she could think of and to many individuals in her address book. Crystal also sent out a similar e-mail announcement on her Horizons community listserv. In addition, flyers announcing the grant writing workshops were placed in windows and on doors of businesses and public buildings.
The major topics and points of discussion at each session were as follows: March 27, 2008
1. The opening session began with introductions and asking the 18 attendees to tell what organization or special interest group they were representing and why they had decided to attend (and/or what they hoped to gain from the workshop).
2. The CPS ‘clicker’ system was used as an ice-breaker asking the attendees 20 questions and showing the results on the screen in bar graph format after each question.
3. A one-page ‘Community Issues Questionnaire’ listing 23 different local issues to focus on to make Big Timber ‘healthier, safer, thriving and resilient’ was distributed to the 18 attendees. They were asked to check their top six choices. They also had the option of write-in selections under item 24 on the list.
4. A handout of the ‘Essentials of Grant Writing 101′ from the MSU Extension Community Resources web site was distributed along with a two-page list of Grant Resources (web sites) and one sample page from the list of Grant Opportunities.
5. The majority of discussion focused on the following:
a. getting started, knowing your topic area, reviewing sources of potential funders, gathering and filing data and statistics to use in grant writing
b. understanding the definitions of vision and mission statements and the differences between goals and objectives
c. essential elements to consider in developing a needs statement
d. evaluation of a sample one-page needs statement
e. reasons why grants don’t get funded
6. During a break, examples of grant writing resources/textbooks and RFAs and RFPs were available on a table for review by attendees.
7. Attendees were given a grant writing homework exercise assignment using a two-page outline (handout) to draft the basic components of a grant. If they didn’t have a funding organization in mind, it was suggested that they select one from the list of fifty-some ‘community-friendly’ grants on the MSU Extension web site at: http://extn.msu.montana.edu/CommRes/grantopps.asp
April 3, 2008
1. Since this session had three newcomers, we opened with introductions. The first order of business was to share and discuss the results of the questionnaire listing those focus areas that received six or more hits as follows:
a. 11 hits - Community infrastructure (e.g., community center, community health & fitness center, business development, parks/recreation, community gardens/landscaping, code enforcement, water/sewer, etc.)
b. 9 hits - Community foundation to secure outside funding (e.g., grant writing)
c. 7 hits - Developing, nurturing and maximizing community assets
d. 7 hits - Programs for youth (e.g., after-school programs, mentoring programs, teen center, better education programs, etc.)
e. 6 hits - Community communication (e.g. increased awareness of opportunities, benefits of partnerships, coalitions and networking, and etc.)
f. 6 hits - Affordable health care
2. A Power Point Presentation (with handouts) was made on “Grant Basics” with emphasis on the following topics for discussion purposes:
a. Tips on fund raising and building a firm funding base
b. Identifying good potential projects and programs
c. Sources of grants
d. Quick hints before starting
e. Questions you will need to answer in your proposal
f. Basic proposal contents
g. Importance of ‘Statement of Need’ and ‘Executive Summary’ - during this discussion those who had written a Statement of Need were asked to share it by reading it to the group. There were four pairs of individuals who shared their Statement of Need for critique by the group and workshop leaders.
h. Demonstrating unmet need
i. Budgets, matching and overhead
j. Outline of basic components of the Logic Model
k. Sustainability
l. Types and Examples of ‘process evaluation’ and ‘outcome evaluation’
m. Drafting a ‘letter of inquiry’- a sample template was distributed
n. Locating Internet resources for grants
o. The value asking others to review your proposal prior to submission
3. During a break, examples of successful and unsuccessful grant proposals were available for review by attendees as well as three resource guides on evaluation.
4. At the conclusion, the following two handouts were distributed:
a. ‘10 Grant Writing Hints’
b. ‘Ten Commandments for Grant Seekers’
Summary Comments and Recommendations - Workshop attendees were very attentive, enthusiastic and engaging. During the interim week between the two workshop sessions, one of the attendees e-mailed a grant application to the workshop leaders for review and comment. The grant application was in response to an RFA from the Western Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program of the USDA. The grant application had been submitted several times before and in this submission it did get funded; however, reviewers comments indicated that the writer should improve skills and abilities in conceptualizing and presenting his ideas – thus the reason for requesting an outside evaluation at this time. In summary, two key overall assessments were noted: (1) everyone was well informed about the history and purpose of the Horizons Program; and (2) the level of community readiness for a grant writing workshop was ideal. Workshop leaders (Dave Young and Dennis Alexander) provided attendees with their e-mail addresses and phone numbers and encouraged them to follow up with questions and/or submit drafts for review and comment. With respect to recommendations, there should be some type of followup with workshop attendees to seek feedback regarding how the workshop sessions could be improved, what was of value and what could be left out. It is recommended that a six month inquiry be made to determine how many attendees have worked on and/or submitted a grant application.