Steps to a Grant Proposal

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Running head: STEPS TO A GRANT PROPOSAL




                            Steps to a Grant Proposal

                            Denise Brown-Blanchard

                                  Axia College

                   Program Planning and Grant Writing Proposal

                                   HSM 270

                                 Grace T. Davis

                                October 11, 2008
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                                      Steps to a Grant Proposal

       The first step of Grant Proposal Writing is an executive summary (also called an

Abstract). And abstract can range from one paragraph to two pages in length, depending on what

the funder specific requirements are for this section. The abstract is the reader’s first impression

of the work. To make a good impression and leave the reader eager to read the abstract, the body

of the proposal should be crafted carefully. The primary points in the summary should cover the

four basic sections of the grant proposal; which is discussing the need or problem, the approach

you will take from key information of the project description, how you will evaluate the

program, and what the cost will be. You will have to introduce the organization, state your

request for the grant, and discuss how the project will meet the grantmaker’s goals. Also the

abstract should be written last that way information could be pulled from the proposal if needed.

The abstract is always presented first because it is the first thing a grant maker reads.



                                       Table of Contents

The table of contents is the road map for the grantmaker to read and understand the structure of

the grant proposal, and to aid them in finding information they need. The contents should be

clear, and a list that is not complicated to use and is not difficult. The table of contents serves as

a checklist and a guiding principle of the proposal.



            Specific Aims/background and significance/Needs and Problem Statement
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        According to the U.S. Department of Justice Violence by Intimates, Estimates range from

960,000 incidents of violence against a current or former spouse, boyfriend, or girlfriend per year

to 3 million women who are physically abused by their husband or boyfriend per year.

        According to Bureau of Justice Statistics Crime Data Brief, Intimate Partner Violence,

They average more than 3 women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends in this country

every day. Intimate Partner Violence, (2003) The State of Missouri ranks one of the 10 states

with the highest amounts of incidents of women killed by men. Domestic Violence has been on

the increase by 1,000 incidents since 2005 in Missouri, it was reported the highest increase since

1999. In the year 2000, 1,247 women were killed by an intimate partner. The same year, 440

men were killed by an intimate partner.

        Women are much more likely than men to be killed by an intimate partner. In 2000,

intimate partner homicides accounted for 33.5 % of the murders of women and less than 4% of

the murders of men. (Study of Injured Victims of Violence, 1994)



        According to the National Crime Victimization Survey about half of all female victims of

intimate violence report an injury of some type, and about 20% of them seek medical assistance.

The U.S. Department of Justice says that “Thirty-seven percent of women who sought treatment

in emergency rooms for violence-related injuries in 1994 were injured by a current or former

spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend.” (Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Department,

1997)

        Relationships do not start off with abuse, you have to remember that love and intimacy

precede the abusive behavior with that it is hard to break away from. Domestic violence is a

serious problem and many women will leave their abuser 7 times before they leave for good.
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Abused women hesitate to leave their abuser due to the fear of risk, self-blame, shame and

embarrassment, the need to protect the abuser, dissociation from the pain, denial, and fear of

supporting herself and children. Other women remain with their abuser because they feel guilt,

live on false hope the abuser will change, and she believes the children need a father figure.



                                    Target Populations

       Target population decides who requires the services with the revenue of the grant. The

geographic limit the region you would serve. Substantiate the need in the community by

accumulating as many statistics as possible with regard to the target population. You have to

defend why the specific group, and not other groups who have an identical need of the service

that should be funded, such as measuring the latest successful experience and suggestions

conforming to local and private government articles.



                                Approaches and methods

        “Method” “methodology,” “activities,” “procedures,” or strategies can be used to

characterize the steps that have to be obtained to achieve the needed results of a proposal. Just as

the objectives flow naturally from the problem statement, the methods accompanies from the

objectives. The vision, mission, purpose, goals etc, are the terms proposal writers and program

planners utilizes the terms confuses the user and readers in the same manner. Each organization

has its own particular idea of what they want to accomplish. The vision transformed into words

develops into a “mission statement” and the agency's “mission statement” describes the

foundation, in other words, the permanent representation of the organization main goals.
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                              Long and Short-Term Goals


The Agency’s long-term goals are general they are not essential measurable or manageable in the
short run they are limited. Long-term goals, for example could be questions such as:

Do the Articles of Incorporation goals contain Permanency Planning, the Prevention of Abuse by
way of Early Detection and Monitoring, Community Education, Training and Recruitment of
Volunteers?

Can you think of any different goals which should be embodied in the Articles of Incorporation?
Should the Articles of Incorporation be amended?

Short-term Objectives for instance could be asked:

What procedures, programs, staff, and funds are needed to implement the long-term goals.

Establish your short-term priorities? List the three most significant things you would like to
achieve within three months, six months, and one year.

Defining the Direction of Your Organization: Who Are You, and Where Do You Want to Go,
and How Do You Get There?

What population do you serve?

How do you serve this population?

-Who are the other organizations that you coordinate with, and how do they effect on your
capability to meet your goals? (Strategic Planning and the Art of Grant Writing, 2008)



                             Process, Outcome, and Impact objectives



       Process, Outcome, and Impact are the three main types of objectives. The process

objectives relate to carrying out the activities to be performed by the planned result. Outcome

objective centers on the effect of interventions far as the program evaluation it brings up

questions like “Did we do well? The impact objective is the most difficult objective they
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distinguish the connection to collective and accumulative reactions. Process and Outcome can

contain an objective statement in numerous situations.



                             Activity Plan and scheduling (Timeline)



        The definition of “Activity is a list of tasks that must be undertaken and completed in

order to achieve each frame. Activity describes exactly what it is to be done by whom, and in

what frame of time. ( Netting,et al.,1993p.240) Numerous activities lead to objectives after that it

turns links into goals and missions, it also outlines a triangle in structure.

        Timelines are the when and who most funders demand a timeline for carrying out a

project. The timeline contains the precise steps you will take to attain the objectives, the dead

line for accomplishing the steps, and the organizations obligation for completing each task. In

addition, timelines must answer to the time limitations of the grant.



                                 Evaluation Plan



        The Evaluation Plan consists of the Baseline, Context, Process Evaluation, Impacts

Implementation, Indicator, Inputs, Logic Model, Longitudinal, Outcomes, Outputs, Qualitative

Evaluation, and the Quantitative Evaluation. They are intended to get to the core of the content,

how would you distinguish if the organization has completed its planned objectives? What does

the organization expect to find out from the project? How will it share what it learned, so that

others may duplicate a successful project or take different direction if the project has not

accomplished what it set out to achieve?
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                         Budget and Budget Justification



       The grant proposal budget puts out the cost and income for the project you are proposing.

The budget is mutually beneficial with the project description everything in the plan has to be

named out in the line items of the budget. The budget justification should explain what is

embodied in each line item applying language that matches the project description narrative.
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                                           References

Intimate Partner Violence. (2003). Bureau of Justice Statistic Crime Brief. Retrieved October 11,

       2008. Retrieved from www.endabuse.org

Related Injuries Treated in Hospital Emergency Department. (1997). U.S. Department of Justice.

       Retrieved October 11, 2008. Retrieved from www.abanet.org

Strategic Planning and the Art of Grant Writing. (2008). Case Net. Retrieved from

       www.casenet.org

Study of Injured Victims of Violence. (1994). National Crime Victimization. Retrieved October

       11, 2008. Retrieved from www.abanet.org

Yuen, F. (2003). Practical Grant Writing and Program Evaluation. Retrieved October 11, 2008.

       Retrieved from www.ecampus.phoenix.edu