Reflection Grant Writing: "Project Mobility" Almost from the time I entered the Professional and Technical Writing

undergraduate program at UALR, in the fall of 2007, I planned that I would eventually take Grant Writing. I was excited by the prospect of using my writing skills to benefit a worthy organization or cause. In fact, the subject of grant writing was mentioned in the technical writing class I took that fall with Mrs. Freeland. So I envisioned a course that was very much like that class. I later found that I was right about the similarity to grant writing in one respect only. Our major project for technical writing required that the project be written in steps, sections at a time, at various stages of the project. And there the resemblance ended. I discovered that grant writing was much more involved than the tech writing project, which began to look simple in comparison. I took the plunge in the Fall of 2011, now a graduate student in the Professional and Technical Writing program, and I took the course with Mrs. Suzann Barr as instructor. The assignment sounded straightforward enough: find a nonprofit agency or organization that had a specific need they required funding for and for which I could write a grant proposal. We were informed that most nonprofits would welcome the opportunity to have a proposal written for them free of charge, albeit by a writing student, rather than a professional. Mrs. Barr emphasized a few crucial factors we had to consider when choosing our nonprofit: we should have an easy rapport with our clients, the ability to coordinate meetings easily (between their schedules and ours), several methods of contact, and no less than two contact people within the organization that could consistently provide whatever information we required for our proposals and for the most part, at a moment's notice. And lastly, though of equal importance, we should choose a project we could truly care about, so that our time, energies, talents, and emotions were equally invested. While I was still excited on the one hand at the opportunity to learn about grant writing and to put that knowledge and my skills to work on behalf of a worthwhile cause, I also had tremors of fear surging through me. Since I'd spoken to Mrs. Barr about the class the previous spring, I knew that we'd need to choose a project ourselves from among the various nonprofits. I was particularly frustrated because I had brainstormed throughout the summer for a project and had so far not been able to come up with an idea that seemed workable. When the semester began, I really struggled with the idea of dropping the class, especially after the first two classes revealed just how real-world and hands-on the project would be. I felt truly overwhelmed, almost panicked, by the sheer scope of the project before me. Choosing an organization to work with, contacting that organization, finding one that was

Reflection_ Project Mobility 2 easy to work with and then deciding on a particular project from among the needs of the organization, and not just any project, but one that I would be emotionally invested in all of these goals, taken together, just seemed unattainable. And they continued to seem this way, when, by the end of a month, I still had not chosen an organization, or a project. I'd made a few phone calls and had a few rough ideas, but that was the extent of it. And thankfully, Mrs. Barr was very patient with me and simply answered my never-ending questions in class, after class, and through email as I worked my way through the issues. Little by little, my panic lessened and I began to see the project as do-able by taking deep, slow breaths, and by chewing this elephant up, a bite at a time...by focusing on a few questions at a time, and eventually writing each section one at a time, which is of course the only real way to tackle any huge project. This is a truth I'd known, but needed to be reminded of, and Mrs. Barr did just that. Meanwhile, I had finally narrowed down my prospects to four organizations: The Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Arkansas (CTFA), Arkansas Hospice, Bethany Christian Services, and the Union Rescue Mission. I searched their websites, contacted each of them by email and/or by phone, and finally met with representatives for two of them. I was particularly interested in the CTFA since I'd lost my mother a few years ago to lung cancer caused by 45 years of smoking. I thought, "Yes! This is the project for me one that will discourage people from smoking and by doing so not only help save the lives of smokers but also save families of smokers a lot of grief." So, I was thrilled when the lady who ran the Little Rock office agreed to meet with me. I was equally disappointed when we couldn't come to terms. Although she was easy to talk to and very passionate about the causes of her group, we had schedule conflicts. She was going to be out of town frequently and at the time, they were short-staffed. With her as my only contact and her limited meeting availability, I decided that I'd better move on to the next option. I didn't want to set myself up for the kinds of frustrations I'd likely be facing. The next person that had agreed to meet with me was the executive director of the Union Rescue Mission (URM), Dr. William Tollett. The Mission operates two ministries for those that are homeless and/or struggling with addictions: the Nehemiah House for men and the Dorcas House shelter for women and their children. Many of the women are also victims of domestic violence. He and his secretary both spoke with me in that initial meeting, and they were gracious in their welcome and enthusiastic about my offer. The meeting went so well that I gave them a client profile sheet to complete that day so that I could get some basic information about the Mission. And then we began a journey that proved much more challenging than I thought it would be at that time. The frustrations and stress began almost as soon as the project was underway. Meetings were, for one thing, harder to arrange than we had anticipated our schedules seemed to always conflict, though we hadn't expected this to be an issue. The advent of the holiday season, always a very busy time of year for the Mission, with holiday events for residents

Reflection_ Project Mobility 3 and fundraisers scheduled, was the primary cause of this problem, also making it tougher to get an email response in a timely manner. Another painful issue was wrangling around and trying out one project after another finding some to be too broad in scope or unacceptable for one reason or another. We were finally able, a few weeks later, to settle on one that I named "Project Mobility." The proposal for this project was written to elicit funds to purchase a new van one that would transport the residents of the Dorcas House shelter to off-site recovery meetings, to medical and legal appointments, and to local stores to shop. The van previously used had been totaled in an accident. At the time, the staff were using their own resources and vehicles to meet resident transportation needs, which of course was not only resourcedraining, but time consuming as well. Yet another tough issue that I faced was choosing a funder for the project. I hadn't realized that this would fall into the realm of my duties and I was quite nervous about doing this right. I did have some assistance, however. Mrs. Barr had us meet as a class at the downtown Central Arkansas Library and while there she introduced us to website that we could use to search for funders, a sort of foundations' database that only the library had access to. I spent two more long evenings at the library using the database, searching for possible funders, printing up the few (and dubious) possibilities I located. Grueling hours were spent compiling lists, brainstorming questions to ask, making phone calls, copying and organizing the information, and finally, creating documents that the director could use in deciding which funder(s) to target, although these documents were by no means required and were not a part of the proposal itself. I felt that I needed to present my client with several viable options, which I did. When it came to actually writing the various components of the proposal, we began, as a class, with the problem statement, which outlined, in detail, the problem or issue that the nonprofit needed to have resolved. We moved on then to a project summary, a short statement about the desired solution to the problem or issue, which was soon followed by the project description, where the solution to the problem or issue was described in detail. The other sections I had to compose are as follows: a cover letter, a cover page, a table of contents, an executive summary, a missions, goals, and objectives statement, a timeline, a management plan, an evaluation plan, a continuation plan, a budget summary, a budget justification, staff biographies (for the staff involved in the project), and a references' page. Although some of the information is redundant, each piece has a special purpose: different members of the potential funding foundation would be interested in and would consider different sections of the proposal. In this portfolio, I feature these components of the proposal: the problem statement; the mission, goals, and objectives statement; the project description; and the continuation plan. I've included my original and final drafts of each. In this reflection, I explain each document, how each connects with the others, and I give examples of changes I made to create stronger pieces.

Reflection_ Project Mobility 4 Problem Statement As I said above, the problem statement details the issue the nonprofit would like to have solved by the grant. It's also supposed to provide the potential funder with a compelling story that moves them emotionally so that they want to fund the project. I floundered at first, not really sure about what type of information I should include and so I produced a weak-sounding two-paragraph first draft . As I considered further what to include, I realized that providing statistics on domestic violence could be useful: a good way to initially draw the reader into the statement. At the end, I explained the difficulties of utilizing staff resources and the dangers of residents use of public transportation. By beginning and ending with startling, dramatic facts, I felt that I could better capture the attention and the interest of possible funders. The statistic I included at the beginning of the piece the fact that one in four women will suffer domestic abuse in her lifetime was a powerful way to begin the statement, in my view. Much better, I thought, than starting off with the details of where the Dorcas House was located (and I'd even gotten the house number wrong!) Another strong addition was the explanation I included at the end explaining the exact risk many of the women were taking if they used city buses. Mission, Goals, and Objectives The completion of the problem statement set the course for beginning the first draft of the mission, goals, and objectives statement which would explain how to solve the problem. For this piece, I did something odd: I composed questions. I used this list of questions as my original draft and as a guide for completing the final draft. The questions were the result of a conference I had with Mrs. Barr one that I'd requested out of sheer frustration when I hadn't been able to figure out on my own how to break down my project into goals and objectives. All of the models I'd seen were for abstract projects. My goals and objectives were mostly concrete: get the funds, buy the van, get the van ready, and use it. My project was the only one in our class that focused on a literal object such as the van. (The other projects focused on such goals as funding sports programs for children or providing treatments for shelter animals.) For the final draft, I was able to compress the goals of the initial "questions" draft into 3 main goals: (1) needs assessment and search for van (2) purchase of van and preparation for use and (3) utilization of van, which also contained three sub-goals. Then it was a simple matter of ordering the steps to be taken (the objectives) under each goal, although the original draft did not actually include objectives for each goal. These were developed for the final draft by considering what steps would need to be taken in order to accomplish the individual goals. By answering my own questions from the first draft and by re-ordering the goals and placing specific objectives (steps to be taken) under each goal, I believe I made the statement clearer, stronger, and straightforward. The funding foundation's members who read this part of the statement should be able to easily navigate through and pinpoint the

Reflection_ Project Mobility 5 goals and the plans for accomplishing those goals. For instance, under the second goal, the purchase and preparation of the van for use lists the steps to be taken during a three week period, week by week. The statement outlines these objectives in the order (more or less) in which the steps will be taken. At any rate, the objectives listed for each week are to be taken care of during that particular week. I was pleased with the practicality and usability of the final document since this statement was to be the foundation for several of the other proposal documents. Project Description The project description was one such document. The main structure of the goals (breaking them down into three very clear, progressive goals) allowed me to restructure the project description for the proposal as well. In fact, the project description basically explains the mission, goals, and objectives statement in a general narrative format, without all the exact steps listed. The final draft of the description was broken down into heading sections that were almost exactly like those of the primary goals of the mission, goals, and objectives statement: Assessment of Need, Purchase of Van, and Utilization of Van. Another type of change I made to the project description was to include significant details that were left out of the original document (though not purposely). For example, I added the fact that the police report proved that the accident totaling the previous Mission van was the fault of the other driver, not the Mission's driver. I also added data showing exact numbers of residents who would use the new van and the types of trips they would be using it for daily, weekly, and monthly. Yet another addition was the inclusion of processes for scheduling regular and special request trips, listed under "Utilization of Van." Continuation Plan The last featured document, the continuation plan, explains the Mission's plans to keep the new van (upon purchase) in good running condition and what they plan to do to keep residents mobile once this van is in need of replacement. This document could be viewed as an extension of the mission, goals, and objectives statement and the project description, which of course are focused on the details of pre-purchase, the purchase itself, and how to use the van while it can still be utilized. The continuation plan answers two questions about the project's longevity: first, how to ensure the van's long-term use and then what will happen to continue "Project Mobility" when the vehicle is no longer functional. In the final version of this document, I made a few important changes. I added many more details to the paragraph that explains which staff members will work on the project and the roles they will play. For instance, I added the facts that the associate director of the Mission would act as financial manager of the project and that the maintenance director would oversee repairs and maintenance for the van. In addition, I transposed the order of the second and third paragraphs for better organizational flow.

Reflection_ Project Mobility 6 My primary concerns overall with the project were that maybe I hadn't done enough research or created a proposal interesting enough or that tugged hard enough at the heartstrings. In the end, both my instructor and the executive director of the Mission were pleased with the final product. As a whole, I felt that it was clean, clear, and compelling. They seemed to agree. I knew that I had put in my strongest and best effort to make it so.