Assistance League National Resource Development Committee Resource Library July 2012

PART 1 PREPARATION

The committee members must prepare to write grants. Using a team approach is beneficial to the overall success of the chapter in obtaining grants. One key component to a team approach is to recognize that different members may have different skills and only do a specific step in the total process. For instance, one member may only gather information about the chapters need for grants, while another member may search databases looking for grantors, while another member may write the actual grant. Some grant writers prefer to do all these steps. Part 1 Preparation consists of three components: establishing a process, obtaining tools and gathering specific information. ESTABLISHING A PROCESS The Board establishes a Grant Committee and a chairman is appointed. It is important that more than one or two members participate in this process to allow the needed preparation without becoming a burden to any one member. Grant applications are a cooperative endeavor among chapter members. Since the procedures will vary from chapter to chapter, the following information may be adopted based upon factors such as chapter size, structure and desire to write grants. Each chapter should establish a procedure for coordinating and approving grant proposals. The process for obtaining a grant falls into three roles: the Board, the Grants Committee and the program needing the funding. Role of the Board The responsibilities of the Board include: Appointing the Grants Chairman and committee; Assigning the responsibility for signing and submitting of grants for the chapter (some chapters issue a letter for those who have permission to write grants); Participating in the preparation of the chapter history and the organizational case statement or program narrative; Overseeing fiduciary responsibilities are met, including that the proposal is carried out as written, that the grant monies are used only for the stated purpose, unless there is written permission to change from the grantor or be prepared, if unable to meet the stipulations of the grant, to return the donation; and Evaluating the grant after receipt of donation. See Example Permission Grant Letter. See Resources Downloadable Files.

PART 1 PREPARATION Role of the Grant Committee The responsibilities of the Grants Committee include: Ensuring consistency with Bylaws of National Assistance League and bylaws and standing rules of the chapter; Participating in the preparation of the chapter history and the organizational case statement or program narrative; Finding potential grantors; Preparing letters of inquiry and/or grant proposals; Being able to respond to prospective donor requests for information promptly and truthfully; and Evaluating the grant after receipt of donation.

Chapter policy may dictate the committee membership. Members of the following committees may participate: Philanthropic Programs, Public Relations or Resource Development. Additionally, members who are skillful writers and interested in resource development may participate. Some Grants Committees construct a letter requesting permission for the members to write grants for the current fiscal year. The Treasurer will provide required financial statements. Role of the Program Needing the Funding The responsibilities of the program needing the funding include: Communicating with the Grants Committee in writing the following information: What problem do they want to address? Who are the recipients? How do they propose to address the problem? With whom and with what resources? To accomplish what results; that is, how will things be different, solved, or improved? Why is it important? What statistical information is available to support the above questions?

Participating in the preparation of the program narrative; Collecting needed statistical information; Obtaining pictures of the program activities and award ceremonies; and Gathering letters of testimonial from the participants and partners (helpful in writing continuing grants).

PART 1 PREPARATION

OBTAINING TOOLS The member needs tools to assist in the grant writing process. The following tools will help the members manage the process of writing grants: an online file management system and software application programs. Online File Management System Dropbox is an online file management system, which hosts folders and subfolders that contain the documents needed to write a grant. The chapter may establish a Dropbox for the organization or it may establish a Dropbox account for only those who are writing grants. Having the organizations own Dropbox helps preserve the confidentiality and availability of the documents needed by the grant writer. Dropbox is a free service unless the chapter exceeds the free storage amount of 8 GB. Once established, the files are available anywhere the member wants to do their writing. Members using both Mac and Windows operating systems can use Dropbox. The Dropbox website maintains backups of files and the Dropbox administrator can retrieve lost files. See Example - How to Install and Use Dropbox and Example Dropbox Folders. See Resources Links to Outside Websites. See Videos Getting Started with Dropbox. Software Application Programs The grant writer generally uses both a software wordprocessing program, such as Microsoft Word and a spreadsheet program, such as Microsoft Excel to help in the writing process. GATHERING INFORMATION A grant has similar components and before the member starts out to write a grant, collecting specific pieces of information common to all grants is important to reduce wasted time once the member starts the writing process. Gathering the specific needed information and placing them into documents or scanning hard copies into electronic documents helps the grant writing team to be able to access needed information during the grant writing process. Some documents with the information may need to be developed. Placing the documents into an online file management system, such as Dropbox, assures access to the documents. Electronic documents are needed for online submission. Creating a document with chapter demographics is helpful. Creating another document that only contains the chapters mission statement should be done. A document with the position and name of current Board of Directors allows the writer to cut and paste the information into an online submission dialog box without retyping it. Scanning documents, such as, the IRS Determination Letter, the audited financial statement, the chapter budget, profit & loss budget vs. actual, and the Form 990-PF collects the information always requested in a grantors request. All these documents need to be put into Dropbox using separate folders. See Examples Chapter Demographics, Mission Statement, Board of Directors and Scanning Documents.

PART 1 PREPARATION

CHECKLIST PREPARATION Print the checklist and distribute to the Grants Committee. Able to appoint Grants Committee Able to appoint a Grant Chairman Able to find members to join the Grant Committee Able to develop a process to write grants for the chapter Able to develop writing and computer skills for members Able to establish online file management - Dropbox Able to establish Dropbox folders Able to load specific information into individual Dropbox folders to include: Chapter demographics Chapter mission statement List of position and names of Board IRS Determination Letter Audited or reviewed financial statement Chapter budget Statement of Activities budget vs. actual Form 990-PF ***