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Grant Unit Day 4: Solutions 2

Dr. Will Kurlinkus
University of Oklahoma
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Sample Plan of
Work
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Describe Your 1. Problem, 2.

Solution, and 3. Why this is your
solution.
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Layout the Necessary Steps of Your
Plan of Work
n Start by writing planning, action, and post-action. Number
these I. II. III. Give each a name, too.

n Give me two objectives, actions, and/or deliverables that will

be done in each of these three stages.

n Tell me what resources: people, places, and things will be

needed to accomplish each of those objectives, actions, and
or deliverables.

n Give me the reason/logic for each of these objectives,

actions, and/or deliverables. Why do it in this way and not
some other way? (this is where your research will come in).
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1. Deliverables: What
Concrete Things Will
You Have Made?
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2. Sustainability: How Will Your Program
Keep Working After the Money Runs Out?

n How can you demonstrate long-term impact?

n Is this a one off project?
n Are you looking to spread your program across the state, region,
or country?
n Is there a way to make money from your program to continue to
sustain it?
n Is there a way to set up a continuous cycle of resources (people
who want to help, training, etc.) that will go into the future with low
costs?
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n Stability and Growth
Going forward, the seminars will be hosted by Jacobs
Engineering, with continued support by The University of
Oklahoma through volunteers and Norman Public Schools through
promotion. The only cost to Jacobs will be the cost of renting the
room to host the event, but with the direct contacts made with the
attending high school girls, which will soon be very passionate
and well educated professional and Women’s Network will happily
pay this cost out of their group budgets. The University of
Oklahoma and Norman Public High Schools also recognize how
important it is to encourage women to go into engineering and
other STEM fields, and with the involvement they already show in
other programs, they will undoubtedly want to be involved with
this program as well. Jacobs may also choose to grow this program
to present a similar seminar at other universities, given that Jacobs
has large offices in many major cities in the United States
engineers in the fields that Jacobs does work in, the Jacobs
Future’s Network that could easily provide the presenters
necessary to have this program at many different universities.
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3. Program Evaluation

n How will you know if your program is a success or failure?

n Before, During, and After the Funding: Set a few

checkpoints/deadlines to show that you are proceeding
successfully.

n How will you actually quantifiably measure success?

n Surveys, metrics, interviews, growth, change in behavior?
n Make sure you refer back to your SMART objectives.
+ Promotion and Dissemination

n How and where

will you show the
results of your
project to other
institutions that
might want to do
the same thing?

n Think journal
articles, YouTube
videos, sharing
curriculum,
holding big
events that might
be talked about
in the media.
+ Intriguing Title
§ Should describe the purpose of the program
§ The primary strategy/solution
§ The people or place involved
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Collaborators and Partners
n Funders love it when organizations collaborate on a program.
It demonstrates that the issue you’re working on has not only
organizational support but a clear need in your community.

n Partner organizations usually provide resources, experts,

space, training that the lead applicant can’t provide alone.

n Partner organizations might also be organizations already

serving or deeply connected to the population you’re
seeking to help or problem you’re seeking to solve.

What are the gaps that you don’t think you can fill on your own, even
with the grant funding? Who can help you fill this gap?
+ Feasibility: Why Do It This Way?
n Strengths and weaknesses
(internal factors within an
organization):
n Human resources: Do you have the
right people to do it? staff,
volunteers, board members, target
population. Why them and not
others?
n Physical resources: Do you have the
right location, building, equipment?
Why these and not others?
n Financial: Do you have enough money
to do it? grants, funding agencies,
other sources of income. Why can’t
you do it more cheaply?
n Activities and processes: —Why do it
in this specific way and not another
cheaper, easier, faster way?
n Past experiences: Why you? What’s
your expertise, who are your
connections?
n Opportunities and threats
(external factors stemming from
community or societal forces):
n Have there been critiques of what you
intend to do? What are they? How do
you counter them?
n Have other people already solved this
problem or something similar? Why is
your project needed? Can you
collaborate with them?
n Where will this work be in the future?
Why do your project if it won’t last?
n The physical environment —will things
like weather,
n Legislation—do new federal
requirements make your job harder...or
easier?
n Time: is this being done too fast or
slow? Why not?
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Heath and Heath: Simplicity

n Ask, what’s the most important idea here?

n Simplicity is not about dumbing down: it’s about priority and

elegance.

n If you have three main points, you really have no main points.
Think carefully about the key point you want to get across in
each section but each paragraph as well.

n Compact: Make your most important claims/points the

simplest, strongest sentences (“power sentences”). This is
that.

n Write from pre-existing schema. Relate your ideas to what

your audience already knows.