Grant Writing Exercises and Resources, 1/31/23 and 2/2/23

Grant Writing Resources

Here are a few pages and handouts I’ve found helpful!

• USDA Grant Writing Handout
• UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center Handout: Writing Research Grants
• Nonprofit grant writing advice from GrantsPlus
• Amber Melanie Smith nonprofit grant writing YouTube playlist

1/31 Exercise: Grant Proposal Sample Analysis 

For our in-class work today, take a look at this list of proposal examples.

1. First, take a moment to pick out the common elements across all examples on the page.
   1. Look at the design, content, specific questions you feel the authors are answering, etc.
   2. We’re trying to define the genre characteristics of a community-based grant proposal
   3. Your group can add to the list of genre characteristics here
2. Next, I’d like you to focus in on the Senior Center grant proposal
   1. Read through  the proposal fairly thoroughly
   2. What elements go into their executive summary or overview section?

1/31 Exercise: Grant Proposal Sample Doc

For our next exercise and for your homework, take a look at the grant call on this page.

1. While it doesn’t ask for matching  funds, we’re going to pretend it does
   1. It does ask for a letter of support from your institution; we’re going to pretend that letter of support needs to pledge matching funds
2. So first, you and your group should come up  with what you think you’d like to propose in terms of a campus improvement
   1. What kind of program or services should this Campus Care Grant go towards? 
3. Then, do some Googling; how much (very rough estimate) should you be asking for?
   1. This is just practice, so I’m not going to expect this to be exact or accurate – just a ballpark for our purposes
4. Next, I want your group  to work on a letter formally requesting the support of the Centenary administration and matching  funds
   1. What do you need to include in that letter? 
   2. What should your tone be?
   3. Who should you be  addressing, specifically?
   4. What information  do you need to include?

2/2 Grant Proposal Examples

• Washington BID Warren County Arts Grant
• Washington BID USDA Grant – Gazebo Project