Writing a Competitive Grant Application

Module 2: Writing a Competitive Grant Application Online Class The needs statement is the most important piece of a grant application: The essence, heart, and core of your appeal. The needs statement contains data that supports the proposed project. However, when you are working to convince a funder of the merit of your project, you also must make a convincing case. This requires the delicate balance of art and science that both persuades as well as proves. Funders do not award grants simply because a project sounds good or appears to be of benefit to a community or hopefully will help solve a problem. Funders often need to be persuaded by passion and enthusiasm, but those efforts must be accompanied by logic and evidence-based facts. A needs statement is an opportunity for crafting a persuasive evidence-based argument for funding a project. The goals and objectives that accompany the needs statement must demonstrate to the prospective funder that the applicant has determined specific, measurable steps that will be taken to ensure that the goals can be met and the project can be successful. Likewise, a grant seeker must have a plan for evaluating the project, and for determining how results will be evaluated. A prospective funder wants assurance that an effective evaluation plan will be in place if a grant is awarded. Evaluation addresses whether the project had the desired impact as it was carried out; this is important information for funders who are investing in a project. In this module, you will finalize your needs statement, goals, and objectives. With these key proposal elements determined, you will clarify how objectives will be achieved and what activities will lead to that achievement. These components have probably been on your mind since your project was first considered, but clarifying the methodology, and the rationale for that methodology, must also be communicated to funders through a project methodology and an evaluation plan for your project. In completing both Parts 1 and 2 of your Final Project, you will utilize the strategies of persuasive writing. Learning Objectives Students will: Distinguish characteristics of persuasive writing from academic writing Apply characteristics of persuasive writing to translate literature reviews into persuasive arguments Explain needs of project ideas for funding Evaluate project ideas from a fund-seeking perspective Evaluate literature to prepare effective needs statements Create effective needs statements Create effective project goals and objectives Evaluate needs statements Create effective project methodologies Create an effective project evaluation plan Critique project methodology and evaluation plans Required Readings Gitlin, L. N., & Lyons, K. J. (2014). Successful grant writing: Strategies for health and human service professionals (4th ed.). New York, NY: Springer. Chapter 5, Common Sections of Proposals, pp. 79104 Chapter 6, Strategies for Effective Writing, pp. 105115 Chapter 7, Common Pitfalls in Proposal Writing, p. 117124 Chapter 8, Writing Considerations for Specific Research Proposals, pp. 125133 Discussion: Writing Goals and Objectives for Your Grant My professor wrote. A goal is a general statement of what you hope to accomplish with your grant. In grant writing, there are 2-5 goals. Goals are broad generalizations and are abstract, not measurable. Each goal is about the outcome or impacts your grant-funded health education program is going to accomplish. In your goals, you want to catch the eye of the grant reviewers. Your goals must loop back to your needs statement. An objective is directly tied to the goal the grant seeker is trying to achieve through grant funding opportunities. Objectives are very targeted and include the outcome(s) that will help accomplish the goal the objective addresses. In grant writing, SMART objective writing application should always apply. SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-phased. There should be 2-5 objectives for each goal, and there should be enough objectives to accomplish the goal. Below is an example goal and an objective for a goal. Goal #1: Increase physical activity in children and their parents in Wilmington, Delaware through the Walking for Life health education program. Objective 1A: At the end of the first six months of the Walking for Life health education program, 100 parents and their children will increase their daily physical activity to walking at least one mile. For this weeks discussion board, you will be sharing your health education programs needs statement, two goals, and two objectives. Ensure all parts of the posting are aligned to guidelines and requirements contained in the RFP. (On blackboard) Post the following: Your Needs Statement, Goals and Objectives. Please use the following templates to develop your goals and objectives. To develop a goal, use the template below and fill in the blanks and create a sentence: __________________ (Increase or decrease) __________________ (what) __________________ (in whom) __________________ (where) __________________. (in the name of your health education program). To develop SMART objectives, use the template below and fill in the blanks and create a sentence: By_____/_____/_____, WHENTime bound __________________________________________________________ WHO/WHAT—-Specific from ___________________________ to ________________________. MEASURE with a number, rate, percentage of change, or baselineMeasurable Be sure to support your analysis and conclusions with citations and references in APA format from the Learning Resources and your own research.