Steps to Writing a Grant Proposal
Charity Tessitore
HSM/270
May 28, 2016
Ruth Hendrick

Introduction Funding can be a cause of concern for any organization or program, whether for-profit or not-for-profit. Non-profit organizations and programs rely heavily on the financing from grants. According to "Grants 101” (n.d), “a grant is a way the government funds your ideas and projects to provide public services and stimulate the economy. Grants support critical recovery initiatives, innovative research, and many other programs listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA).” This paper is going to go through the process of writing a grant proposal, using a new program called “Encouraging Families” as an example. Encouraging Families is a new program that is part of the PEACE Domestic Violence Agency.
New Program Idea PEACE Domestic Violence Agency’s mission “is to reduce victim trauma, empower survivors, and promote recovery through direct services.” PEACE encourages domestic violence victims to get help and move on. They also help young adults get the education needed to stop the cycle of abuse. PEACE even provides a rehabilitation program for young adults. What it does not do is help those families get the job skills they need. Sometimes families want to be reunited, but have a member in jail and do not know how to go about reuniting. Encouraging Families is a new program that will work with the families, including the member that is incarcerated. The primary focus of Encouraging Families is to work with all members on job skills and working on getting a job, so that is one less stressor to reunification. Encouraging Families will start working with the family when the incarcerated family member will be getting released within 90 days. The staff of Encouraging Families will help all members with basic job skills, such as filling out applications, writing resumes, as well as interview skills. Once the family members have successfully completed the program, which is a 90-day program, they will be allotted funds to help get work attire, whether it be uniforms or business casual attire that is needed.
Planning Process The program planning process can be a complicated process. The first step of the program planning process is to find out who the target population is. The next step is finding out what the problem is that needs to be addressed. The third phase of the program planning process is the budget, where is the funding coming from to start this new program. The grant writing process is similar as it will need a lot of research. The first part of the grant writing process is to find a grant. The second part of the grant writing process is to make sure it is a grant that this organization can apply to. Reading the guidelines of the grant is critical, as that is how the organization will know if it is eligible, as well as knowing all the due dates and what is expected to be explained in the application. The third part of the grant writing process is to describe what the program is. In this step, we also define who the target population is and why this particular program is needed. The final step of the grant writing process is to work on making the program a reality, and putting the grant together. This is where all the steps of the program planning process and the grant writing process all come together to make the appeal for the particular grant in question. Encouraging Families’ target population is families that have an incarcerated member, trying to be reunited. This is a problem that needs to be addressed because not many families know how to go about reuniting, and dealing with all the stressors of it. Another issue that will be approached by Encouraging Families is helping find a stable source of income by educating the family on the steps needed to obtain a job. This program is necessary because individuals get released from being incarcerated and have no idea how to take care of themselves or their families financially. Often times, if a person is released from incarceration they have to pay fines and court costs. That can be an added stressor. So, being able to obtain the skills needed for employment and help to gain employment, they can pay any fines and court costs, reducing one stressor.
Sections of a Grant Proposal The major sections of a grant proposal that would be used to request a grant for Encouraging Families would be abstract, table of contents, needs and problem statement, target populations, approaches and methods, long and short-term goals, an evaluation plan, agency capacity, and budget. The abstract is the summary of the proposal. The table of contents is the order of the information along with page numbers to easily find information. The needs and problem statement explains what the problem or needs are, and what the agency is going to do to help make the problem better. The target population defines the population the agency is going to serve. Approaches and methods explain what kind of approach the agency is going to take, along with what methods it will utilize. Long and short-term goals are imperative to be in a grant proposal, so funders know that the agency has set goals it plans on obtaining. The evaluation plan explains what type of evaluation will be conducted when it will be conducted and what it will be looking for. Agency capacity is showing that the agency is credible, qualified and competent. Budget is also paramount as it breaks down exactly where the funds will be used. All of these sections put together in the correct order will be the grant proposal itself. It takes time and research to be able to complete a grant proposal and make sure it sounds professional and meets all the guidelines.
Needs and Problem Statement According to Illinois Department of Human Services (n.d), "the Need Statement presents facts and evidence to support the need for the project (program) you are proposing. It also establishes your organization as being capable of addressing the need. When identifying the problem and writing the Need Statement, you must convince the fund source that the issue(s) you want to address are important to your organization and of interest to the fund source.” Families that have an incarcerated member have enough stressors. Encouraging Families is going to help to relieve one stressor on those families. According to Prison Fellowship (2016) “nationwide, as many as 60 percent of ex-prisoners are unemployed one year after their release from prison.” Clients that are incarcerated or have been incarcerated have problems finding a job upon release, and therefore cannot financially take care of themselves and their family because it is hard for anyone to find a job with a criminal background. Clients are blocked from solving these problems because of they do not have the self-confidence or education to search for jobs. This problem is related to other issues such as homelessness. The impact of their needs/problems on the community is increased homeless families and an increase in the crime rate. Others have addressed their needs/problems by doing telling these individuals they need to get a job; the results of their interventions have been unsuccessful. The most promising strategy for interventions is basic job training.
Conclusion
Writing a grant proposal can be a tedious job, but can be very rewarding. Donations are necessary to help non-profit organizations succeed. Non-profit organizations get most of their funding through grants. For these organizations to be considered for a grant, they must find one that will be for the type of program they are starting, and fill out a request for proposal. After the request for proposal, agencies must study the grant guidelines and make note of all the deadlines. If the guidelines are not followed, the agency will not be considered for the grant. Also, if deadlines are not met, the grant proposal will be for nothing. Grant writers must be logical, have excellent writing skills and must always be professional in their writings. Grant writers must logically follow the steps of grant writing and include all sections of the grant. Abstract, table of contents, needs and problem statement, target populations, approaches and methods, long and short-term goals, an evaluation plan, agency capacity, and budget are all sections of the grant proposal that must be clearly and logically stated. If the grant proposal is not written in this order, the funders will not be able to follow along and will get confused when reading it. Having a strong needs and problem statement is critical. The donors need to know who the target population is, what the need is, why there is a need in this area and what the agency plans on doing to help said problem. Funders will scrutinize the grant proposal, focusing a lot on the budget. The budget must be clearly written so the funders can see exactly where the fund will be utilized. While grants can be difficult to write, and may take time for a grant writer to get good at writing the proposals, grants are a necessary part of starting a new program.

References
Grants 101. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/learn-grants/grants-101.html
Illinois Department of Human Services. (n.d). Grant Writing Tip - Statement of Need. Retrieved from http://www.dhs.state.il.us/page.aspx?item=4803 Prison Fellowship. (2016). HELPING EX-PRISONERS FIND JOBS. Retrieved from https://www.prisonfellowship.org/resources/training-resources/reentry-ministry/on-going-ministry/helping-ex-prisoners-find-jobs/