Renowned for having brought in two small grants earlier in the year, Jane volunteered to take a trip to the local Prevention Center to prepare for the first meeting of the Prevention Planning Team's Funding Group. She loved doing research and looked forward to the opportunity to talk to prevention specialists, read through the available books and journals, search the Internet, and investigate funding options.

Weighing Your Options

When Jane arrived at the center, she was impressed, as always, by the amount of information that surrounded her. This was exactly what she needed! Heading straight for the section on funding sources and the grant-writing process, she pulled up a chair and began poring through the materials. Her attention was immediately drawn to an article titled "Is That All There Is? Things to Consider Before You Apply." The article encouraged readers to think carefully about whether they actually wanted to pursue a grant and ask themselves these questions before doing so:

• Can we do the same work as well, or almost as well, without grant money?

• Are we planning to apply for a grant simply because funds are available?

• Is a grant the only way (or the best way) to do what we want to do?

• Are there other (and perhaps better) ways of getting the money we need?

• Do we have a realistic chance of success?

• Are we prepared to put in the work to produce a top-quality grant proposal?

Jane jotted down the questions, for they tapped into her own concerns about pursuing grant funding to sustain program activities. Though she had volunteered to be the funding "lookout," she wasn't entirely convinced that this was the best way to move forward. She believed that the ideal funding situation for Taft's prevention activities would be a renewable source of local revenue -- such as building program costs into the annual budget of their school system -- rather than another short-term grant. She hoped that the other working group would be able to come up with a solid plan for connecting prevention activities to educational policy and school reform efforts, which might allow this to happen.

For the immediate future, however, grants probably were their best bet. Some of the school's prevention activities weren't quite ready to be integrated into the school's funding stream -- and integration takes time even when activities are ready. Grants could extend the life of the initiative long enough to allow for full implementation of their prevention activities, an understanding of the benefits produced, and time to work toward sustaining those activities that prove to be effective. With that realization, Jane returned to the task at hand.

Identifying Funding Sources

As Jane began sifting through the literature around her, she learned that there were three main sources of grants for school- and community-based prevention work:

• The government, including federal, state, and sometimes local sources

• Foundations

• Private businesses and corporations

Since the Prevention Planning Team had already approached several local businesses about funding (to no avail!), Jane decided to focus her efforts on learning more about government and foundation grants. She located numerous websites that contained useful information about funding sources, as well as a few helpful books and reports. Using these resources, Jane identified several government agencies and federal initiatives that promoted school-based health promotion and risk prevention efforts, including the new National Coordinator Program from the U.S. Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program.

She also identified a handful of national foundations that support prevention work, as well as a directory of foundations that provide funding to groups and institutions in her city and state. After photocopying several relevant pages, Jane decided to take a break. She needed a short walk before moving on to her next charge: to collect information on the grant-writing process itself.

Preparing to Write

• An Executive Summary, outlining the study's major findings and recommendations

• A Statement of Need, explaining why the proposed program is necessary

• A Project Description, describing how the project will be implemented and evaluated

• A Budget, i.e., a financial description of the project plus explanatory notes

• Information About the Host Organization, including its history, governing structure, and primary activities, audiences, and services

Jane then came across an interesting article that focused on the "how to's" of successful grant writing. According to the article, success depended on three simple steps:

• Start with a good idea.

• Locate a source that has a history of funding similar ideas.

• Design, craft, and develop your idea into a well-written statement.

These steps made sense to Jane, but she knew they were just a start. She began searching online, and soon found some other helpful resources:

• The Foundation Center's Proposal Writing Short Course

• A tip sheet on writing successful proposals from a Harvard University website

• Winning Grant Proposals Online, which provides access to recently funded, top-ranked grant proposals to major government funders in a variety of subject areas, including education and health

The more she read, the more she found the idea of hiring a grant- writing consultant to be appealing. Though resources were scarce, so was time! And a full-time proposal writer might also have established relationships with potential funders. She made a note to herself to bring this idea back to her working group. It couldn't hurt to think through all of their options.

Although there was much more material to look through, Jane was pleased with all she had accomplished. She had solid information, as well as several important questions, to bring back to the group. She felt confident that when the Prevention Planning Team next met, they would be well-equipped to develop a viable plan for sustaining their prevention activities.

References

Berkowitz, B. Applying for a grant: The general approach. Lawrence, KS: Community Tool Box, University of Kansas. Available online at http://ctb.lsi.ukans.edu/tools/EN/sub_section_main_1300.htm.

The Foundation Center. Proposal writing short course. Available online at http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/tutorials/shortcourse/index.html.

Orlich, D.C. (1996). Designing successful grant proposals. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Available online at http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/books/orlich96book.html.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Please think about the questions below, and post your answers, comments, or questions to the Discussion Area.

1. Have any of you sought additional funding for your prevention activities through grants or foundations? Please share your experiences.

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of receiving grant/foundation funding?