Issue link: http://lawandordermag.epubxp.com/i/189636
SPECIAL REPORT Grant Guide 2013 in telling how your project will beneft the community or solve a problem. Helpful statistics might be found at www.Fedstats. gov. It is a source of census and other data that can be used when writing about comparisons or contrasts. The U.S. Census Bureau's American Fact Finder at www.factfnder2.census.gov can provide you with demographic information. Enter a zip code for "Fact Finder" information about people and their communities—something you might want in your grant application's needs statement. Similarly, crime statistics can be obtained from websites of State or Federal crime data. Browse by State or region. When using national statistics, bring them down to your local level. If your project involves community service and jobs in your region, use www.bls.gov. Online grants applications and management systems require a Duns number (www.dnb.com) and Employee Identifcation Number (www.irs. gov) for your agency. The reviewer of your grant application might not start at page one, but might begin with your executive summary, a synopsis, or something else in your application, so be sure the entire application is honed to its best, that it presents everything in clear and direct language, and that it motivates the reviewer to keep reading. Corporate grants are usually direct, discretionary monies, and the application and approval processes tend to go quicker than government-sourced grants. Private foundations and the non-proft sector are diverse in projects and amount of funding, but can be good sources. Mini-grants from corporate and non-proft sources are generally simple to seek, and are good for basic projects. But even though these grant sources may seem streamlined or even "easy" to use, be just as thorough, professional and concise as you would be for a more complex grant. Letter of Inquiry A letter of inquiry can be a letterform of your executive summary. If the grantor does not invite unsolicited letters, ask if the organization matches your need. If so, request an invitation to submit your proposal. In the Statement of Introduction, you describe your agency. Its credibility will show in descriptions of its mission, goals, major accomplishments, programs, en- 54 LAW and ORDER I October 2013 dorsements, awards, other grants and projects, and partner agencies. In the Needs Statement, use the format and style requirements set by the grantor, but present your proposal by concisely focusing on the need for the project and not the lack of money to do it! Describe community needs or the people you will serve with the project, and include appropriate statistics, anecdotes, surveys, and quotes that reinforce the need for the project. Focus on the social, economic, geographic, or other applicable beneft, and express it in a logical and credible way. The budget section describes facts and fgures, and is the money side of what the project will do. You must accomplish what you propose to do with the money the grantor gives because you will have a contract requiring that. The contract will contain the promises made, procurement rules for purchases, employment/personnel, equal opportunity law compliance, the agreement's terms, and the obligations of multiple agencies and the lead agency if it is a collaborative project. Because subcontracts or short-term contracts might be necessary for a particular project, a Memorandum of Agreement or Memorandum of Understanding may also be needed to explain the work to be done. Grantors fund a project, but will not let you make money from a grant. Grantors must know that the grant is spent prudently and honestly. The budget must be specifc and complete, including as much detail as possible, even down to rent, utilities, postage, phone, offce, travel, fees, auto rental, etc. (You may need a grant for your main project or the work plan, but smaller, non-designated funds from other grantors to pay such miscellaneous costs.) Your application tells about the project, but also says that your agency can handle the project. That is a legal obligation, and the budget refects the contract, and the prudent management and use of the money. In a collaborative project of multiple agencies, the grantor usually has all the agencies under one contract, with one agency as the leader. This helps smaller agencies expand their service area, or allows a project to serve a wider population more effciently. Follow the grantor's fscal rules. Any misuse of grant money, however innocent, will have to be paid back, and there may even be criminal penalties for such mismanagement. Such mismanagement may also spell doom for any future grants from any other source. For a project involving something of value, but given at no cost (e.g. the use of a vehicle, volunteers, facilities, or an employee from another agency), use www.IndependentSector.org for the money value of such help. If one party to the contract does not or cannot comply with the contract terms, the grantor might allow modifcation. But the grant manager or lead agency should monitor everything so that problems are identifed and solved before they escalate into major stumbling blocks to the project. Likewise, if a new grant administrator or key person is emplaced during the running of a grantfunded project, the grantor should be informed. (Always follow the instructions of the grantor about process or updates.) Maintain a notebook of records, audits and documents pertaining to compliance, including the application guidelines, grant proposal, contract, subcontracts, amendments, reports, objectives already met, objectives yet to be accomplished, fnancial records, major receipts, procurement process guidelines, bid solicitations, and correspondence written or e-mailed that confrms phone conversations. Grantors can audit at any time so be ready to produce any information needed to prove compliance and good management. A project might be outcome-based and/or process-based. Outcome-based tells how the community will improve, while process-based will say what has been implemented and how the implementations will be controlled. Use the writing that best describes the process. Show the project "at a glance." Grantors may expect even more than the achievement of the objectives because most objectives are written broadly. Keep records about staff, budget, partners, activities, delivery of the product or service of the project, outcomes and benefts for the project's participants, and impact on the communities and/or agency's systems. The Project Plan The project's work plans, goals and objectives are most often written in narrative, rubric (grid-based), or logic models (super