Seeking a Community Service Grant? What to Do Before You Write One

The first step before even considering the content of your community service grant is to conduct careful research about your project idea and to uncover potential funding sources.  If you have a dream to improve after-school opportunities for at-risk students, for instance, you’ll need to be able to define every aspect of your ideal project.  Who will you serve?  What kind of community support can you rely on? Where should be funding come from? How much will you need? These are just a few of the goals that must be thoroughly explored as you prepare to write.

Jen Heneberry at Community Power Finance Forum

Photo Credit:  mars_discovery_district

Developing a Grant Proposal

The more work you put into planning your proposal, the more likely your project will be funded.  Before you start looking to foundations or federal agencies for grant money, define your project mission.  To do that, answer the question, “What is the purpose of my project?”  Next, survey the community you wish to serve to find out if there is truly a need for your project.  Are there other non-profit agencies already in place that receive grant money to accomplish the same goals?  If so, you need to refine your mission and be able to point out how will your project be different. Continuing with the “after school program” example, identify a portion of the student population that is not able to benefit from existing services. Or propose a mentoring program in an under served field — such as English and writing  — to call attention to the unique nature of your project.

Where to Find Funding and Support

If your community service grant is intended to serve your local area, it is best to search for foundations closer to home. A community services grant is most likely to find funding in the area that will be served by the project. Corporations often make donations or even fund a project partially or in full through their community outreach offices.

It is possible to receive a grant for an individual, but most are awarded to non-profit organizations.  If you are looking for sources to fund your small, one-person community project, you can find them listed in the Foundation Center’s publications.

Whether you are seeking a community service grant from a corporation, a local foundation, or a federal grant, garnering support from key community leaders and from those in leadership positions within organizations that could benefit from your project is essential.  Search for academic or professional or even political leaders in organizations to get their support.  Letters of support are often required for federal grants.

• There are two main internet resources to review when looking for funding sources. The federal government operates Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) and the Foundation Center, which is a clearinghouse for funding organizations both private and corporate.

•  There are various Congressional Research Service reports that provide useful information for grant seekers, including CRS Report RL34012.

•  CRS Report RL32872: Community Services Block Grants Funding and Re-authorization provides information about the availability of federal block grants.

Preparing to Write the Proposal

Many people find it helpful to attend a grant-writing workshop before they start to prepare the proposal.  If you have never written a grant before, a workshop could assist you in crafting your message to meet the criteria of the funding agency.

Be careful to target your idea to the foundation’s interests so that you optimize the potential for getting your proposal funded.  Before you start, ask the foundation you have found for a grant application kit.  If one isn’t available, ask for information that describes what the foundation is looking for so that you can more closely target your message to their needs in the appropriate format.

After you feel confident that you have fully defined your project and focused it on services that are needed in the community, you can develop a preliminary paper, referred to as a concept paper that will prepare you to write the actual proposal.  The following points should be summarized in your concept paper:

• Who will benefit from your service?
• What are your project goals?
• Who will implement your project?
• How much time is needed to meet the goals?
• How will success be measured?
• What are the future plans beyond the scope of the immediate grant?
• What is the budget for completing this project?
• How do your project objectives relate to the foundation’s or agency’s stated purpose?

Some foundations and governmental funding agencies will agree to read your concept paper and provide feedback to you before you start the official community service grant writing process.

Finally, before you start writing, take a look at some sample proposals to learn more about the sections will need to cover:

• You can obtain sample proposals from the website Non-profit Guides.

• If you want to write a grant to serve students in kindergarten through twelfth grade, or a particular subset of the student population, see sample proposals at K12 Grants.
• The Minnesota Council on Foundations provides grant writing advice on their website.

Thorough research and a well-defined project are the necessary building blocks for a focused and relevant community service grant proposal.  Be sure to talk to corporate and governmental leaders whose support you will need.  If you can put together a concept paper that summarizes your project, budget and future plans, you are on the way to writing a winning grant proposal.

Popular Community Services Remain Active but Struggle in Economic Climate

Directors and staff at community services organizations that rely on governmental funding are closely monitoring budget battles on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures across the country.  Budget woes threaten crucial services provided to U.S. citizens of all ages.

Among the long-standing services that in the past have been at the center of discussions about cuts are  Head Start, the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutritional program, and community health centers.  As the U.S. economy slowly recovers from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, will legislators objectively consider the strides made by these programs and not just initiate across-the-board cuts? What improvements can directors make, if any, to keep their programs strong and successful?

Head Start’s Successes and Challenges

Head Start, a community services organization that began in 1965 during President Johnson’s War on Poverty, was created by Jule Sugarman as a six-week-program to help economically disadvantaged preschool children get ready for school.  Early on, though, it became apparent that a program this short did not have the capacity to undo the affects of the preceding five years of poverty the children experienced.  “The Head Start Act of 1981 expanded the program,” according to the Wikipedia posting. “The program was further revised when it was reauthorized in December 2007.  Head Start is one of the longest-running programs to address systematic poverty in the United States.”

From its inception though 2005, Head Start has given educational help to more than 22 million children throughout all 50 states.  “The $6.8 [plus] billion dollar budget for 2005 provided services to more than 905,000 children,” the author of the Wikipedia entry wrote. To administer a program of this size requires a staff of more than 200,000 and a volunteer force of 1.2 million, and Wikipedia quotes the average cost of $7,222 per child.

Criticism of the Head Start program centers around its biggest documented shortcoming: The gains made during the preschool years are all but gone by the time a child finishes third grade because the additional educational services stop after the preschool years. In those post-Head Start years, the children return to an impoverished family lifestyle that lacks the extra push for educational readiness.  If this occurrence — known as “Head Start Fade”  – is to become a thing of the past, another program must undertake the responsibility of assisting these children as they go through elementary school and beyond.  Local community services organizations need to step up and take the reigns from Head Start from first grade on  because it is unlikely that any additional program will receive governmental funding in these economic times.

WIC’s Food Voucher Dispute

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — or WIC — was established in 1974 by congress.  From that time to 2009 the program has grown from serving 88,000 women and children to approximately 9 million in 2009.  The latter number represents mostly children.  The goal of WIC is to boost the nutritional intake of children who are five years old and younger.  This community services  program also provides information to the mother about healthy eating.

Participants are low income women. However, due to fiscal constraints, not all who qualify can be served.  In addition to providing infant formula and educating women about nutrition, WIC also helps with other basic needs, such as physical health and treatment, family services, and behavioral health.

Women receive food vouchers that allow them to purchase certain products at a reduced cost.  WIC’s critics say that the products on the approved list are high-fat or high sugar foods, the opposite of what the program purports to provide.  Much has changed in the field of nutrition in the last 30 years, and the federal program has not been adjusted to reflect those advances.  By reviewing and revising the menu of foods available with the voucher, the US Department of Health and Human Services may actually be able to save money while bringing all aspects of the program — food education and assistance — into agreement.

Community Health Centers Safe…for Now

Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) provide care to people in medically under served regions of the country, including Native American tribal communities and rural areas.  According the the FAQs on the Rural Assistance Center’s website,  “Other requirements that must be provided directly by an FQHC or by arrangement with another provider include: dental services, mental health and substance abuse services, transportation services necessary for adequate patient care, hospital and specialty care.”  Health centers that qualify for federal funds receive a grant as a consequence of the Federal Health Service Act, which allows the centers to obtain additional reimbursements from Medicaid and Medicare.  In order to qualify for the grant, the center must have non-profit status.

Criticism isn’t directed at the concept or function of FQHCs but at whether there are enough of them to make a significant difference in health care availability for the under served population in the U.S.  However, the Patient Protection and Affordability Act that President Obama signed into law on March 23, 2010, provides funding for new FQHCs and makes grant money available to existing health centers that need to expand services.

Robert Skeffington, a partner with Priority Management Group, writes how this new health care law differs in its approach to funding. “In a change from previous appropriations, the FQHC program will receive increases tied to costs and number of patients served. In total, a net $3.6 billion will be made available to existing FQHCs and other entities wishing to become an FQHC over the next five fiscal years.” He adds that existing community health care centers will be able to add programs and stay open for more hours.  “The health care bill delivers the biggest jump in funding since the program began and also allows for continuous appropriation funding.”

Federally funded programs for the underprivileged, such as Head Start and WIC, are faced with continuing fights for survival as legislators look for ways to reduce spending.  It appears, though, that community health centers have not only weathered the economic storm but receive strong support through the health care reform law passed last year.  Still, non-profit community services companies need to look for other sources of financial support and find new methods of fund raising to keep afloat in these harsh times.

Photo credit: By Christiana Care