Increase the Speed of Your Grant Writing by Organizing the Key Documents

The management of enthusiasm can be one of the most important secrets to your success as a grant writing consultant. In my experience, people get more excited about a project if they get into action on it immediately. The problem in grant writing, however, is that you usually do not know enough about the grant application requirements initially to establish any realistic assignments for everyone participating in the grant writing process. Accordingly, I have a standard approach I use the get people moving which will also make it easier to write the grant.

For an interesting, first person visual (FPV) flight over nearby Aliso Canyon in Laguna Niguel, CA check out this video from a F450 RC quad-copter at 10,000 feet. Trish and I walk in this park.

I like to leverage the initial excitement of having me visit at a charity by getting them started on some overlooked elements of a complete grant package including:

• Updated resumes on the key leaders and program managers of the charity.
• Updated project budget that includes a lot of specific line items and details.
• Latest version of charity's mission statement and/or vision statement.
• Updated list of board members with phone numbers, addresses, board roles, and occupational data.
• Secure electronic copies of annual budget, IRS 990, and most recent audited financial statement.

My approach is to remind key leaders that these elements of a complete proposal are more important than anything I can add as a grant writer. In some cases, the budget document and the staff resumes will be key deciding factors in whether or not the client wins the grant. The sooner the charity starts perfecting these documents, the better it will be for their overall chances of winning.

It does not matter if you have always worked at the same charity all your life, or if you are dropping in at the last minute by quad-copter, you need to use scarce time efficiently.

Thanks to the preparation of the staff, Irvine Valley College earned $1.5 million to establish a new center to support Asian American and Pacific Islander students in 2015. They were among a small number of institutions to win this sort of funding during a time when legislators are seeking to trim the federal budget. Nevertheless, the staff at Irvine Valley College was able to take action because they were organized ahead of time and knew where to find the key documents needed to provide evidence of their program's features and prior success. Moreover, they had the documentation ready to demonstrate that they met the key eligibility requirements for the grant too.

Drew & Associates Client is One of Ten Colleges Awarded Grants to Expand Opportunities for Asian, Pacific Islanders

I am proud to report that my Drew & Associates team wrote a successful $1.5 million grant for Irvine Valley College that was featured in a recent NBCNews article. The text of that article is shared below:

Ten Colleges Awarded Grants to Expand 

Opportunities for Asian, Pacific Islanders

Chris Fuchs

October 21, 2015

Ten U.S. colleges and universities will receive grants totaling more than $2.9 million to help expand and strengthen educational opportunities for Asian-American and Native American Pacific Islander students, the U.S. Department of Education announced last week.

The grants can be used to improve instruction, facilities, and the quality of academics on campus, according to the Department of Education.

"These funds will enhance the quality of these schools to better prepare Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander students for success in college and careers, by giving them the skills they need to compete in the 21st century, global economy," Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said in a statement.

Four of the 10 colleges and universities to receive federal awards, ranging from $269,023 to $300,000 per grant, were in California. According to the U.S. Census, 14.4 percent of California's population is Asian, 1.7 percent American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.5 percent Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander.

To qualify for the grants, at least 10 percent of a college or university's undergraduate population must be Asian American or Native American Pacific Islander, and the school must be eligible for Title III funding. Part of the Higher Education Act enacted in 1965, Title III funds are allocated to assist schools in expanding educational opportunities for minority and low-income students.

Irvine Valley College, a community college in Orange County that received one of the grants, plans to use the money for an intercultural center for students interested in science, technology, engineering, and math, as well as art, President Glenn R. Roquemore told NBC News.

Of the 14,964 students enrolled in Irvine Valley College, 28 percent are Asian, according to the school's website. Roquemore said his school received $1.5 million spread out over five years and will also use that funding for faculty and peer mentoring services, as well as for outreach to Asian-American and Native American Pacific Islander students.

"Although Irvine is oftentimes observed as being fairly wealthy, 50 percent of our students are on what's called bond waivers, and that means that they actually qualify being in poverty based on federal guidelines," Roquemore said.

News of the grants comes a week after California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a bill proposing new categories that Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders could use to identify themselves when providing demographic data that state agencies, boards or commissions are required to collect.

"Dividing people into ethnic or other subcategories may yield more information, but not necessarily greater wisdom about what actions should follow," Brown wrote to the California State Assembly in explaining his decision.

Proponents of the bill have said that offering more options for ancestry and ethnic origin could help policymakers better identify and address issues in higher education and healthcare access particular to certain groups within the Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities.

In education, wide disparities exist in California among these groups, according to a report by the Campaign for College Opportunity, a nonprofit based in California. While 73 percent of Chinese complete California community college in six years, for instance, only 29 percent of Samoans do the same, the report said.

Betty Hung, policy director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice, told NBC News she applauded the Department of Education for providing grants that strengthen and expand educational opportunities for Asian-American, Native American Pacific Islander students.

"In awarding $2.9 million in grants — including to four community colleges in California — the Obama Administration recognizes the significant barriers to educational access and success, including high poverty and low graduation rates, faced by disadvantaged Asian American, Native American, and Pacific Islander students," Hung said. "This investment by the Obama administration in educational opportunity and success is really an investment in the future of our students and our nation."