Grant Resources on the Web
By Bill Lawrence, Pinellas County Schools

Topics:

     Proposal Writing Assistance
     Online Publications
     E-Mail Alert Services & Newsletters
     Data Sources
     Funding Sources

 

Proposal Writing Assistance
These are sites to help you write quality proposals.

"Tips for Electronic Grant Submissions" from the July 12, 2005 presentation at the monthly Collaborative meeting.

Proposal Writing: Internet Resources
http://grants.library.wisc.edu/organizations/proposalwebsites.html

Lots of links to excellent websites for proposal writing. Some include advice on letters of inquiry and sample proposals as well.

The Proposal Writing Short Course
http://fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html

A free tutorial from The Foundation Center.

EPA Grant Writing Tutorial
http://www.epa.gov/seahome/grants/src/grant.htm

A classic tutorial from the Environmental Protection Agency.

A Guide to Proposal Writing
http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1998/nsf9891/nsf9891.htm

Help from the National Science Foundation.

Basic Elements of Grant Writing
http://www.cpb.org/grants/grantwriting.html

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting provides a guide to the basic elements of grant writing.

Going After Grants
http://www.electronic-school.com/2001/01/0101f5.html

An experienced grant winner shares his grant writing secrets in this January 2001 issue of Electronic School.

Grants Development Summary
http://www.geneseeisd.org/grants/dos%20and%20Donts.htm

This outline gives a brief definition/description for grant applications and lists the Dos and Don'ts when applying for a grant.

Grantseeker's Checklist
http://www.montana.edu/wwwvr/checklist.html

This checklist is a summary of what to check for in your grant application.

How to Write A Mini-Grant Proposal
http://www.edact.com/minigrant.html (no longer available free, you may find the book on Amazon.com)

Johanna Pomeroy provides pointers on writing a mini-grant proposal that include search strategies, the pre-proposal contact, avoiding pitfalls, a sample mini-grant and managing your grant.

Winning the Grant Game!
http://www.cpsb.org/abshire/Grantwriting%20Resources.pdf

This extensive guide to writing successful grants has chapters on: tips for winning the grant game, a guide to writing the grant, a guidebook for grant writers and what grant readers look for in a successful grant application.

Writing Winning Grants
http://www.novemberlearning.com/Portals/0/WinningGrants.pdf

This document is designed to show the process of writing a grant from developing a winning attitude to fulfilling the technical requirements of the grant application.

GrantSAT - Grant Proposal Self-Assessment Tool
http://www.orsp.cmich.edu/pdf/grantsat.pdf

GrantSAT is an outstanding tool for evaluating, and hence improving, each section of your grant proposal. It is useful for all grant writers from the novice to the highly experienced.

 

Online Publications
Web sites related to grants, nonprofits, and philanthropy. These are general information sites.

The Foundation Center
http://www.fdncenter.org/

The premier gateway to philanthropy information on the web.
FC Stats is a free online resource that provides users with ready access to a wealth of statistical data on U.S. private and community foundations and their funding patterns. FC Stats currently offers over 760 data tables available only from the Foundation Center. These tables and ranked lists provide the most frequently requested types of summary financial data on foundations. FC Stats is produced from the Center's research database, the authoritative national statistical data source on grantmaking foundations.
http://www.fdncenter.org/fc_stats/

The Grantsmanship Center
http://www.tgci.com

TGCI was founded in 1972 to offer grantsmanship training and low-cost publications to nonprofit organizations and government agencies.

Philanthropy News Network
http://www.pnnonline.org/

A wealth of information about philanthropy.

Council on Foundations
http://www.cof.org

A nonprofit membership association for foundations and corporations.

Fund$Raiser Cyberzine
http://www.fundsraiser.com/

An online magazine bringing fundraisers how-to hands-on ideas in fundraising since 1996.

Nonprofit Genie
http://www.genie.org

A magic carpet of links to nonprofit resources around the web including the Nonprofit Web Directory and User Added Links. Also, access information about all of the CMAP partners by entering the Resource Oasis or using the California Nonprofit Resources search engine.

Chronicle of Philanthropy
http://philanthropy.com/grants/

The Chronicle Guide to Grants is an electronic database of all corporate and foundation grants listed in The Chronicle of Philanthropy since 1995.

Charity Channel
http://www.charitychannel.org/

Newsletters, forums and many other resources. No longer free, subscription required.

Compass Point
http://www.compasspoint.org/resources/weblinks/index.html

Lots of great information for nonprofits.

Internet Nonprofit Center
http://www.nonprofits.org

The Internet Nonprofit Center publishes the Nonprofit FAQ, a resource of information provided by participants in many online discussions about nonprofits and their work. First-time users may want to look at the Guide to using the FAQ.

This newsletter provides comprehensive information on public and private grants, tips from experts on how to win new support, and up-to-date news on federal and state spending for education. (24 issues per year, $339)

Florida Funding
http://www.floridafunding.com/

The Florida Funding Newsletter provides thorough, up-to-date information about federal, state, foundation and corporate grant programs. (12 issues per year, $142)

Data Sources for Preparing your Grant
Demographic data regarding the population you are serving is critical in establishing a need for your grant project.

U.S. Census Bureau
http://www.census.gov/
http://www.census.gov/main/www/access.html
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/BasicFactsServlet

Everything you ever wanted to know about the US, particular states and individual communities.

Pinellas County Economic Development
http://www.siliconbay.org/gis_site_assistant/

This is a wonderful local resource that can provide detailed economic and demographic data on individual neighborhoods in Pinellas County. You will need to download a MapGuide viewer from the site before you can use the Geographic Information System (GIS). You can even view aerial photos of specific addresses.

Pinellas County Community Indicators
http://pinellasindicators.org
Hillsborough Community Atlas
http://www.hillsborough.communityatlas.usf.edu/

These sites display relationships of existing social and health indicators and the location of agencies and programs to address these indicators. It also has mapping capabilities.

National Center For Education Statistics
http://nces.ed.gov/

Locate NCES school identification numbers, facts and statistics about states, districts and individual schools.

Florida School Indicators Report
http://info.doe.state.fl.us/fsir/

A searchable database that provides data on public elementary, middle, and high schools for each of Florida's 67 school districts. The FSIR provides numerous indicators of school status and performance over the last five school years.

Florida District - State FCAT Reports and Scores
http://www.firn.edu/doe/sas/fcat/fcinfopg.htm

State, district and school scores for the last 5 years. These are the scores for all curriculum groups.

Pinellas County Schools - School Dashboards and Data
http://www.pinellas.k12.fl.us/schools/dashboard1.html

Funding Sources
OK, so who do I ask for the money?

Federal Register
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html

Sign up to receive daily the Federal Register Table of Contents via email.

Federal Commons
http://12.46.245.173/cfda/cfda.html

This is much easier. It will link you to the departments relating to your area of interest.

Florida State Grants
http://www.myflorida.com/

Florida does not do a good job of consolidating its grant programs, but you can search for grants from MyFlorida.com or click on Government, then Executive Branch and look at agencies and departments that fit your organization. Most offer some type of grants.

Fundsnet
http://www.fundsnetservices.com/

Funders and other grant related information.

Grants Web
http://www.srainternational.org/newweb/grantsweb/index.cfm

Funders and other grant related information.

Education Grants

Florida Learn and Serve
http://www.fsu.edu/~flserve/

Service Learning grants up to $15,000 come out every spring for Florida Educators. Last year's application is available from this web site as well as information on previously funded projects.

School Grants
http://www.schoolgrants.org/welcome.htm

SchoolGrants was created in 1999 as a way to share grant information with PreK-12 educators. Finding suitable grant opportunities requires a great deal of time and research - SchoolGrants reduces the effort by listing a variety of opportunities available to elementary and secondary schools and districts across the United States

Teachers Network
http://www.teachersnetwork.org/grants/

More grant opportunities for teachers and schools

Grants For NonProfits: Education From Michigan State University
http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/2educat.htm

This site compiles web pages and books of potential interest to nonprofit organizations seeking funding opportunities related to education.

SEIR*TEC
http://www.seirtec.org/grants.html

SEIR*TEC (SouthEast Initiatives Regional Technology in Education Consortium) links to general grants, specific grants and proposal writing tools.

Verizon e-Grants online
http://foundation.verizon.com/

Verizon Foundation offers an online grant application and schools are eligible.

Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Inc.
http://www.afmfl.org/aff_tb/default.htm

The Allegany Franciscan Ministries has made many grants to Pinellas County organizations.

This is an ongoing work in progress, but that's all for now.

updated 7/19/06 kb