This discussion on grant writing continues. Please instructions below on 
how to access messages and/or participate.



>Greetings,

>

>Does your organization rely on grants to pay for staffing, training, new

>equipment, and other organizational operations? Do you find it increasingly

>challenging to target funders, develop successful grant proposals, and

>provide effective project reporting and evaluation? From January 17 - 27,

>Verizon Literacy Campus (VLC) will offer a moderated discussion on the VLC

>Discussion Forum about the following facets of the grant process:

>

>         1.      Research - finding appropriate funding sources

>         2.      Relationship - building connections and associations with

>                 your funder

>         3.      Request - writing and submitting the proposal

>         4.      Reporting - evaluating your grant project and

>                 demonstrating accountability to your funder

>

>The guest moderator for this discussion will be Jim Aiello, development

>officer for ProLiteracy Worldwide. During the nine-day period, questions

>will be posted on the Forum for participants to discuss. As moderator, Jim

>will answer and pose additional questions and topics for participants. At

>the end of the period, this discussion will be archived on the VLC site for

>future information.

>

>You can access the discussion by doing the following anytime beginning

>January 17:

>

>To read the messages posted to the Effective Grant Writing forum:

>         1.      Go to www.literacycampus.org

>         2.      Click on Discussion Forums in the upper left menu bar.

>         3.      Click on "For Program Staff".

>

>To respond to messages in the Effective Grant Writing discussion:

>         1.      Follow steps 1 and 2 above.

>         2.      If you are a new user, click on Register and complete the

>                 form displayed on your screen. Please note that

>                 you can control whether or not your e-mail address is

>                 displayed in your postings.

>         3.      If you have already registered for a VLC Discussion Forum,

>                 click on Log In and enter your user information.

>         4.      Go to the Discussion Forum page at:

>                 <http://www.literacycampus.org/discussion/index.asp>

>         5.      Click on "For Program Staff". You will see several topics

>                 displayed.

>         6.      Click on "Effective Grant Writing". You will see a welcome

>                 message from Jim Aiello containing information about

>                 this discussion as well as instructions for accessing

>                 helpful resources in the VLC Library.

>

>New topics about grant writing will be posted regularly during the nine 

>days of this moderated discussion. You are free to post responses to the

>questions or to post new topics for the participants to discuss.

>

>Please remember to visit the Discussion Forum page frequently to see new

>questions and postings.

>

>Additional References -also available in the VLC Library on January 17:

>

>Writing Your Proposal : www.vernier.com/grants/proposal.html

>

>Techsoup.org - The Technology Place for Non-profits:

>http://www.techsoup.org/howto/

>

>Non-profit guides - grant writing tools for non-profit organizations:

>http://www.npguides.org/

>

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

>

>

>





>Increase Your Odds of Winning Grant Support


By Jim Aiello
Development Officer

Forming rewarding, long-term relationships with donors can be easy - if
you've done your homework, exercised patience, and created an environment
where both your organization and the funder can succeed. Here are some tips
for winning more support.

Do's
* Find out everything there is to know about potential donors.
         o What are their funding priorities? Are there restrictions on
giving? Will they entertain a proposal or do they give only
to pre-selected organizations?
         o Do your program objectives meet the funding priorities of
the donor organization?
         o Is there anyone on your staff or board who can give you
information about the potential funder or who has personal
contact with someone at the funding agency?

* Cultivate good relationships.
         o Take your time - be patient.
         o Letters of inquiry are excellent tools to begin your
cultivation process.

* Involve your board in all your fundraising efforts.

* Once funded, maintain good relationships.
         o Be accountable. Always provide evaluative data and reports
on time.


Don'ts
* Don't submit a proposal unless asked.

* Don't "drop in" for a visit unless invited.

* Don't ask staff or board members to make contacts if they do not
feel comfortable doing so.

* Don't embellish proposals or other submissions with unnecessary
information or attachments. Provide funders only what they ask
for.

We all are limited by time and resources as we work to make this a more
literate world. Taking the time to create a solid funding base, however,
will pay off in the long run.