The Modern Robin Hood

Hello!  Happy Holidays!  Joyous New Year!

Wait… that was a while ago?  Hmmm.

I really have to start with an apology for my month-long absence.  I know that this will fall on understanding ears, though, when I tell you it was because of a recent project: a federal grant due January 20.  In just under a month, my client and I put together a fantastic proposal (thanks to their advance prep and existing capacity) and now… I am ready to sleep.  Sound familiar?

But here I am– itching to blog nonetheless, mainly because this grant was for a first-time applicant for federal funding.  As we worked through the draft versions of the proposal, I realized that as they were going through this for the first time I was being reminded of the lessons I learned during my own days as a newbie.  Over the course of the month, I collected a series of these “a-ha!” moments on various sticky pads and paper scraps and today I want to share them.  Federal grants are often idealized as the ultimate in cushy money–not exactly true.  Bureaucracy is a cruel mistress.  If you have the capacity to do it, federal funding is a blessing and certainly worth pursuing. However, nobody should go into it without the proper guide and fair advance warning. After all, would you tackle Everest without a Sherpa? Exactly.

With that in mind, here are my Scrap O’ Paper Ramblings courtesy of a month in the shoes of a federal grants novice.

1. No Square Pegs and Round Holes

The effort and time required to apply for a federal grant is significant.  The biggest mistake you can make at the outset is thinking that you will win the grant with a project that is almost what the Request is looking for, or that your organization almost has the required experience and focus necessary.  You are simply not going to win as a first-time applicant with no track record and a mediocre fit between what they want and what you provide.  There isn’t enough time to go around as it is in most nonprofits—if a federal grant comes along that looks like an almost, let it pass.  Like Mama said, it pays to wait for Mr. Right.

2. Register Early, Register Often

In an effort to streamline their processes and save a few thousand trees from becoming 100-page proposals each year, federal grants are almost all centralized through a submission site: www.grants.gov.  This is a mixed blessing.  On the one hand, it means that the morning of submission is not spent in front of a copier for hours, collating papers.  On the other hand, as a first-time applicant you may spend the morning in front of your computer instead, troubleshooting a series of monumentally trivial “errors” and having to resubmit a few times.

The organization I recently worked with had done their homework well and gotten their registration done as they needed to in both grants.gov and eRA Commons.  Within each registration, they had assigned roles to various staff members: Signing Officer, Authorized Organizational Representative, Principal Investigator, E-grant Representative, and on and on.  In this web of roles, every incongruity may be construed as an error.  There needed to be cross-approval of roles within the organization, even after registration was finished.  There needed to be no discrepancy between the address as written on the proposal and as written in each line (Street vs. St., Suite on the same line as address or next line, etc.)  With this demand for detail, it is not surprising that the first time around, proposal submission can take a few tries before achieving success.  So—register early, so that you are approved before the grant submission date.  And be prepared to submit early as well—with a 5 pm deadline, facing logistical obstacles at 9 am is far and away preferable to facing them at 4:30 pm.

3. Play CSI with the RFP

The federal grantor who writes the Request for Proposal will spell out for you exactly what you need to do, and in how many pages, and in what font, and what keywords you should use while writing it.  However, it takes a gift for dissection to get to the heart of all that.  Amidst 10-12 pages of bureaucratic writing lies the key to giving them what they want, and it is up to you to find it.  For me, the best strategy is to go through the RFP several times.  First time: the basic details, such as eligibility, due date, total funding amounts, and any restrictions. Second time: what content they are looking for, and what keywords they use to describe it.  If they say “social networking tools” and “media literacy”, you don’t say “social mediums” and “journalist trainings”.  Third time:  what the pieces of the grant are, and what the requirements are.  You should see a section that tells you just what the section titles are, and how long each section should be. You may see links to help you fill out SF424 forms—these are good but bulky!  Leave enough time to go through all of these details thoroughly before you ever write a word, so you know what the end result will look like and can plan accordingly.

4. The Jargon Jinx

This is a tenet I (and most of us) learned back in high school: KISS.  Which means, for grantwriting, that you should remember to keep your language understandable for someone who doesn’t know a thing about the topic.  Sure, the reviewers may know what your favorite acronyms mean, but what if they don’t?  Acronyms, technical jargon, and “program-speak” are all things to avoid in a grant application.  And no—if you are a program expert, you probably won’t be able to edit yourself properly.  Give it to a friend, spouse, or cousin.  Make sure it is someone you can count on to be honest with you and who has no reason to understand what you are talking about prior to reading this draft.   By explaining key terms and keeping the grant readable, you will win over the hearts of the poor reviewers who have far too many pages to go through—and increase the chance that your grant will be looked at in detail.

And… that brings me to my last point:

5. Save the Rambling for Your Blog

Keep it focused, keep it well-edited, and keep it just long enough to tell the story of the program in a compelling way.  If you feel the need for excessive color commentary and purple prose—follow my lead: start a blog!

Now it’s off to catch some rest, but I’ll be back to ramble more soon.  In the meantime, if you have any of your own favorite tips and suggestions for newbies to the federal grants game, post them here.  Look forward to hearing them!