The federal government establishes priorities and an outline for the
delivery of a specific service. Different cabinet-level agencies
distribute monies for programs related to their purpose and mission.
Each cabinet-level agency has a myriad of sub-agencies under its
jurisdiction. For instance, the Department of Health and Human Services
oversees sub-agencies as diverse as the Administration on Aging, the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug
Administration. Each of these sub-agencies is charged with issuing
requests for proposals that fulfill legislative purposes.
Some programs such as Head Start, the Legal Services Corporation,
AmeriCorps, Welfare to Work and Ryan White (HIV/AIDS) have become household
names. There are hundreds of listings in the Federal Domestic
Assistance Catalog. Federal funding—ever dependent on the politics
of the U.S. Congress budget process—can disappear quickly.
How much money is available?
Most federal grants are multi-year awards. Grant amounts range from
tens of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars. Each grant
announcement includes a listing on the funding amount and the number of years
for the award. Knowing how much money is available for a grant
program can help determine whether or not it is worth your time to develop a
complete grant proposal. Sometimes only four or five grants are
available for a competition, and hundreds of organizations are applying for that limited pool
of funding. If only a handful of grants are available, you will need to
evaluate whether or not your organization has the experience and history of
providing the requested service at an elite level and will generate outcomes
that are extremely competitive.
What factors might put my organization at a competitive disadvantage in
applying for a federal grant?
Preparing a federal grant application can be time-consuming and draining.
Applying for a federal grant in most cases is a major commitment that will
consume many hours of time from your director, program staff, financial
staff, and grant writer. It will be frustrating if you devote those
resources to a grant that is poorly matched to the mission and qualifications
of your organization.
Consider whether or not your agency has the management experience to carry
out a federal grant program. Keep in mind that the worst nightmare of a
federal agency is distributing grants to an organization that does not have
the capacity to carry out grant activities and account for the funding
received through the grant. A tax-exempt organization’s
mismanagement of a federal grant can end up on the front page of the daily
newspaper or lead story on the evening news. Bad media exposure puts
federal grant programs under a microscope, and damages chances for future
congressional funding appropriations. For those reasons and others, the
federal government is extremely cautious about making funding awards to
organizations without experience in managing and administering larger grants.
Consider several key questions before applying for federal
funding. Does your organization have the capacity to carry out program
activities? Do you have management-level staff, facilities, and
other resources to carry out a federal grant? Can your organization
fulfill federal regulations associated with the grant
application? A careful review of the application kit may help you
determine that your organization is not eligible to apply for a
particular grant program. You may also find that the required
services to be delivered do not match up well with your
organization’s capabilities. Do not try to force a round
peg into a square hole!
Also consider that federal grants require an audit that specifically meets standards
established by the government. Some grants do not support your costs
for an audit or administrative expenses. Your organization’s
audit costs will increase if you receive a federal grant, but you may not
have funding to support those costs.
If your organization is new to the federal grants arena, you are competing
against organizations, institutions, hospitals, colleges and school districts
that are experienced in implementing and managing grants. Your proposed
program may be much more innovative and better designed than the more
experienced competitors, but you may not receive funding if you cannot assure
federal administrators that your staff can handle burdensome financial and
grant reporting requirements. In some instances, your organization can
overcome this problem by collaborating with an organization that is
experienced in administering federal grants. This joint effort will
strengthen your application, and help your organization build experience.
Do we need to hire a grant writer to develop a federal proposal?
Keep in mind that while you may have someone internally who is
qualified to develop a federal proposal, the time commitment can be
extraordinary. Developing a 35-page grant proposal may zap the
life out of your staff and agency – and bring tremendous
disappointment if it is not funded! Developing a document of that
length is hardly intimidating to an experienced grant proposal writer.
An outside grant writer with experience in developing federal proposals
can reduce the burden on your staff and efficiently create a strong
proposal. Be sure that you hire someone with strong writing skills,
good listening skills, strong understanding of budgeting and finance, and an attention to detail.
Ask for sample proposals, a list of funded federal proposals and references.
Make sure that this individual can block out adequate time to develop the
proposal.
If you decide to develop the grant proposal internally, you may still want
to hire an outside expert to review your proposal before it is
submitted. That process will help you identify any weaknesses, and
provide an opportunity to see if your plan makes sense to someone who is an
outsider and has a fresh perspective.
How much time do we need to assemble a federal grant application?
It is usually wise to begin developing a grant proposal four to eight
weeks prior to the deadline, depending upon the size of the
proposal. While it is possible to assemble the full application in
a two week period or less, you are more likely to make serious mistakes
and not submit a polished proposal. Federal grant deadlines are
not negotiable. If your proposal arrives late, more than likely it
will be returned to your agency unopened. With the grants.gov system,
proposals can be submitted online, but technology glitches and the
complexity of the submission process can make you miss a deadline.
Once we have decided to apply for a grant, how do we begin developing
the proposal?
Some experts state that writing a grant proposal is two-thirds planning and
one-third writing. It is very important to drive the
grant proposal process through internal planning, rather than being driven by
a grant proposal through federal requirements and priorities.
To begin responding to a request for
proposals, identify a team of staff members who will develop this
grant. When I am hired to develop a federal grant proposal, I
usually work with the organization’s executive director or chief
administrator, and one or two program staff members. In addition,
I consult with the lead financial administrator to develop budget
information.
Some federal grants require collaboration from other
organizations in planning the grant proposal and/or implementing your
program. Applicants are frequently required to include letters of
commitment from partnering agencies. You may want to invite
representatives from outside organizations to be a part of the planning
group. That extra effort will strengthen your proposal
substantially, and make it much easier to establish commitments and
legitimate (not “paper tiger”) partnerships.
Federal agencies sometimes host bidders
conferences to explain the grant application packet and answer
questions (often these meetings are held via telephone or
internet). You can also contact the program officer and grant
administration officials to ask additional questions.
What are some reasons that federal grant proposals are turned down?
Government agencies always score the proposal based on a points system, with
criteria for scoring including in proposal packets. You will be
required to attain a certain number of scoring points to be considered for a
grant award. Applications lose points in many different ways, such as:
Quality of application: According to reviewers and federal staff, common
mistakes include omission of requested information, poor understanding of the
grant program’s goals, unrealistic goals and objectives, and weak
evaluation models.
Omissions and Guidelines: While it seems incomprehensible, I have been
told by federal officials that many applicants fail to follow critical proposal
guidelines. These omissions can automatically eliminate your
application from consideration. Sometimes applicants build activities into
their program model that violate federal regulations explicitly listed in the
application packet.
Geographic considerations: Sometimes grants are awarded
strategically to different geographic regions. For example, some grant
programs will balance their giving to rural and urban areas. In
other instances, a federal agency may only be willing to fund one grant
for your region. If another local organization receives a slightly
higher score on the grant application, it will receive the funding.
Political considerations: Occasionally, politics come into play over the
distribution of grant funding. In my opinion, the federal grantmaking process is far more democratic and objective
than foundation and corporate giving. But to say that influence never
plays a role in decision-making is not accurate. In any case, you
should stay away from ever “politicking” for a federal grant
because it will more often hurt your cause than help it.
Internal factors: Sometimes mysterious things happen within an agency, and the process is manipulated.
Limited funds: You can be approved or recommended to receive a grant, but
then be told that there is no more funding available. In the end,
federal agencies have some discretionary powers to make final decisions.
Who reviews a federal grant proposal?
Federal grant proposals are typically reviewed by agency staff and/or
outside reviewers. The proposal guidance frequently describes the
application review process. In some cases, the federal government is
desperate to find outside reviewers, and some are limited in their
understanding of the service process. For those reasons, write in
simple language, avoid jargon and never assume that a reviewer will
understand the complexities of your area of expertise. Also keep
in mind that since readers are scrutinizing several proposals, make
their job easier by keeping the proposal simple, easy to follow, and
closely matched with proposal guidelines. Be sure that key
components of your program are stated clearly, and they will not
accidentally be overlooked.