Grant Writing for Dummies: New Software to Help Ease the Pain

Fundraising & Grants Innovations Internet Resources Interns & Volunteers Government Special Populations Community Resources Training Troubleshooting Planning & Management

Tech News is proudly supported by IBM

Grant Writing for Dummies:
New Software to Help Ease the Pain

Nonprofit grant writing can be challenging for even the most seasoned writer. Many nonprofit administrators must balance grant writing against numerous other tasks and few have the time to pursue more than one grant at a time.

Daunting though this may be there are tools to help grant-seekers of every experience level. These tools have been developed with the basic nature of grant proposals and applications in mind. In addition to teaching you something about the grant-seeking process they may also result in a winning grant.

Most grant applications require the following information:

Description of the project
Qualifications and past accomplishments of the sponsoring organization
How the project is to proceed and who is to carry it out
A time-line for the project
Benefits to be gained and for whom
Plans for evaluating and funding the project in the future
Complete project and organization budgets
An audited financial statement
list of names and occupations of trustees of the organization

Grant writers must do the necessary research to locate the grant categories pertaining to their organization. Once the grant application has been accepted the difficult task of writing the grant proposal can begin.

The proposal, or body of the grant, can be submitted separately or concurrently with the grant application. Grant proposals generally include at least some of the following information: introduction, statement of problem or need, objectives, methods, evaluations, budget, abstract and appendices. Additionally many funders require supporting documents such as outcome measurements, population statistics and technology plans where applicable.

Clearly a grant writer's job is not an easy one. To cope with the sheer volume of grant proposals many individual writers devise personal systems to reproduce essential information and convincing arguments quickly. Fortunately there is now software available to do just this.

Most grant writing "software" programs are actually databases used to track funders or CD-Rom versions of popular donor lists. There are rare programs which purport to help with grant writing itself but most of these have been developed by consultants for their client's use. There are only a small number of personal software packages available for grassroots development.

We've summarized the most popular of these programs and their relative strengths below. While many of these programs automate only the most rudimentary pieces of the grant writing process, the time saved in each case can be significant and in the long term may increase your organization's fundraising capacity considerably.

ProposalMaster Sant Corp.

ProposalMaster, by Sant Corp., is touted as a "highly rated, customizable software" for addressing all the issues discussed above and winning specific grants. In other words, ProposalMaster focuses not on general features like proposal templates but on cultivating the best of your grant writing history and building a useful library of ideas.

This is ProposalMaster's main function, which allows users to create complete grant proposals, grant applications and follow-up letters in a short period of time. Users can create customized libraries for any proposal that is being written. These libraries can also be divided into Grant Application and Grant Proposal sections which address specific issues for each topic.

Once organization-specific issues (i.e., mission-related arguments, outcomes, yearly statistics) are identified, standardized responses can be created and saved in the library. After all the issues for a particular grant are addressed the information is stored in the library. Then when the grant application or proposal is created, the user can select the appropriate library and relevant issues and create a document automatically within minutes. Every document is saved by name in ProposalMaster and can be used again for future grants. These documents are saved in Word format and can be edited or customized as needed. In addition, ProposalMaster has the ability to attach necessary budget reports and financial statements.

According to Sant Corp., learning how to use ProposalMaster depends entirely on the end user. If an individual is familiar with merging functions and has a basic understanding of what should be incorporated into a grant application or proposal he or she can learn to use ProposalMaster in less than a week with mastery possible over two to six weeks. Sant Corp. also provides a number of assistance options such as on-site training, Proposal Wizards embedded in the software and Webex training programs.

The ProposalMaster software package also comes bundled with another executive program, the Proposal Tracker. Like many commercial fundraising databases, Proposal Tracker generates reports on each written proposal, providing management with detailed accounts on which proposals are successful. Sant Corp. claims that the time-reduction spent writing grants with its product can amount to over 45 percent. While this is probably quite accurate, the initial investment of time and effort in building workable libraries may not be useful for the occasional grant writer. The libraries that can be created during the normal grant writing process will certainly be useful though the payoff from amassing such resources may not become evident for a few months. It is a professional tool used for "industrial-sized" grant writing, and may be just the ticket for agencies pursuing an aggressive grant submission campaign.

For further information on ProposalMaster, contact Judith Juback at keynote.ny@juno.com or at (914) 693-0728.

GW Computer Express Research Associates

Grant Writer Computer Express, developed by Research Associates, does a similar job to that of ProposalMaster. Though it is less customizable its process-driven design may prove helpful to the occasional or beginning grant writer.

Research Associates developed their software by identifying 11 steps for writing grant proposals:

Step 1--Request for Proposal
Step 2--Problem Statement
Step 3--Program Approach
Step 4--Goals and Objectives
Step 5--Evaluation
Step 6--Time Line
Step 7--Exportable Product
Step 8--Conclusion
Step 9--Budget
Step 10--Project Summary
Step 11--Proposal Format

As users move through each step they are asked a series of questions to help guide them through the thought process and writing of each section. The resulting output is available in both Microsoft Word and PDF format. Each section also provides an example taken from a $100,000 grant to illustrate how the section should be constructed. For a demonstration, check out http://www.grantexperts.com/grant_software.htm.

Research Associates claims that GW Computer Express is intended as "a tutorial and writing guide rather than an interactive piece." This recognizes the fact that each grant proposal or funding source requires different application forms, components and formatting regulations. GW Computer Express is meant to increase the quality of your grant proposals, not necessarily the quantity. As a result it is an excellent tool for a novice or occasional grant writer.

For further information on GW Computer Express, contact Charles Pulliam at contact@grantexperts.com or at (803) 750-9759.

Grant Writer Pro GW USA

Grant Writer Pro incorporates elements of both ProposalMaster and GW Computer Express. While its approach is not as in-depth it is a versatile program that is both word-processing and spreadsheet-driven, giving users the flexibility to regulate and archive content simultaneously.

Like GW Computer Express, Grant Writer Pro comes loaded with guidelines and examples from major funders and successful grants proposals. These templates may be imported into either an active word-processing window or an internal spreadsheet which can then be used to construct the body of your grant. This is certainly a more do-it-yourself approach than GW Computer Express but may be more useful to those with some grant writing experience or for those who are fearful of composing outside of familiar word-processing programs.

Your resulting work can be saved to an internal palette for quick reference – similar to ProposalMaster but less archived and searchable. For the immediate task of storing and reproducing content however, Grant Writer Pro does an admirable job of bringing down the redundant "busy work" needed to produce a full proposal. Like ProposalMaster, the software comes bundled with a tracking database allowing users to keep tabs on collaborations and submissions.

For further information on Grant Writer Pro, contact the GW USA team at gwpro@gwusa.net or at (800) 845-7214 ext. 96.

Let's Write a Grant! and EPA Grant-Writing Tutorial

These two programs are for more specific audiences but may help all grant writers expand the depth and quality of their work.

SchoolGrants.org provides its interactive CD Let's Write a Grant! to an audience of educational nonprofits and school-development associates. The CD offers a guided process for writing educational (primarily K-12) grants using what it calls a "proactive approach" to grant writing. What this implies is the creation of proposal material before searching out potential funders – the creation of an argument before an RFP. This may seem to be putting the cart before the horse but it's really no different than using ProposalMaster or another archiving program.

Let's Write a Grant! moves writers through six areas of proposal development before even addressing the written aspect of the grant. In this way the CD itself is educational, providing advice and examples for creating a grant team, identifying the problem/need, identifying grant makers/grants, determining the appropriate funder, reading application materials and grant guidelines and gathering RFP information. These details make it an exceptional tool for organizations without a specific development wing or fundraising process.

Writing a successful grant is then addressed through a series of checklists, samples and advice coded in both HTML and Microsoft Word. These documents are viewable to non-MS Office users through the bundled Word and Excel viewers

The CD's creator, Donna Fernandez, admits that the information provided on the CD is less like "software" and "more like a training manual." But for educational grant writers such advice can be invaluable. The CD has been heralded for its detailed list of educational funders and grant opportunities as well as its links to online educational reports and trend-watching Web sites.

Similarly, the EPA's Grant-Writing Tutorial teaches the best way to obtain EPA grants or other large grants dealing with environmental justice.

Though the tutorial does bill itself as interactive "software," its approach is very similar to Let's Write a Grant! The package offers tips on writing and completing a government grant application package, and provides helpful examples along the way. One of the program's most engaging functions is a mock grant writing activity in which users are able to compare their results to a successful grant application. Also included is a complete reference guide to environmental government grants and a glossary for unfamiliar terms. Best of all this software is free and may be downloaded from the EPA's Web site.

For more information about Let's Write a Grant!, contact Donna Fernandez donna@schoolgrants.org. To learn more about the EPA Grant-Writing Tutorial, check out their Web site, http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/seahome/grants.html.

Printer Friendly Format

Fundraising & Grants....
Online Fundraising for Nonprofits (November, 2005)

IT Fundraising for Nonprofits (March, 2005)

Evaluating Donor Management Software (May, 2004)

Grantwriting for Technology Workshop Opens UWNYC's 2003 Fall Tech Event Season (October, 2003)

Grant Writing for Dummies: New Software to Help Ease the Pain (April, 2002)

Online Fundraising for Nonprofit Organizations: A Primer (January, 2001)

Online Fundraising Resources (January, 2001)

Globix Technology Grants help Nonprofits Realize Operating Efficiencies (November, 2000)

New Web Site Facilitates Quality Program and Evaluation Planning (March, 2000)

Researching High-Tech Corporation Philanthropy (March, 2000)

Online Database Connects Computer Donors and Recipients (December, 1999)

Other Articles of Interest....
Nonprofits Benefit from ePayments Technology (April, 2001)

The Nonprofit Web Site: Tips for Attracting and Retaining Visitors (April, 2001)

Covering Web Site Costs and Online Fund Development (January, 2001)

TechSoup - Free Lunch for Tech-Hungry Nonprofits (July, 2000)

Developing a Technology Plan: Key to Getting Needed Funds (October, 1999)

Distance Learning & Training can be Low-Key, Low-Tech, & Low-Budget (October, 1999)

Stretch your Technology Budget - Take Advantage of Product Donations (June, 1999)

FAQs and Beyond: Free Eduation and Training for Nonprofits, Part II (December, 1998)

The Road to Resources is Paved with Information (December, 1998)


Search		Home

About Tech News Events Link Library Feedback Site Map Subscription