Grant Writing for Governments or Municipalities

Overview

Many small governments and municipal organizations lack the financial resources needed to maintain adequate services.^[1][2][3] These governments and municipal organizations often look to secure grant funding to bridge the gap between available funds and financial need. Grant writing is the genre of writing used to organize, submit, and follow up with grant providers in order to secure and maintain the additional funding necessary to function. Many organizations staff grant writers, either as paid employees or volunteers workers.

Budgetary Gaps

While there exists some federal funding available for state and local services, many local government and municipal organizations get the bulk of their funding from state and municipal taxes. Taxation, and the appropriation of taxes by small government and municipal organizations, differs from area to area. This makes the funding of schools, fire departments, libraries, and other publicly funded local service organizations unequal from area to area. Local taxation is decided through local elections. The voting practices of the area population, as well as property values, average income, and number of residents in voting district all play a part in deciding the the amounts, methods, and allocation of local tax revenues. This results in uneven funding, with not all local government organizations being able to find a balance between available budget and the financial costs of providing services.^[4]

Grant writers help by securing the additional funding required for government or municipal organizations to stay within their operating budget. The grants they apply for could bring in additional money, supplies, and/or resources that either provide additional funding or provide goods and/or services that otherwise would have to be purchased or paid for out of the available budget.

Finding Grants

Grants can be found either through government or private grant providers.

Private Vs. Government Sources

Grant providers are either private parties or they are government organizations or entities that provide additional resources or funding to grant seekers. While federal and larger state government grant providers tend to be sympathetic towards the budgetary gaps that exist in local and municipal government organizations, private grant providers tend to be more critical of supplying grants to government organizations.^[5]It is for this reason that grant writers must approach each funding source individually.

Funding Opportunity Announcements

Funding opportunity Announcements (FOA's) are publicly available informational documents outlining federally available funding opportunities.^[6]FOA's provide all of the information needed to understand, apply for, and follow up with federally funded grant opportunities. FOA's are structured by a set of standards set forth by the Office of Managment and Budget (OMB) and are intended to keep grant providers and grant seekers communicating effectively and equally. These standards are called Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards. These rules are commonly referred to as "Uniform Guidance."^[7]Understanding and following the guidelines and requirements of Uniform Guidance is necessary for securing government funding and keeping in line with grant funding laws and regulations.

Finding Private Grants

Private grant providers set forth their own rules and regulations. Each grant provider can/could have a different set of guidelines and expectations for how you apply and follow up with their grant programs. Reading and understanding the rules of each grant, as well as determining your rhetorical approach, will impact the number of private grant opportunities each grant seeker can secure. The tone, personal voice, and insistence on need, is much more important in private funding

Grant Calendar

Most grant seekers hope to identify and apply to as many grants as possible in order to secure the most funding they can for their organization. To maximize chances of finding and receiving funding a grant writer should keep a grant calendar. Grant calendars track upcoming funding opportunities, submission dates, and important dates within the lifecycle of previously applied for grants. While subjects such as rhetoric and writing styles are often discussed, planning and organization are often the key decision making factors in amount and frequency of secured funding through grants.^[8][9][10]

Grant Lifecycle

The Pre-Award Phase is everything a grant writer does before receiving the funding. While many people think of this as the writing phase, writing comprises only a small part of the pre-award phase responsibilities. First a grant writer must develop project ideas worthy of funding and then identify available funding opportunities before the proposal can be written.^[11]

Award Phase

Being awarded a grant isn't just accepting 'free money'. When you accept a grant you sign documents that are legally binding that require you to fulfill your promised grant obligations. The organization must do with the money what it proposed it would do.^[12]

Post Award Phase

Grant writing doesn't end at acceptance. The post award phase is the last part of the lifecycle of a grant. This is usually handled by the grant writer/s that worked on the grant proposal and is therefore a part of grant writing. There exists an entire list of audit requirements for each grant that much be met. This phase of the process ensures transparency, which helps fight fraud and funding misuse. Any organization that receives more than $750,000 in federal grant funding can submit to one overall audit a year, but organizations that receive less must submit one audit per grant received. The closeout of the award does not happen until this step is completed.^[13][14]

Pre-Award Phase

References

[1] Kruger, L. G. (2010). Assistance to Firefighters Program: Distribution of fire grant funding. DIANE Publishing.

[2] Howell, P. L., & Miller, B. B. (1997). Sources of funding for schools. The future of children, 39-50.

[3] Vaughn, J., & Cortner, H. J. (2010). Funding fire: a losing proposition?. California Journal of Politics and Policy, 2(1).

[4] Carroll, S. J., Cox, M., & Lisowski, W. (1979). The search for equity in school finance: Results from five states. Santa Monica, Calif: Rand.

[5] 5 Things to Know About the Language and Culture of a Grant Donor. (2018, October 12). Retrieved from https://granttrainingcenter.com/blog/5-things-know-language-culture-grant-donor/

[6] What Is a Funding Opportunity Announcement? (2017, October 10). Retrieved from https://blog.grants.gov/2017/10/18/what-is-a-funding-opportunity-announcement/

[7] OMB Uniform Guidance (2014). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/learn-grants/grant-policies/omb-uniform-guidance-2014.html

[8] Lemanski, S. (2014). Proposal Pitfalls Plaguing Researchers: Can Technical Communicators Make a Difference?. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 44(2), 211-222.

[9] Conn, V. S. (2013). Welcome to the dark side of grant writing.

[10] Grants.gov Calendar. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.grants.gov/support/calendar.html

[11] The Grant Life Cycle: Can You Work Smarter During the Pre-Award Process? (2019, October 3). Retrieved from https://cayuse.com/blog/smarter-pre-award-process/

[12] Award Phase. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/learn-grants/grants-101/award-phase.html

[13] Grant Fraud. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/learn-grants/grant-fraud.html

[14] Post Award Phase. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.grants.gov/learn-grants/grants-101/post-award-phase.html