
An introduction and overview of what you'll get from this course
Ever solve a complex problem on the first try? Me neither. This course is the solution resulting from refining years of errors and partial solutions to multiple intersecting problems. It is a flexible system that can be adapted to most needs.
All the tools you need to implement this system are included in this download. It included Excel forms, Forms in Word and PDF, instructions, and a database in FileMaker Pro. If you decide not to purchase Filemaker Pro, there is an Excel form with all the fields so you can still track this data.
Grant writers have enough to do, without chasing everyone down for reviews, proof reading, signatures, approvals to apply for a grant, and future planning without a consensus about the NPO's future direction. Teams will help keep your NPO moving in the same direction. You may need one or two teams depending upon the size or structure of your NPO.
Your first team should be your grant writing team. This isn't a large team, but it also isn't just a team in name only. It's made up of people critical to getting your proposals done right and submitted flawlessly.
Your Strategic Grant Planning Team isn't just another set of duties for your Grant Writing Team. It's another team entirely made up of people who are adept at strategic planning.
Developing your grant funding resource files will be a lot easier if you have a plan before you start. This lecture points out what to plan for so you don't waste time redoing your files each time you want to add something new.
Begin phasing in your new procedures wherever you are in the cycle. Or start with your most complete proposal and apply the cycle to each at their point of completion
Prepare to implement the proposal writing and management team by determining your teams function, choosing team members, writing policies and procedures, and establishing the process and flow of activities. Use of the forms to carry out the processes begin in the next lecture.
Here you'll get a quick overview of all the forms in the workbook and a brief description of what they are used for .
You'll get a detailed description of the first half of the forms. At this point you can follow along with either the example forms or a new copy of the blank forms, entering some actual data of your own to get some experience using them.
You'll get detailed descriptions and instructions for each form in the second half of the workbook. The funding calculators are next, each covered separately.
The following three lectures are increasingly more complicated, but the preparation for using each is very similar. This lecture goes over some of the preparations that the calculators have in common.
As I developed these calculators I started with a rather simple, straight-forward one. This may, in fact be all some of you need. It serves well to explain the structure of the form as several features are consistent from one level to the next.
You may one day have an NPO client (or be that NPO) that has a number of projects, all long term or ongoing, and dozens of grant makers who support all that you do. Sorting out which one to ask support for which program, when and in what sequence can be critical. If you need to sort out several conflicting funding opportunities, this calculator will help you prioritize them quickly.
This is the calculator I used for several years, until it just wasn't enough for one of my larger NPO clients. Give this one a try and see if it does all you need it to do.
A few last comments and summary of what you've learned.
Welcome to Strategic Grant Planning & Management, the Stress Free Way.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS COURSE DOES NOT INCLUDE THE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT AND GRANT READINESS SECTIONS THAT ARE INCLUDED IN ANOTHER OF MY COURSES, THAT INCLUDES ALL THREE SECTIONS.
This unique course is based on a system I used and adapted for my employers and clients since 1989. It is unique in that it gives you proprietary grant management tools to:
FOR EXAMPLE: If you've ever applied to Funder A for program expenses only to find out, too late, that Funder A was the ONLY ONE who would fund your construction or administration costs, while Funder B would gladly have funded your program expenses, you can appreciate how important it is to plan carefully, especially when future funding will be affected.
If you've ever wished you had a way to choose...
THIS IS THE COURSE FOR YOU!
This Strategic Planning course was developed for and adapted to many different types of NPOs over 25 years. You won't find this system anywhere else.
As a grant writer, nonprofit, or consultant, you will find this course gives you a complete solution for developing a system of grants management and strategic planning. It includes a sequence of data management and tracking forms, three funder-selection calculators, and a system to tie them all together into stress-free, grant planning and management system. You'll be so organized that you and your teammates will actually be able to take your lunch breaks. And, never again will you have to spend frantic hours in crisis-mode, trying to get your proposal submitted by the deadline.
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If you've ever run into delays getting data, budget, signatures, reviews or approvals with a fast approaching deadline...
Stress-Free Strategic Grant Planning and Readiness will provide you a truly stress-free planning and management system, including:
This is especially valuable for organizations that have a large number of grant applications and multiple projects going on at any given time.
And to wrap all of this together, the grant management system provides sample (editable) written procedures for smooth-flowing processes from the moment you begin to choose a funder to the moment you submit the proposal to the funder.
The system ensures that your grant applications will be error free, thoroughly reviewed, checked for accuracy and completeness and submitted error free and with essentially no stress or last minute crises (conditions most likely to cause errors.)
I've successfully implemented this system in small and large organizations. It's flexible enough to accommodate the many unique aspects of different nonprofits' management practices.
You'll learn how to use the strategic planning and management tools. These tools provide storage for your most current data, to grab and insert in your proposals and budgets. They also provide the tracking records needed to keep your proposal moving through the writing, review, editing, and submission stages. In addition you'll have three different methods of evaluating your programs to match RFAs and identify the best fits.
Funding, as you know, is not just the result of submitting a qualifying proposal, but of developing relationships and credibility.
When your organization is able to show a funder that you've covered all the essentials and are operating at the highest standards, you improve your credibility in the eyes of funders. Relationships, on the other hand, you'll have to build yourself. Begin with this system.
With this system, you can organize your nonprofit in ways that will make your competition wonder what you've got that they don't have.
Not a bad spot to be in.