Читать книгу Grant Writing For Dummies - Stan Hutton, Beverly A. Browning - Страница 13

Basically speaking, a grant (sometimes labeled a cooperative agreement by government funding agencies) is a monetary award of financial assistance to eligible grant applicants. The principal purpose of the grant is to transfer dollars from a funding agency or entity (grantor) to a recipient (grantee), who undertakes to carry out the proposed objectives (the written implementation plans in the grant application narrative) that they committed to when they submitted the grant application. Here are some common grantwriting terms and their definitions:

 Grant/cooperative agreement: The distinguishing factor between a grant and a cooperative agreement is the degree of government (state, federal, or local) participation or involvement during the grantee’s actual startup and implementation of the proposed activities. A grant award is made via a contract or agreement between the funding agency (the grantor) and the recipient (the grantee), with the grant supporting the activities and deliverables (implementation strategies and measurable time-bound objectives or benchmarks) detailed in the proposal/application (and finalized during the process of confirming the grant award). Reading the grant application’s guidelines thoroughly (and multiple times) is critical to being funded. (Refer to Part 2 for tips on finding grantfunding opportunities.)

 Grantor: A grantor (also known as a grantmaker or funder) is the organization or agency that receives your funding request and decides to fund it or reject it. Grantors include the grantmaking agencies of the federal government, tons of state and local government agencies (including in the U.S. territories), and more than 100,000 foundations and corporate grantmakers. Two categories of grantors exist:Public-sector funder: Any government grantmaker (federal, state, county, or local unit of government) that awards grants with money that comes from congressional allocations, federal pass-through dollars to states and municipalities, or taxpayer dollars — the public-sector.Private-sector funder: A foundation or corporate grantmaker (independent of private foundation, operating foundations, corporate foundations, and community foundations) that uses funds from private sources — investments, contributions, donations, or grants — to fund eligible grant applicants.

 Grantee: The eligible grant applicant designated to receive a grant award. All grants require the grantee to use the funds as written (and promised) in the grant application. The required grant award paperwork is considered a contract between the grantor and the grantee. Up until you’re awarded the grant, you’re a grant applicant; you become a grantee only if you are approved for funding and agree to accept the award.

Be certain you are an eligible grant applicant before applying for the grant.

So, how do you get a grantor to give you a grant and make you a grantee? After you’ve reviewed the guidelines (at least three times) for submitting an application and made initial contact with the potential funder, you’re ready to research, write, and submit your grant application or proposal (also known as a funding request). I fill you in on the pieces or sections of a grant application/proposal in the section “Looking at the components of a grant application,” later in this chapter.