Grants Planning and Development

WebinarANRE County Educators’ Perspectives

Dec 17th 2014

Guest PresentersKristin Krokowski – Waukesha CountyGrant Prep: Reading and writing before you get the grant. Understanding the Request for Proposals and the program.

Dean Volenberg- Door CountyProject design:  Time management, project scope, grant program alignment.

Jason Fischbach - Ashland & Bayfield CountiesRoles:  UW-Extension roles, partner identification, letters of support 

Carl Duley - Buffalo CountyMoney:  Salary, hiring employees, time as match, fiscal agent (County vs State)

Kristin Krokowski – Waukesha County 2014 North Central Risk Management

2013 DATCP- Specialty Crop Block Grant

2012 DATCP- Specialty Crop Block Grant

2010 USDA-AMS Farmers Market Promotion Program

2009 ANRE Hort. Team USDA Grant

2009 ANRE Hort. Team USDA Grant

2008 USDA-AMS Farmers Market Promotion Program

2006 ANRE Hort. Team USDA Grant

2006 ANRE Hort. Team USDA Grant

2006 ANRE Hort. Team USDA Grant

2006 Quad Counties Urban Resource Management Fund

2005 USDA-AMS Farmers Market Promotion Program

Need vs. Capacity

Assess stakeholder needs within you’re area of knowledge

Assess your ability/skills related the needs

Assess the organizational capacity to address the needs

Evaluate options

Potential funding sources

Potential partners

Potential fiscal agents

A proper fit

Look for funders that match your needs

Evaluate the time commitment to the funder/reporting vs. impact

Be certain that you are eligible

Request for proposals

Different grants have different application formats/expectations

Do research about the funder or RFP

Be true to your project needs

Read and reread (make sure to have a big cup of coffee on hand!)

Writing the grant

Do your research and frame the problem or need around the grant program’s objectives

Know the limits and follow the rules

DUNS numbers and other expectations

Set realistic time line

Work with budget people to set your budget

Don’t wait until the last minute – especially with electronic submissions

Carl Duley – Buffalo County

2014 Cold Climate Grape – COPUSDA-RME

2014/15 Dry Bluff Prairie Education Project WEEB

2013-16 Quality Brewing Raw Ingredient Production SARE R&E

2013/14 MAC for Labor Intensive CropsUSDA-RME

2011 MAC for Beginning AgribusinessUSDA-RME

2008 MAC for Dairy FarmersUSDA-RME

People Only used grants for

interns, LTE’s and support staff

No experience in supporting my salary with grant funds

Usually fund students

County doesn’t want to deal with part-time employees

Matching Funds

Most federally funded grants allow for time to be used as match

Watch for using federal employees as match

Foundation grants – read RFP! For allowable match

Small grants, i.e. farm safety grants – require $ match

Used organizations and businesses to meet match requirements

Fiscal Agent County vs. State vs. Other

Use State for federal grants

Buffalo County Accounting dept. is one person

Lots of rules – folks like Chad are familiar

UW has started to return some of the indirect costs back to PI

Use county for smaller grants

Lower indirect costs for easy small grants

Watch for audit fees

Have used a local foundation for a few grants

Special circumstances

Intern paid as a scholarship

Dean Volenberg – Door County 2014 – American Malting Barley Association (AMBA)

2013 – Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education

2013 – American Malting Barley Association (AMBA)

2012 – American Malting Barley Association (AMBA)

2011 – EPA Food Quality Protection Act/Strategic Agricultural Initiative Program

2010 – EPA Food Quality Protection Act/Strategic Agricultural Initiative Program

2010 – Wisconsin Specialty Crop Block Grant

2009 – UW-Extension Eastern District Innovative Grant Program

2009 – North central Risk Management Education Center

2008 – Univ. of Wisconsin College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Hatch Grant

2007 – UW-Extension Eastern District Innovative Grant Program

2006 – UW-Extension Eastern District Innovative Grant Program

2006 – USDA-CSREES-NC-IPM Grant Program

Developing a plan

Time Management - Deadlines

A second set of eyes

10 to 14 days for grants 20 to 25 pages

Have a reviewer outside of your specialty review the grant context.

Concise & Realistic

Grant objectives need to align with grant program to fulfill RFP

You may need to be creative to make your objectives fit the RFP

Overselling yourself (First time grant writers simply become super-human)

Time limits your proposal objectives

Money limits your proposal objectives

What is the question your proposal is addressing (concise)

Framing: Scope and Impact How is your

project framed?

Does you local need translate to needs of a larger area?

Could your project also benefit a larger group of people?

Experience/Skills & Preliminary data

What skills or experience are you bringing to the proposal?

Get preliminary data to back up your hypothesis/proposal.

Consider a mini-grant from Teams, Program area, or Regional office or another funding partner.

Building on previous grants can show experience and justify the need for your project

Jason Fischbach – Ashland/Bayfield County 2013 USDA-Farm-to-School

2013 Wisconsin Specialty Crop Block Grant Program

2013 Buy Local, Buy Wisconsin Grant Program

2012 USFS: National Agroforestry Center

2012 Xcel Energy, WI Energy Office

2012 SARE Farmer/Rancher Program

2012 SARE Research and Education Program

2011 DATCP Value Added Services Funding

2011 Wisconsin Specialty Crop Block Grant

2011 SARE Farmer/Rancher Program

2010 DATCP Buy Local, Buy WI Program

2010 Wisconsin Specialty Crop Block Grant

2010 Rutgers University

2010 USDA Specialty Crop Research Initiative

2010 Agriculture and Energy Resource Center

2009 SARE Farmer/Rancher Program

2009 Xcel Energy, WI Office of Energy Independence

2009 Wisconsin Specialty Crop Block Grant Program

2008 Univ. of Wisconsin Consortium for Extension and Research in Agriculture and Natural Resources (CERANR)

2007 SARE Farmer/Rancher Program

2007 SARE Farmer/Rancher Program

You Wear Many Hats – What’s Your Role?

You Wear Many Hats – What’s Your Role? Educator/Trainer (Develop and Implement A

Program)

You Wear Many Hats – What’s Your Role? Educator/Trainer Researcher (Implement A Research Project)

You Wear Many Hats – What’s Your Role? Educator/Trainer

Researcher

Research Collaborator (Help Implement A Research Project)

You Wear Many Hats – What’s Your Role? Educator/Trainer Researcher

Research Collaborator

Business Development Consultant (Help A Business Start or Grow)

Set criteria for which businesses and why

Be mindful of perceived or actual conflicts of interest or favoritism

You Wear Many Hats – What’s Your Role? Educator/Trainer Researcher

Research Collaborator

Business Development Consultant

Project Manager (Network Hub and Grant Administrator)

A valuable service for complicated projects in areas with limited capacity

You can do a lot

With employees and/or partners you can do even more

Partners and Collaborators

Sometimes an Educator is an Activist, that’s ok

Extension Agents typically have very good ideas

Don’t be afraid to convince others that it is a good idea

Sometimes you have to seek and create partners

Be smart about who you choose and why

Can your partners work together?

Choosing partners for project implementation

Choosing partners for demonstrating support

Letters of Support…

Start well before the deadline

Draft the letters yourself

Saves times

Helps you shape the message

ALWAYS encourage the partners to edit and personalize

More Grant Resources

http://blogs.ces.uwex.edu/aggrantresources/