Ready. Set. Grant!

Preparing a successful grant application is a team effort that starts well before a federal agency’s release of a Notice of Funding Opportunity or Notice of Funding Availability. Often, the project, program, or service must already be part of an integrated portfolio of implementation concepts vetted, through planning, to meet short- and long-term community and agency goals. Without planners’ preliminary efforts, candidate grant projects can be at a disadvantage. They may not meet – or provide data (think benefit-cost analysis) to support – specific grant purposes and criteria such as equity and environmental justice, sustainability, economic development, safety, and public engagement. Planners also form strategic partnerships with community members, agencies, and stakeholders that strengthen the value of grant preparation. Their actions have significant impacts on how grant applications are evaluated and can be the difference in determining a grant award. This presentation examines techniques, considerations, and factors that increase the planner’s influence in winning important grant money.

NPC Peer Reviewers assigned this presentation a learning level of Foundational. For more on learning-level descriptions, visit our General Information Page.