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Grants
Grants are gifts given by companies, foundations, and other entities to benefit a particular cause. Most foundations and groups that offer grants award them to projects closely aligned with the foundation’s values. They identify these values based on carefully crafted grant applications, and how those applications are completed can have a dramatic effect on how seriously the skatepark is considered for an award. For example, a foundation dedicated to reversing rising childhood-obesity rates may be interested in a skatepark project if the application indicates how this skatepark might take the lead in combating obesity. Although it may be obvious to those who skate a few times a week, to someone reviewing the application the connection may not be obvious. When it comes to grant applications, the skatepark should be expressed in ways that align it with the foundation’s stated goals. While a cause like obesity should be easy to address with a skatepark solution, many other foundations will be focused on more obscure issues. Locating grants that would consider supporting a skatepark is the most challenging aspect of this type of fundraising. The money is out there and very few skateparks are built without a number of grants awarded to them.
SAMPLE GRANT APPLICATION
Local grants can be an excellent source of funds and are less competitive than federal or national grants. Take a look at a sample grant application that paid for a skate spot in the Pacific Northwest.
Most foundations want to see a commitment on behalf of the community for the project before they will consider lending their support. If the advocacy group had been diligent about recording their donated hours, this may come in handy as an incidental fact. If community signatures have been collected, this might also be expressed in the grant application provided there is a question asking about community support (which there often is). Many grants will match existing funds up to a particular amount. These matching-fund grants effectively double the money one has collected to date. Grants can be doubled by other grants as well. For example, if the group receives a community grant from some local organization for $5,000, that money can satisfy another matching grant to raise the total to $10,000, which can then be doubled again by a larger grant, and so on. It is conceivably possible to fund the entire skatepark without having to sell a single T-shirt. This is unlikely, though, as most grants want to see some feet-on-the-street-style fundraising at work.
In spite of all the possible grants one might apply for, it is still important to “seed” your fundraising effort with money earned through a successful grassroots campaign. It is much easier to convince a potential donor that the skatepark project is wildly popular, an imminent success, and inevitable when there is already $50,000 in the bank. In this situation the advocacy group is asking the potential donor to participate in and be a part of a success story. When the effort is just beginning and there’s little money to show, donors may be more reluctant to “jump on board.” This is as true for foundations as it is for individuals.
Once you have demonstrated your commitment through effective grassroots fundraising, the task of seeking grants is remarkably similar to the tedium associated with apply-ing for educational grants and loans. Grant applications are often filled with questions that ask the applicant to express the skatepark project in ways that they should be accustomed to by now. Most grant applications will require the following information about the advocacy group and its goals or project.
Group Organization
The group should be expressed as a hard-working group of volunteers with a long history of service to its community and broad community support. Describe where the group is active.
Group’s Mission/Needs Assessment
Describe the group’s goals as beneficial to the community as a whole and to those who are underserved. In the context of skateparks, it’s often very easy to describe the need by sharing how many skateboarders are in the area compared to how much free, sanctioned terrain is available. The comparison is usually very dramatic. The group clearly seeks to remedy this deficiency in safe, accessible skateboarding areas for the local youth.
Description Of Programs
Whatever specific programs the group has or continues to manage need to be emphasized. Sometime early in the conceptual stages of the skatepark advocacy group’s forming, the need for civic programs was hopefully identified and implemented. Park clean up (or stewardship), learn-to-skate days, and other programs should by now have a longevity that demonstrates a valuable commitment to the skateboarding community. Most foundations and grant-application reviewers will score highly on evidence of long-standing public programs by the advocacy group.
Public Access
Most foundations want their money to be used for the greatest good possible. It may be valuable to express the skatepark as a solution to many different unmet needs, not just skateboarders’, but also other segments of the community. Skateparks, for example, will give the greater community a place to congregate and socialize. Identifying ways that the skatepark may benefit low-income members of the community may be especially powerful
Scope Of Support
Foundations will want to know how popular the group’s vision is. If there is little support for the skatepark, a foundation will naturally be reluctant to support it. On the other hand, if the grant application expresses incredible support for the project in quantifiable terms, the foundation may grade this result favorably.
Budget Overview
Most foundations will want to know how much of the target they are potentially contributing. Expenses, in particular, will interest the foundation as they want to ensure that their contribution is not going to some unexpected or unapproved recipient. For example, if a foundation awards a grant that ultimately goes to maintenance of a park elsewhere due to some fund-management gymnastics, the foundation would probably frown upon this type of activity. Budgets must be clear and include both the short- and long-term costs of the skatepark.
Evaluation Of Park’s Success
Grants generally require regular reporting of how the funds are being used, and how the recipient will measure the success of the project. Grant applications often require that a methodology for measuring success be established, then followed if the grant is awarded.
Summary Of Research
This response probably won’t be delivered in a specific question, but it should permeate all of the application answers. Whenever possible, estimates should be support-ed with whatever evidence can be presented. For the local skateboarding population, cite the research studies from the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) and U.S. Census. For cost estimates, cite local research, such as, “Comparable facilities nearby cost approximately $40 per square foot.” Anything that could possibly be perceived as conjecture will probably be perceived as conjecture. Unsubstantiated claims may undermine the entire grant application.
Review, Review, Review
Carefully proofread the application for errors and misleading or confusing passages. It’s very helpful to have several other people, especially those with some writing experience, also review the application. Finally, review the application instructions and all related materials to ensure that all of the requirements are met. A grant can easily be denied due to one missing document or incomplete section.
Over the course of the fundraising effort, the advocacy group may apply for many grants for different aspects of the effort. The up-side is that much of the research you perform for one grant application will help you complete others.
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