Public LibraryCouncil BluffsPublic Library
A CBPL Pathfinder
Writing Grants and Fundraising:
CBPL's Writing Grants and Fundraising internet links are also available on the "social bookmarking" site
Delicious. Click here to access the library's Delicious site. In addition to CBPL's bookmarks, you will be
able to access other peoples grant writing bookmarks stored on the Delicious website.
Basics
To get grant money, you need:
a vision--an idea about how to create or improve something,
a plan--a specific series of actions including who is going to perform them, with a timeline and a budget,
an application that communicates what you want to do, how you plan to do it, and why, and
a donor who is interested in funding your project.
U.S. foundations, corporations, and government agencies give millions of dollars in grants every year to institutions, nonprofits, researchers, schools, colleges and universities, businesses, students, and other qualified individuals whose projects the grant makers feel help to further the agendas of the funding organizations. It's crucial to be able to find potential donors whose interests and agendas align with your planned project.
The Council Bluffs Public Library offers a Foundation Center Cooperating Collection, which "provide[s] a core collection of Foundation Center publications and a variety of supplementary materials and services in areas useful to grant seekers." The library will provide instruction on how to use the Cooperating Collection on an individual basis as well as through organized training sessions. The resources in the Collection, as well as additional resources available in the library or online, are listed here to guide grant seekers through the grants process and to help them find potential donors.
Getting Started
Applying for a Grant: The General Approach University of Kansas Community Toolbox
http://ctb.ku.edu/tools/EN/section_1300.htm
Here's a good, commonsense guide that lists the steps in applying for (and getting) a grant.
http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/tutorials/gfr/index.html
From the Foundation Center. Thorough guides and training for the novice grant seeker.
Resource for Grantseeking. Minnesota Council on Foundations
http://www.mcf.org/mcf/grant/index.html
See our related pathfinders for further resources:
Starting and Running a Nonprofit Corporation