Summer is a great time to prepare your department for upcoming grants and future grant opportunities. Here are a few tips to get you on your way to being prepared for any grant that comes your way:
Conduct a needs assessment
Proper planning involves a myriad of things, one of which is assuring that you have proper manpower and equipment to carry out your basic mission for your citizens. A needs assessment gives you the facts you need to know about how well prepared your department is to carry out its primary function.
What grants will you go for?
Each year, public, private, corporate, and non-profit organizations provide thousands of grants worth billions of dollars. What programs are out there that your agency could benefit from? What program will you try for for the first time? What programs have you tried for and gotten rejected, but you’re ready to try again?
Make sure your agency is set up in FEMA GO
FEMA GO has been a big change in how public safety agencies apply for federal grants. The intent behind FEMA GO is to have grants be managed in a more streamlined, user-friendly system. Over time, organizations like yours will be able to manage FEMA grants and other programs in one place.
This is a new system, and it is a big change. However, the new rules of the road are the new rules of the road. Once you are up and running, you should be ready to work in the new system to apply for and manage grants, and our get-ready-GO guide can show you what to do:
FEMA GO guide to apply for and manage grants
Know and practice the 4 things grant winners have in common
Over the years we’ve looked at thousands of grant applications, and we have seen it all. The good. The bad. The ugly. And there are things that consistently set the winners apart from the losers. Put our 4 tips to work in your grant efforts, and you will be far more likely to celebrate a grant award:
The 4 things grant winners have in common
Let the numbers do the talking
You can make a well-stated case for why your department needs a grant more than another, but you also have to back up your story with hard data. Luckily, there’s lots of that out there. Demographics, critical infrastructure, economics, you name it.
Get the numbers and facts you need with our resource lists
After you submit your grant, request Letters of Support
Congratulations, you submitted your grant! Once your application is in, though, there is still one thing left to do. It’s something you can—and should—do with any grant:
Train
Just as you train for different incidents, it takes solid training to write a good grant too.
Check out our online training and national training options for what’s right for you
Need help with all this?
Our expert Senior Grant Consultants are a phone call or an email away.
