Tips for Writing Adult and Family Literacy Grants
The New York State Library, Division of Library Development manages state and federal grants. Public Libraries and Public Library systems are eligible to apply in certain categories each year. This primer is intended to help librarians submit successful grant applications for the New York State Library's Adult Literacy and Family literacy grant programs and is based on the best practices noted by reviewers over the years. The recommendations in this document were drawn from successful state grants in the categories of Adult Literacy, and Parent and Child (now known as Family Literacy) grants as well as the federal LSTA grant categories of Special Client Populations and Services to Families and Youth.
Need
The need section outlines the demographic and economic characteristics of the targeted population. Reviewers may not be familiar with the problems within the library's service area. Tell us why your target audience needs this specific service and how this project will affect their lives.
Some tips to remember when writing the needs section:
- A successful project proposal will show evidence of a needs assessment process. Reviewers will want to know why and how this project will achieve stated outcomes. Doing an initial survey of the target audience or showing how this project will build on a previous one are some examples of how grant writers have been able to show a strong need for their project.
- Planning a project should be a well-researched and in-depth process. Include research to back up your project in your project proposal. Be sure to include citations for the research. This is good librarianship and could tip the score of your grant application if reviewers have the option of familiarizing themselves with new practices. Use statistics related as directly as possible to your stated target audience (e.g., community demographics rather than general statistics for the whole state or nation).
- The project will fulfill stated goals and objectives. Offering a menu of programs may not increase student achievement on the New York State Learning Standards, however, these programs may increase the library habit. Both are worthy objectives; make sure your project can fulfill what you say you want to do.
- Successful project ideas are ones that relate specifically to a library's mission and long-range plan. Having children train for mile runs is a worthy goal, but one that does not necessarily fall under a library's direction. Descriptions of what can be funded in each grant category are clearly laid out on the Division of Library Development's web site. See the Family Literacy page and the Adult Literacy page program guidelines and forms.
Do not feel projects should be created from scratch. Consult with other libraries that have had similar projects to your needs and ideas to learn about potential pitfalls and to gain recommendations. Let reviewers know that you have contacted successful project leaders in other libraries. Review grant winning projects at the New York State Library web site (see links listed above), looking at what worked and what changes and recommendations project directors describe.
Target Audience
The target audience is the subset of the population served by your library that will be helped by this grant.
Some tips when writing about the target audience:
- Be aware of the population characteristics of the grant category you are applying for and be sure your target audience fits into their restrictions. You may have a wonderful proposal but it will be scored low if your target population is not the population served by the grant category.
- Successful programs are constructed around a real need in the community. Organizers do a community survey or work closely in the planning stages with an organization in direct contact with the target population.
- When planning programs take into account the age and gender of your participants. For example, when working with middle school students and teens, structured programs with parent and teacher involvement work the best. When working with a low-income rural population you may want to incorporate a traveling program for this audience.
- Recruitment must be ongoing and targeted. Participation by your target audience is an indicator of success for your program. A successful project proposal will give specifics in how the marketing of the program will be accomplished. A marketing plan will clearly define the expected size of the target population the library can reasonably expect to reach. You may have 1,000 teens reading below literacy levels however not all the teens will be able to attend library programs.
- The proposal should contain publicity tactics to reach this target population. Publicity tactics should be modified according to the needs of the target population. For example, a marketing plan for a program targeting low literate adults will use a variety of media to recruit participants rather than relying on print publicity. Some elements of good publicity include: speaking to community groups when recruiting volunteers or advertising a program, TV and radio ads, and reminder phone calls to previously signed up participants. Successful projects outline specifics on the outreach activities and advertising.
- Limiting real world barriers ensure continuous audience participation. Providing services such as meals, childcare and transportation are very effective in recruiting and retaining participants. Reminder phone calls the night before is also a good strategy to retain participation.
- Keep in mind your target audience when devising evaluation tools. Postcards mailed after the project is over are rarely successful however oral or written surveys delivered one on one can be highly successful.
Collaboration
Collaborating with other agencies is an excellent way to provide services efficiently without a duplication of effort.
Successful projects include the following:
- Libraries collaborating with organizations that already have a relationship with the intended population.
- Activities that fulfill the needs of the target audience and help collaborating agencies fulfill their mission statements.
- A true collaborative relationship with partnering organizations. Partners will have a clear, important role and be excited about their participation in the program.
The key to a successful partnership is communication, flexibility and persistence. It is best to communicate in person and be clear from the planning stages on how the project will progress and each organization's role. Grant managers are persistent in advocating their projects to appropriate organizations. Flexibility is key when working with other agencies as unexpected events may occur such as personnel turnover.
Concrete ways to work with your partner:
- Project planners note that meeting in each other's workspaces give a better idea of environment, staffing and resources available for the project. Meeting partners in person allows spontaneous questions and a direct way to show resources and samples of project activities.
- Successful project planners involve all the team players within the partnership. If other departments do the bulk of the work, developing a partnership with only the administration will not yield successful results. Determine the most appropriate staff person to work with in your partnering organization and concentrate on developing and sustaining this relationship. Keep the lines of communication open -- give feedback often on ideas and strategies.
- Have realistic expectations about what the library can offer your partner.
- Be selective when researching potential partners. Working with one partner in a truly collaborative relationship is much better than having multiple partnerships with organizations that only do minimal work and may not be available for the whole program.
- The library is responsible for keeping all partners on schedule. Successful project managers maintain continuous contact with their partnering organizations before, during and even after the grant.
- Successful collaborations write out verbal agreements in either a formal contract or letter of understanding. This clarifies expectations and prevents misunderstandings. This letter should be included in your grant proposal.
Strong letters of support from partners outlining specific duties are much more effective than formula support letters and convince grant reviewers that there is an equal partnership, understanding of the goals of the project and enthusiasm to work on it. Letters of support from people other than partners can also be valuable to reviewers in evaluating the strength of your proposal. For example, a letter from your public library system consultant or director can give objective support for your project from an outsider with expertise. Letters from local elected officials are most effective if they indicate they are willing to support the project in concrete ways (such as funds for continuation after the grant funding ends). Local officials can also offer a valuable perspective on local needs (as they relate to your project) and offer other forms of support (such as publicity, space to do programming, etc.). Avoid overly general letters.
Click here for some sample letters of support.
Take care to create collaborative relationships with partners that are already working with your target population. When working with a school age population, the school system is a natural partner. When working with low-literacy adults, consult with accredited literacy providers such as Literacy New York, local school districts and/or a regional Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). Successful project planners make sure to include appropriate partners in the collaboration section.
Project Description
Successful project proposals are written clearly and concisely. Have no more than one or two broad goals to fulfill. More than two goals will yield a project trying to accomplish too much. Focus and detailed is better than broad and vague when thinking about goals. Objectives will be measurable and directly related to the evaluation. Activities are fully explained and objectives are differentiated clearly from activities. Each project activity will have a desired outcome that will be discussed in the evaluation section. A good activity will clearly fulfill the stated objectives of the grant.
Click below for examples of a successful goal, objective and activity.
Project proposals will have specific outcomes for the target population. Grant writers should address the "So What" question.
For example: It is wonderful to train librarians to do lap sit programs however; reviewers want to know why laps it programs are so important for your targeted audience. Instead of writing the grant to train librarians to do lapsit programs, rather, write the grant to educate minority populations in the importance of reading aloud to infants and young children.
When designing projects, keep in mind the length, time and scheduled day(s) of the workshops. Timing of the workshops has a direct impact on audience participation. Different audiences will have different needs; working parents may prefer to attend evening programs that have a light supper included instead of coming on the weekend. Other groups may prefer weekend or during the week programs instead of evening programs. Whenever possible, check directly with some members of the proposed target audience to determine the most convenient times to schedule programs. If this is not feasible, contact a partner agency that has direct contact with the target audience. Consider the weather when planning program dates. Activities should be evenly spaced throughout grant project; too many activities in one month may overwhelm target audience and lead to decreased attendance. Project planners may have to switch workshop times and dates depending on attendance. The more convenient and accessible your programs are the better the attendance. Use the knowledge of your partnering organization or directly survey target population to find the best days and times for your programs.
Publicity should be continuous and tailored to the target population. When presenting a program targeting low literacy use visual media rather than print publicity. When working with school age populations have classroom teachers publicize program. If your project is targeting a recently immigrated population, publicity is especially important. Many other countries do not have public libraries that offer free services to the community. A successful project proposal concentrates on publicity before and during the grant.
Some tips for the actual grant writing:
- A clear outline of the key players and their responsibilities should be included with a timeline.
- Be clear when writing the narrative; avoid using initials for key players.
- Using an outline or bullet format can be helpful to the reviewers.
- Be specific -- give lots of details and proofread each section of the grant.
- Don't overlook the role of library administrators and trustees. Describing how they will support the project and help find the resources to continue it will strengthen your application.
Budget Narrative
Successful budget narratives are comprehensive and offer justifications for all expenditures. Proposed budgets should be reasonable based on project scope and estimated participation of the targeted population. A large budget for a small-targeted population will need a reasonable explanation in the budget narrative.
Expenditures
Budget expenditures should directly support the goals of the project. Technology and other equipment should be necessary for the project's success rather than an attempt to upgrade existing equipment within the library. Successful budget narratives will include research on equipment specifics and price quotes from vendors if over $1,000.
Staffing
Coordinate your program needs with the amount of staff available. A library offering a program in several locations should consider a head staff person to oversee everything. Consider including clerical help or other staff positions if the project warrants the extra help.
Grant funded projects are successful if the library can continue them after the grant project is over. If staff positions are funded by the grant a description of how positions can be continued after the grant will make the proposal stronger. When applying for money to fund staff positions, be sure to include a description of the position and a resume if a candidate is already earmarked for the job.Proposals should use the expertise of the staff. Asking for an expensive outside presenter to do a workshop on read aloud techniques is not feasible if there is a staff of MLS credentialed librarians. Likewise, when researching outside presenters on other topics use local university resources before asking for the expense of flying in someone, unless this can be justified in your grant proposal.
In-kind Contributions
It is important to include the library's in-kind contributions as well as descriptions for staff positions. A library's in-kind contributions should be a reasonable estimate of the time and funds that will be contributed to the project. This is a chance to show your library's commitment to the project. Likewise be sure to include the in-kind contributions of all of your partners. Remember these grants are only meant to provide start up funds. Any other outside sources of funding will reassure reviewers that this project could continue at the end of the grant cycle.
Evaluation/Outcomes
Evaluation of the project should include qualitative and quantitative assessments. Qualitative assessments show the reviewer how the project has had an impact on the individual while quantitative assessments show how many individuals were affected. Both assessments show a complete picture of the project's success. Successful evaluations will assess the stated projects goals and objectives in terms of the projected outcomes. When determining outcomes realize that each outcome will need to be evaluated. Applications must now use outcome-based evaluation when creating evaluative tools.
Outcome-based evaluation as defined by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS): "Outcome-based evaluation, sometimes called outcomes measurement, is a systemic way to determine if a program has achieved its goals. The organized process of developing an outcome-based program and a logic model (an evaluation plan) helps institutions articulate and establish clear program benefits (outcomes), identify ways to measure those program benefits (indicators), clarify the specific individuals or groups for which the program's benefits are intended (target audience), and design program services to reach that audience and achieve the desired results."
For more information on outcome-based evaluation, see the IMLS Grant Applicants; Outcome-Based Evaluation web site. Successful projects will have clearly-defined evaluative tools used throughout the project.
Evaluation statistics should be as clear and detailed as possible. A total number for workshop attendance accompanied by the average attendance for each workshop gives a clearer picture of the project's impact. For example: a project may have 100 participants for 4 programs. Did this project reach 100 different individuals or reach 25 individuals that faithfully attended all four programs?
Projects should continuously assess results and make changes based on their evaluations. Two-year projects that include data from year one will strengthen project proposals. Data, even if not complete, will show some impact of the project on intended population. Reviewers are left wondering why a second project year is necessary if no data is collected.
Measurement tools may include surveys, record logs, standardized tests, portfolios and even informal conversations. Successful project planners align measurement tools to their target audience skills and abilities. For example, it may be more successful to measure increases in abilities in children and low-literate adults through observation or conversation rather than through written surveys. Think twice about offering a mail back survey, these rarely are returned.
Click here for some examples of evaluations.
For more information on outcome-based evaluation measures, see the Division of Library Development's Outcome-Based Evaluation web site and the United Way of America's Outcome Measurement Resource Network.
Continuation Plans and Statewide Dissemination of Project Results
Successful project proposals will have a strong and detailed continuation plan. Projects are important enough to fund need to continue without grant funding. A successful proposal will offer an outline of how the library will continue the project after the grant period is over. Many times libraries are able to continue the project with few alterations. This is especially true with training grants and projects that start a collection. Projects that offer classes in literacy or ESOL should pay special attention to their continuation plans. Researching grant opportunities with other agencies or building a collaborative relationship with another organization are ways to continue programs.
At the completion of the project the library should be publicizing their program and the results to colleagues around the state. Libraries may want to do a poster session at the New York Library Association annual conference, publicize their program on the library web site and NYLINE, and submit journal articles.
Conclusion
This is a primer to help librarians write successful grant proposals. Reviewers read many grant proposals and only a few can get funded. Do not feel that your grant proposal is a bad idea if it does not happen to get funded. Do contact the representative of your grant category at the Division of Library Development for advice and suggestions. The Youth Services consultant and Outreach Coordinator at your public library system are also excellent sources of grant writing assistance.
Many times a library can implement part of their idea without grant funds on a trial basis. Libraries can use the data from this trial period when reapplying for grant funds. It is wise to start small when developing projects, work out all the kinks and then expand the project's scope. Good research and strong planning will yield a successful project proposal.
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