Grant Management Office

Grant Development Guide

Follow these steps to develop an idea into a grant proposal. Either individually or with a team, organize information and prepare for approval review. Contact the Grant Development Director early in the process for help with needs assessment and funding source identification.

• Review NCTC's mission, vision, and goals.

• Obtain statistics or anecdotal evidence to substantiate the needs.

• State the goal in terms of the need.

• Define the objective.

• Think about strategies and the components that will be needed to meet the objectives: people, equipment, etc.

• Envision a timeline or work plan.

• Think about a budget.

• Consult with the Grant Coordinator or visit websites.

• Determine why we want to approach this particular funding source with our request.

• Consider external collaborators for cash matches or in-kind funding, even if a match isn't required.

• Consider enlisting a business or another agency as a cost-sharing partner.

• Consult with the appropriate department head regarding the grant concept.

• Complete a Concept Approval Procedure form.

• Contact the Grant Coordinator to arrange for an approval review by President's Cabinet.

Work with the Grants Coordinator to develop and write the pre-proposal or letter of intent.

• Read the Request for Proposal to learn the proposal requirements mandated by the funder. This includes page length, font, font size, section page requirements, points assigned to each section, etc.

• Learn about the basic components of a proposal: summary, introduction of organization, problem statement or needs assessment, project objectives, project methods, evaluation, future funding, and project budget. Appendices, if allowed, may include letters of support or collaboration, brochures, and supporting data.

Creating a Successful Application

1. Make copies of the grant notice or Request for Proposal. Make at least one duplicate for yourself and a copy for each person working on the grant writing team. Make a copy of all forms. Store your originals.

2. Review one copy of the RFP with a highlighter. Highlight key instructions, phrases, page limits, required attachments, etc.

3. Delegate responsibility. Next to each highlighted area, designate the person responsible for ensuring that the section is completed or the instructions are followed. Note who will be responsible for the:

   • Budget

   • Narrative

   • Letters of Suppor or Commitment/Memorandum of Understanding, etc.

   • Attachments, forms, getting signatures, etc.

4. Assign deadlines. Set deadlines well in advance of the application due date. (The majority of funding sources require a quick turnaround for preparing grant proposals ? do not be surprised if you have 2 to 3 weeks to prepare the proposal. The good news is that all potential applicants are working under the same timeline.) The completed application package must be routed for internal approval signatures prior to mailing to the funding source. If a proposal does not reach the funding organization by the deadline date, it will not be accepted.

5. Write the proposal in this order:

   • Letters of Support/Collaboration Agreements. These letters and agreements often help shape the narrative of your proposal so get them first.

   • Forms that require signatures. Obtain signatures early on.

   • Narrative. See the Writing the Proposal section for writing suggestions. If it's not possible for one person to write all of the narrative, allow time for a lead writer to piece together the sections to ensure consistency and eliminate repetition.

   • Budget. Make sure the budget includes all expenses of operating the program. See Developing a Budget for suggestions.

   • Program Summary or Abstract. This should be the last section you write, even though it usually appears at the front of the proposal. After you've written the rest of the proposal, it will be easier to summarize your program.

   • Table of Contents. Make sure every page is numbered neatly in the same place, as requested by the guidelines. Section headings or titles should be uniform from the RFP to the proposal text to the Table of Contents.

6. Have team members review items. Ask them to use a red pen to indicate any changes, revisions, or questions. Incorporate changes and revisions on an ongoing basis as you receive them. If necessary, pull together team members to discuss items for which there is disagreement.

7. Have a person outside of your department review the proposal. Try scoring the proposal using the funding source's evaluation or review criteria, if available.

8. If called for, write a cover letter to accompany the proposal. In some instances, cover letters are not needed and are not appropriate.

9. The NCTC Institutional Advancement Office will assist in the development of the proposal, obtaining the necessary signatures, coordinating with the business office and human resource office to confirm budget amounts, and will submit proposal to the appropriate funding source.

• The Grants Coordinator and the VP Institutional Advancement will write the grant proposal for you.

• Give the necessary information and statistics to the Grants Coordinator to assist with the writing of the proposal.

• Proposal Budget Preparation
  The Institutional Advancement Office is responsible for ensuring that proposal budgets accurately reflect the costs of running the proposed project. This includes direct costs and indirect costs. In developing a proposal budget, the grant developer should provide the best estimate of anticipated expenses for the project. Avoid either inflating or under-estimating the expenses. The Institutional Advancement Office will assist you in this process.

  Project proposals need a budget summary form, with as few budget line-items as the funding agency will allow. Use the agency's budget summary form, if it provides one. If not, use NCTC's approved budget summary format. Many applications also require a budget narrative, with explanations to support the amounts requested. 

• Identification Numbers
  Grant budget forms often request identification numbers for D-U-N-S (Dun & Bradstreet), OPE (Office of Post Secondary Education), or FEI (Federal Employment Identification). The Institutional Advancement Office will provide these numbers for the proposal.

• Salaries and Wages
  Human Resources determines salary figures for each individual who will be employed on the project. Grant personnel salaries align with all other NCTC employees and follow the same salary schedule. If preparing a multiple year budget, please allow for an annual 3% increase. Grant personnel will receive the same raises as other college personnel.

  There can be a wide range of salaries based on a variety of factors, especially when hiring new staff. Always check with Human Resources before calculating faculty or staff salaries.

  Pay attention to the funding source's distinctions between calendar and academic year.

• Fringe Benefits
  Charge to the grant the same fringe benefit rates that apply to all other college activities. For 2007, that rate is approximately 27%, but check with Human Resources for the actual amount to use in your grant calculations.

• Equipment
  If new or additional computer equipment is being requested, contact Information Services to ensure that all expenses relating to installation and networking have been considered. Some requests may require financial assistance for resources that are not already available in an existing IS service.

  Many funding agencies do not fund equipment purchases, including fax machines, telephones, etc. Those that do might require a 1:1 match or fund only leasing. Read the guidelines carefully before including equipment in the budget.

• Consultant Agreements
  Consultant fees are direct payments for the services of experts not otherwise employed by the college. Consultants are hired to accomplish specific tasks of brief duration. It is important to understand the differences between consultants, subcontractors, and state employees.

  Always consult with Human Resources to determine the appropriate use of external services. In the budget, the consultant's name and approximate daily rate must be included. Federal projects may have limitations for the maximum daily rate for consultants. This information is usually found in the application guidelines.

• Subcontracts
  Subcontracts are agreements between the college and other organizations or institutions that will perform part of the work for the principal grant recipient. If work is to be performed by a subcontractor, include the subcontractor's authorized proposal and budget. In the proposal's budget narrative, document the reason for choosing a particular subcontractor.

• Travel
  The purpose of all trips should be stated. Domestic and foreign trips must be shown separately. The actual cost of accommodations, meals and local transportation should be specified and the costs must be reasonable. Use the current approved mileage rate.

• Indirect Costs
  The Institutional Advancement Office will work with the Business Office to determine indirect rates if they are allowed by the funding source. Indirect costs are all costs that are not part of the specific project, but that are necessary to the general operation of the college to support the project. These are also called facility and administration (F&A) costs. Included in the calculation of the indirect cost rate are utilities, general and departmental administration, library, accounting, and purchasing services. For most grants, indirect costs are calculated by totaling all budgeted salaries and wages in the proposal budget and multiplying by the current approved indirect cost rate. Some agencies specify a rate to use, sometimes only allowed on total direct costs (TDC). Read the guidelines carefully.

• Use the Budget Summary form if the funding source doesn't supply a form.

• Refine the budget in collaboration with the Institutional Advancement Office.

Support Letters

Obtaining Support and Commitment

• Letters of Support
  A letter of support proclaims that an interested party believes a project is worthwhile. Letters of support may be solicited from community organizations, businesses, other academic institutions, or anyone else who is part of the service population. These letters do not commit to any financial or in-kind support. They are merely to indicate to funding agencies that NCTC has established connections with businesses and people who are familiar with our mission, share our values, and are interested in the success of our proposal.

  When soliciting a letters of support, explain to writers that you are asking for a letter because the College knows they have an interest in the proposed project or could potentially benefit from its activities.

  • Sample Letter of Support
    The following is suggested wording for a letter of support. If appropriate, produce a draft letter for the signer, customizing this sample to your project and the organization. The letter doesn't need to be long - one page is preferred - but it is more important for the letter to be complete about the organization's or person's relationship to NCTC. Formal letters should be printed on company or agency letterhead. If the letter is from a student or parent, it may be handwritten.

• Letters of Commitment
  A letter of commitment shows that an organization believes a project is so worthwhile it is willing to commit personnel or resources to it. Letters of commitment from partners and collaborators demonstrate that the funding agency is not the only source of financial support for a project. Some examples of commitment are:

  • cash donations

  • donation of supplies, equipment, or other goods

  • use of facilities or services (such as office space or computer service)

  • staff time devoted to a project

  Letters of commitment should be obtained from project partners and collaborators only after data generation, discussion about the merits of the proposal, and development of a work plan and timeline. Because commitment implies financial support in one form or another, writers must be fully informed of project expectations and the extent of their commitment.

  • Sample Letter of Commitment
    The following is suggested wording for a letter of commitment. If appropriate, produce a draft letter for the signer, customizing this sample to your project and the organization. Although one page is preferred, it is more important for the letter to be complete in its description of financial or in-kind support. In some circumstances, this letter may be accompanied by a more formal agreement or contract that will specify financial or equipment obligations. The agreement will be kept on file, but will not become part of the proposal unless required by the funding source. Formal letters should be printed on company or agency letterhead.

• The Letters - In General
  Send the writers a project summary or an abstract of the project and encourage them to call you with questions or feedback. Also provide them with a draft letter, using the sample letters of Support or Commitment as your guide for creating one. Encourage them to personalize their letters. Ideally, a president, director, or other ranking official should sign a typed letter. Suggest that they sign in blue ink so the original will be easily identifiable. If the project involves parents or children, handwritten letters from them are acceptable.

  Give the writer or contact a deadline by which to return the letter. Letters should be addressed to Dr. Brent Wallace, but they should be mailed or delivered - unfolded - to the Institutional Advancement Office. Originals will be kept on file to submit with the proposal. Copies will be made for project team members as needed.

  Always review the letters! If there are serious errors (misspelled names, inaccurate references to the project), don't hesitate to ask the contributor to correct them and provide a new letter. For this reason, begin the process of obtaining the letters as soon as practical. Some corporations require a legal review of the letter, so allow ample time for reviews and corrections.

• If collaborators are contributing funding or equipment, arrange for formal agreements or contracts to be signed.

• The Grant Development Director will obtain the President's signature and submit the proposal package to the funding source.

• Include originals of any required support and commitment letters.

• Attach other forms and appendices as required and allowed.

• Perform one last proofreading and check page numbering.

• The Grant Development Coordinator will use the Proposal Checklist to ensure that the proposal:

  • meets funding source guidelines and

  • is clear and concise,

  • obtain the application signature from the President, in blue ink,

  • check on mailing deadlines for US Mail, FEDEX, etc.,

  • make the correct number of copies, single- or double-sided, as requested,

  • mail the application package,

  • file the original application and documentation to show proof of timely mailing and delivery,

  • distribute copies of the final proposal to appropriate staff, and

  • e-mail a notice of proposal submission to the President, Vice President of Institutional Advancement, and the Project Coordinator.