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 How to Write an Executive Summary for a Grant Writing an executive summary is a critical component of the grant application process. Yet, its' importance is sometimes underestimated. Key goals to bear in mind when writing an executive summary includes being cogent, engaging and credible. A well-written executive summary is enough to get you closer to your goal of receiving funding for the execution of projects. It achieves this goal by garnering enough interest in your grant application by the decision maker. Inadvertently, by kindling the interest of the decision maker, your grant application will be read in its' entirety.
As tempting as it might be to start off the proposal writing process with the executive summary, refrain from giving into this temptation. Tackle this(executive summary) phase of the grant writing process after completion of the entire proposal. By doing this, salient points in the grant that might have ended up escaping your notice will be captured in the executive summary. The executive summary should mirror the structure of the main document. Whereas some individuals prefer to begin with the goal of the project/program through to the identification of the applicant(organization/individual), others prefer to begin with the identification of the organization while working their way down to the program budget. Regardless of the format opted for, being logical and cogent is essential to success. The steps indicated below may serve as a guide in the writing process: 1. Indicate the identity of the organization and its' goals. 2.Include reason(s) for requesting the grant. 3. Establish credibility and authority by including the qualification(s) of individual(s) tasked with carrying out the project. 4. Highlight the expected outcome of the project. 5. State the amount of funding your organization is requesting for the project/program. Each section should flow effortlessly into the next. Also, it is important to avoid the use of trite phrases and industry jargon. By doing this, the grant application will be inclusive and easily understood. Additionally, make your script engaging by injecting enthusiasm into it. After all, if you are not enthusiastic about your project, how can you ensure that the decision maker is going to be interested enough to offer support by providing you with funds? A note on enthusiasm. Being enthusiastic isn't the same as inserting sales pitches. Coming across as a sales man or woman will mare your credibility as your organization might come across as trying too hard. Indeed, the goal of the executive summary is to encourage the decision maker to read through the whole proposal. Several applicants respond to funders' requests for proposals. Consequently, competition for attention is keen and it is important to stand apart. To stand apart, one needs to present his or her executive summary in an engaging, coherent and credible manner. Written By Sherita N Brace Sherita N Brace is an International Development Professional and a Blogger. She serves as a Consultant to non-profits and provides grant writing services, program planning services and communications services. Reference:
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The Essentials to Project Management Communication Communication by definition is the means to effectively transmit the info at hand to different individual or to a group of people and at the same instance minding to their input n order to achieve a specific end point. In a project, failure to transmit a design scheme finally take's to mistakes and confusion within the squad members thus setting the see in a serious and tough side. Plan management communication is taken as one of the very serious responsibilities of a project director and must never be brought lightly. Yet if a high-quality and excellent plan is in place, without an appropriate project supervision communication scheme, the project will not emerge prosperous.
When understanding what the plan management communication plan role should be, a project director should take into account the plan's clients or stakeholders also as the design group. A project director should be able to respond the coming inquiries: What data should be conveyed at a macro phase, what should be continued private, what specific skills and responsibilities should be transmitted to the other parts of the team or to a single person, how will you convey it in the very effective style, how will you incorporate the group's suggestions and very importantly, how will you enforce it? Keep in mind also that the role of the communications plan should constantly be in arrangement to the design plan, schedule and resources. Once a use is established, a plan manager should now settle on what the project handling communication necessities are. This essentially symbolizes that as a project handler, you should be efficient to sort the point of information or procedure that the client and group wants all over the the life cycle of the project. With regard to your clients, frequently they want a blow by blow account nonetheless it doesn't damage to find early on what data they demand to take from you. Likewise learn how oftentimes they will need the data to be passed on a everyday or weekly basis. Upon making project management communication program requirements, the succeeding step is to produce a communication schedule plan. To assist you in this attempt, try using a project planning computer software that can supply you with a project planner in which you can establish a schedule on when to apprise a squad or a singular individual with the required data they ask to realized a job. Lay out in particular the time line on when you will communicate a proper task. Most project supervision software system will as well present a place for you to supply an overview of what the plan is all about and then basing on the acquired schedule will provide you to express the duties and obligations to your team. It would as well be a good view to make a flow chart so that at the onset of the project, your group would know what the asked delivery dates are and how interdependent and essential it is to accomplish it in time. Provide them with a extensive project tracking tool wherein they can easy transmit with each other. Web dependent project handling computer software is a great instrument to effortlessly transmit educations and information as well as get a valuable remark that would improve your processes. A project supervision software package that offers online solutions would plainly establish info and communications much more available. An average communications meeting should as well occur to apprise and provide an up to date enhancement of the project. It will also be a spot for squad members to grow opinions and fears. Read more: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/The-Essentials-to-Project-Management-Communication/222961#ixzz4wRwGOGVF Author: John L. Ratch Scenario Planning: Tool to Manage Change Scenario Planning: A Process for Anticipating Change in A Nonprofit Organization
Overview Nonprofit organizations are facing rapid and challenging change over the next couple of years. Funders at all levels are cutting back and fundraising is expected to become increasingly more difficult. One method to plan for this type of change and an uncertain future is scenario planning. Scenario planning is defined as a strategic planning method that organizations use to make flexible long-term plans based on generating a number of “what if” situations and then options for how they might respond to the situation. Nonprofit organizations for years have generated “what if” budgets using a best case – worst case type projections for fundraising. Scenario planning takes this exercise a step further by reviewing the external environment and determining how an organization might need to respond to critical changes. Organizations facing program cuts, service increased demands and funding limitations are undertaking scenario planning as a way to organize board, staff and volunteers into deciding on alternative futures. It makes many managers feel empowered to know that they can actively plan for the organization’s future without waiting for the next level of bad news. Think of scenario planning as the “new” strategic plan for organizations experiencing rapid and significant change. We live in times that call for significant change and reorganization for nonprofit organizations. Funding from government, corporations and foundations has been dramatically impacted by the economic crisis. Doing business as usual or trying to ignore what is happening will get many organizations into trouble. One way to manage the change and stay one step a head of the funding turmoil is to prepare scenario plans. Much like strategic planning, having a clear plan with strategies, tactics and financial projections gives us important tools to manage change. We are certainly living in a time now where scenario planning has become as important tool for nonprofit organizations wishing to chart their course for the future. Description of the Process Scenario planning starts by dividing our knowledge into two broad domains: (1) things we believe we know something about and (2) elements we consider uncertain or unknowable. The first category refers to trends occurring that may have an impact on an organization. Examples of trends in 2009 would be a severe recession that results in a decrease in corporate gifts, high unemployment and/or increased lines at food shelves. We need to be aware of these trends in order to consider adjustments for organization plans and goals. Understanding the specific trends helps us be smart in making decisions for the organization. The second category refers to uncertainties in our world such as the election of a new president and changes as a result of the new administration, future stock market fluctuations and the impact on giving and endowments, and increased unemployment at unparalleled rates leading to more home foreclosures and homelessness. Another example would be decreasing tax revenues and the potential impact on future state and local government funding. “The art of scenario planning is the blending of the known and the unknown into a limited number of internally consistent views of the future that span a very wide range of possibilities.” We call these Scenario Options – a third step in the process. Scenario options are those “what if” responses to a changing environment. Identifying two to four scenarios or alternative futures provides information for the organization to thoughtfully plan and consider. A fifth step in the process is to create budgets and cashflow projections to reflect the scenario options that you have generated. This step can be made easier if you have a program based budget and financial statements well organized by programs or major lines of business in your organization. Worksheets exist to help with this step. It is important to have your financial information ready and organized for comparisons and careful scrutiny. Both a budget and a cashflow are needed in order to demonstrate the financial impact and the resulting in flow and out flow of cash in your organization. Scenario planning can be done with a team or small group of individuals. It can be done by the entire staff or with a few outside volunteers or advisors. The underlying basis of scenario planning is the assumption of change coming in the near future. Groups often hire an external consultant to facilitate their discussions since change can cause reactions from panic and fear to spunk and opportunity. Scenario planning can be done in a day or it can be done over the course of three to six weeks depending on the process that you design. The process can involve the board, management team and the staff or it can be a very small group composed of volunteers that know the organization very well. In some cases the Executive Director of the organization may conduct scenario planning and present the final results to the board of directors. The process can vary but the end result must be an action plan for each scenario with the following: o Environmental scan o Scenario options o Financial projections o Action plan describing how the scenario would be implemented Author: Kathryn S. Keeley Artice Source: http://www.articlesphere.com  How to Engage Donors and Volunteers Through Social Media Although social media has been with us for a while now, some non-profits are not integrating it with their outreach strategy. Some of the reasons offered for the non-inclusion of social media spans lack of knowledge about social media, insufficient time and limited resources. While these are valid reasons, the benefits that non-profits stand to gain from using social media to engage donors and volunteers far outweighs its' non-inclusion. For instance, according to Statista, "Facebook had more than 1.94 billion global monthly active users, including over close to 1.74 billion mobile monthly active users." Judging by this fact, incorporating social media networking sites such as facebook, twitter and google+ will increase the ability of your organization to reach a wider audience. Social Media has revolutionized the way organizations gain exposure. As a result, the days of requiring a hefty budget in order to reach a wider audience is over and belongs to the past. To actively engage with donors and volunteers through social media, content should be prioritized. Donors and volunteers alike appreciate relevant and persuasive content. They are more likely to engage with a non-profit that provides relevant content than a non-profit that doesn't. Despite this express desire of volunteers and donors, some non-profits focus predominantly on design and relegate content to the background. What happens is that they end up stagnating and not reaching their engagement goals. One of the best strategies for providing persuasive content is through story telling. Use the art of storytelling to portray activities that your non-profit organization engages in. It is easier to convince people through story telling than through facts since our brains are open to reading about and listening to stories. Also, stories about individual clients tend to elicit high response rates from donors and volunteers alike. Such stories have the propensity to connect them (donors and volunteers) to your cause and to propel them into action compared to stories about large groups of people. A visual means of telling stories is through the use of online videos. Keeping online vidoes short and engaging will lead to the attainment of goals. Some softwares that can be used for online videos include power-point and imovie maker. These programs are easily accessible and are quick to use. Consequently, they save you time and money making them budget friendly options. Now that we are aware of the programs that can be used in the creation of videos, what kind of content can be generated with power-point and i-movie maker ? A starting point can be with events that your organization is already implementing. For example, if your organization is hosting a workshop or a fundraiser, you can record it and share it with a larger audience. Also, you can create videos of your volunteers in action and share them. The possibilities are endless! In order to save time on your social media engagements, apps such as Tube Mogul and AWeber may be opted for. They provide a single point for uploading videos to multiple social media sites. Using social media to engage with donors and volunteers is a worthwhile venture that can yield maximum returns if done right. Storytelling and the use of apps will result in the creation of persuasive content and time saving benefits. Written By Sherita N Brace Sherita N Brace is an International Development Professional and a Blogger. She serves as a Consultant to non-profits and provides grant writing services, program planning services and communications services. Reference: . Facebook : Statistics & Facts. Retrieved October 11th from https://www.statista.com/topics/751/facebook/ The Ultimate Guide to Strategic Planning for Non-Profits In recent times, strategic planning has been increasingly touted as dead and irrelevant by some bloggers and practitioners. I differ with that view. How can one get to his/her destination without planning ? With that said, when should the leadership of a non-profit organization embark on a strategic planning mission?
Often, the decision to carry out strategic planning depends on the growth/development phase of the non-profit. For instance, if it is in its' first year of operation, it might be more pre-occupied with developing its' operational budget or its' governing board. On the other hand, a non-profit in its' fourth or fifth year of operation might be preoccupied with the leadership style of the organization. A critical question it might be pondering about will be, "is this non-profit being operated strategically?" One tell-tale sign of an organization that is operating strategically is that its' strategies are developed from a shared vision. It spends more time fulfilling its' vision instead of reacting to an onslaught of daily problems without an end in sight. Strategic Planning is a conscious, disciplined choice that requires a willingness to change. Without a willingness to change, the status quo will be maintained. Additionally, the strategic planning process predominantly lies in the domain of the organization's leadership and generally involves the following : 1. Assessment of the Situation In order to determine the best course of action to take, an overview of the organizations history and goals should be carried out. By conducting this step, a clear picture of accomplished and unaccomplished goals will emerge. Furthermore, research in the form of empirical data collection should be conducted. Recommended data to be targeted include budget, program trends among others. 2.Organize a Retreat A second step in the strategic planning process entails conducting a retreat. Staff members, board members , a facilitator and other stakeholders that are involved with the work of the organization either directly or indirectly ought to be included. During the retreat, exercises centered on the attainment of a common ground regarding the organization's mission, vision and core values should take center stage. Next, it is highly important to carry out a SWOT analysis followed by a discussion on the priorities of the organization. 3. Write out the Plan Following the retreat, a strategic plan reflective of the organization's goals can be developed. Data collected during the assessment phase will serve as the framework for the formulation of goals. For example, it might have been discovered that the non-profit's waning infrastructure has been affecting the ability of staff to carry out their work effectively. Consequently, low productivity has been it's (non-profit) plight. In essence, the issue pertaining to waning infrastructure will inform the type of goals that eventually emerge. 4. Monitoring Plan Once a plan is developed, it is essential to develop a monitoring plan that tracks and evaluates the progress of the strategic plan. This plan will include a timeline of activities and stated goals. Furthermore, the names of individuals assigned to listed responsibilities should be captured in the monitoring plan. By doing this, the organization will be well on its way of implementing its' strategic plan in a timely manner. Written By Sherita N Brace Sherita N Brace is an International Development Professional and a Blogger. She serves as a Consultant to non-profits and provides grant writing services, program planning services and communications services. Reference:
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