In this assignment, you’ll prepare the narrative of a grant proposal. This assignment should be based on the nonprofit that you are using for your fundraising project. You will select a program or project to concentrate on for this proposal.

Using the research techniques discussed in this week’s lecture, find an appropriate private foundation that you can “apply to” for this assignment. You will use this foundation’s interests to tailor the content of your proposal; however, everyone should use the Common Grant Application guidelines provided by the Philanthropy Network of Greater Philadelphia to structure your grant (Common Grant Application.doc). This way, you will all be working in the same structure and can better help each other.

Please follow these basic guidelines:

• Under no circumstances should the narrative exceed five pages. The Common Application guidelines limit you to three pages, but I will accept a five page narrative for the purposes of this assignment. If you submit something longer than five pages, I will act like a program officer and refuse to read it since you have stepped outside my guidelines. Please use a 12 point font, preferably one that is easy to read.
• Focus your proposal on a program or project, rather than asking for operating support.
• You do not need to fill out the cover sheet or provide attachments; just write the narrative.
• You do not need to prepare a budget for this assignment (since not all of you have yet had a class on this topic). I want you to concentrate on writing the best narrative you can.
• Focus on page 4 of the guidelines — that’s where you will find the instructions most relevant to our assignment.

While you are using the Common Application, I will be looking for evidence that you have tailored your application to your selected foundation’s interests. Please place a cover page on your grant that states the foundation you have chosen and provides a link to its website. Provide one or two sentences that explain why you think this foundation is a good match for your organization.

Please remember: under no circumstances should you use text written by anyone else in this grant proposal. Be especially careful not to plagiarize organizational or program descriptions from your nonprofit’s website or printed materials. I recognize that in the “real world,” grants are often written collaboratively. This is an academic assignment, and you are being assessed on your ability to write about your organization. Therefore, you must write everything yourself.

Please submit Word docs only. Thanks.

Should you have any questions about your assignment, please feel free to post them. I have created a Q&A thread specifically for this assignment.

The organization I am working on this semester is The Atlanta Mission.

http://atlantamission.org/