Hu4694: Grant Writing

HU4694: GRANT WRITING

Fall 2014, 120A Walker, MW4:05 – 5:20

Katie Snyder

Graduate Teaching Instructor

Office: 329D Walker Arts & Humanities Center

Email:

Phone: 906.487.0948

Office hours: M Wafter class and by appointment.

DESCRIPTION

In this course, we will focus on grant writing as it takes place in the nonprofit world. You will hear from people from local (and in some cases national) nonprofits about the kinds of writing they do and about techniques for effective grant proposal writing. You will work in teams to research sources of funding and to create grant proposals for real-world, local clients. You will apply principles of rhetoric to analyze and create, in addition to grant proposals, other genres such as white papers common to the professional world,such as white papers. The ultimate goal of this course is to help you create writing that makes a difference—both in your academic and professional lives and in the world at large.

OBJECTIVES

In summary, in this course you will:

work collaboratively with your classmates and client to achieve common communication goals,
write various professional documents (reports, proposals, memos) that support your work,
schedule and manage several projects at one time,
develop your own strategies for solving the problems you encounter in your everyday writing and designing tasks, and
learn the basics of writing effective grant proposals using rhetorical principles

REQUIRED TEXTS

Browning, Beverly. Perfect Phrases for Writing Grant Proposals.McGraw-Hill, 2007.

Karsh, Ellen. The Only Grant Writing Book You’ll Ever Need. 3rd ed. Basic Books, 2009.

I will post additional readings on the course’s Canvas site:

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Attend class, and actively participate in discussion and workshops (20% of overall grade)

Come to class. I reserve the right to lower your overall grade (up to and including an F) forexcessive absences. You are responsible for any reading and writing assigned on days that youare absent. I expect you to come to class having done the reading and writing assignmentsassigned for the day and to be prepared to discuss the reading, to participate in draft workshops,or to conduct group work as the case may be. On days that are allotted for group work, I expectyou to come prepared to work in the classroom or in the HDMZ for the entire period.

In groups, write a white paper presenting what you have learned about your nonprofit/cause

and possible sources of funding. Also, present your group’s findings to the class (25%).

Thewhite paper will be about 6 – 8 pages, and in it you will present relevant information aboutyour client as well as possible sources of funding for your client. You will also present this whitepaper to the class. (The project overview memo will also factor into your grade for this assignment.)

In groups, write a grant proposal (scope of project will vary depending on client), and present

yourwork to the client and class (35%). In addition to turning in the grant proposal, yourgroup will turn in a letter of transmittal and you will each individually turn in a self/groupevaluation memo. You will also present your final projects to the class and to the client duringthe last weeks of class—all of these individual components factor into your overall grade for this project.

Quizzes on readings/presentations; short writing assignments (20%).

Periodically, I will give you short quizzes to make sure you’re reading/awake. But don’t worry:if you’ve read and attended presentations, you’ll ace them. I will also assign short writtenexercises (such as response papers, workbook exercises from the text, or progress reports) thatyou will complete individually.

GRADING SCHEME

Grades will be based on the following:

Attendance/participation: 200 points
White paper: 250 points
Grant proposal: 350 points
Quizzes/short assignments: 200 points

There are 1000 total points possible in this course. Your grade will be based on the total number of points that you received for the course divided by the total number of points possible. Your letter grade will be assigned according to the following chart. NB—if you have excessive absences, or if you have not adhered to the course policies detailed above, your letter grade may be lower than the grade indicated by this percentage. I will notify you via email if you are in danger of having your overall grade lowered due to absences or due to disregarding course policy:

Letter Grade / Percentage / Grade points/credit / Rating
A / 93% & above / 4.00 / Excellent
AB / 87% – 92% / 3.50 / Very good
B / 82% – 86% / 3.00 / Good
BC / 76% – 81% / 2.50 / Above average
C / 70% – 75% / 2.00 / Average
CD / 65% – 69% / 1.50 / Below average
D / 60% - 64% / 1.00 / Inferior
F / 59% and below / 0.00 / Failure
I / Incomplete; given only when a student is unable to complete a segment of the course because of circumstances beyond the student’s control.
X / Conditional, with no grade points per credit; given only when the student is at fault in failing to complete a minor segment of a course, but in the judgment of the instructor does not need to repeat the course. It must be made up by the close of the next semester or the grade becomes a failure (F). A (X) grade is computed into the grade point average as a (F) grade.

DAILY SCHEDULE

Assignments are listed on the day that they are due. Please note that daily assignments are not only subject to change, but that they almost certainly will change periodically—expect more work than what is indicated on the syllabus, not less. Check our Canvas course page for updates and changes to daily assignments.

Winning = Winning Grants Step-by-Step

Perfect = Perfect Phrases for Writing Grant Proposals

TBA = To be announced…Check Canvas if you don’t catch the assignment in class.

pdf = Readings labeled “pdf” are not in your textbook. I will post pdfs of these readings to Canvas under the “Files” tab. Please bring copies of these readings to class on the day that we are scheduled to discuss them.

Week / Date / Day / Topic/Activities / Reading & Writing Due
1 / 9/1 / M / Labor Day – NO CLASS
9/3 / W / Rhetoric refresher / Read rhetoric handout (in class)
2 / 9/8 / M / Overview of the grantseeking process / Read 12 – 37 (The Only)
9/10 / W / TBA
3 / 9/15 / M / TBA
9/17 / W / Form groups / Read xx – xxxv (The Only)
Email me your top 3 grant project choices by Wednesday (9/17) at noon
4 / 9/22 / M / Introduce white papers. / Project overview memo due
By today’s class, each group should contact their client to introduce themselves. Copy me on the email.
Read sample white paper (pdf); read OWL on white papers (pdf)
9/24 / W / Research, white papers, and grant proposals / Read 1 – 11 (The Only); 93 – 109 (Perfect)
5 / 9/29 / M / Researching your organization, possible funding organizations, and grants / Read 38 – 56 (The Only); 22 – 38 (Perfect)
10/1 / W / Research, continued… / Read 75 - 93 (The Only); 39 – 90 (Perfect)
6 / 10/6 / M / White paper draft workshop 1 / Partial draft of white paper due
Read 57 – 74
(The Only)
10/8 / W
7 / 10/13 / M / White paper draft workshop 2 / Complete rough draft of white paper due
10/15 / W / White paper due.
8 / 10/20 / M / White paper presentations
10/22 / W / Getting started with the grant proposal / Read 3 – 21 (Perfect)
Bring copy of your group’s grant guidelines.
9 / 10/27 / M / Read 95 – 119(The Only);
10/29 / W / Outlines / Read 120 – 139 (The Only)
Bring outline of grant proposal to class (outline should be based on your grant guidelines).
10 / 11/3 / M / Goals and objectives / Read 160 – 169 (The Only); 121 – 137 (Perfect)
Bring in draft of your goals/objectives
11/5 / W / Describing the project / Read 110 – 120 (Perfect)
11 / 11/10 / M / Establishing the need / Read 140 – 159 (The Only)
Bring in draft of your need statement
11/12 / W / Methods & evaluation plan / Read 170 – 180, 191 – 200 (The Only); 159 – 177 (Perfect)
12 / 11/17 / M / Budgets / Read 201 - 213 (The Only); 181 – 203 (Perfect)
Bring in draft of budget
11/19 / W / Demonstrating sustainability / Read 214 - 221 (The Only)
Bring in draft of sustainability section
11/24
11/26 / THANKSGIVING RECESS – NO CLASS
13 / 12/1 / M / Draft workshop / Bring draft of entire proposal to class. Invite clients to presentations.
12/3 / W / TBA / TBA
14 / 12/8 / M / Client presentations
12/10 / W / Client presentations
Grant proposals due / Grant proposals due

UNIVERSITY POLICIES

Student work products (exams, essays, projects, etc.) may be used for purposes of university, program, or course assessment. All work used for assessment purposes will not include any individual student identification.

Michigan Tech has standard policies on academic misconduct and complies with all federal and state laws and regulations regardingdiscrimination, including the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. For more information aboutreasonable accommodation for or equal access to education or services at MichiganTech, please call the Dean of Students Office, at(906) 487- 2212or go to