Volume 38 summer 2006
Grants Management "...it really doesn’t matter how much money you ask for. It is about how you ask for it and how you plan on spending it".
FUTURE LEADERS E X C H AN G E ALUMNI NEWSLETTER Contents: 1 7 Theme of the Issue:
Ludmila Bilevschi ’97 Edinet, Moldova/Eustis, FL bilevschi@yahoo.com I have been dealing with grants in one way or another since 2003, and though it looks like three years is not a very long period of time, it helped me to realize a few important grantsrelated things that I want to share with other FLEX alumni. Currently I work as the alumni coordinator at the U.S. Embassy Alumni Resource Center (ARC) in Chisinau, Moldova. One of our duties is to administer the ARC Alumni Grants Program, which offers alumni funding up to $500. My previous job involved offering grants of $30,000 – $40,000 to local NGOs to implement different long-term projects. Comparing these two experiences, I can say that it really doesn’t matter how much money you ask for. It is about how you ask for it and how you plan on spending it. When submitting a grant proposal to any donor, one should take into consideration at least a few of the points below. Proposals that have a clear set of realistic goals and activities have better chances of getting funded. One of the last proposals that I had to review was in the sphere of education. The whole proposal was focusing on the problem of
Trainer Ludmila Bilevschi ‘97 works with Vicor Cilibic ‘05, Mihai Popsoi ‘05, and Vitalie Djugostran ‘05
students’ self-promotion abilities. There was not a word about the goals (what this person had in mind) and activities (how, by what means he wanted to make it real). It is easy to figure out that we did not recommend funding his project, as we didn’t understand what this person wanted to do. While a proposal should explain the problem, the emphasis should be on the project goals and activities, in other words how the problem should be fixed. A project proposal should be clearly structured to strictly follow the donor’s requirements. Using your own format will not give the donors all of the information they need for your proposal to be reviewed. This is why when you try to get funding from several donors, it is very important to adjust your proposal to each donor, taking into consideration their requirements, funding priorities, proposals review cycle, etc. Before sending the proposal out, ask someone else (a friend or a colleague) to read it. This will give you an idea of how other people will understand what you have written. It will also help you to avoid mistakes, math errors in budget calculations, etc. Finally, create a positive impression and be accurate in following donor’s requirements, no matter how large or small the size of your request and overall project. Be forewarned: if you prove to be an unreliable partner there is a good chance you will be put on the organization’s so called “black list.” The black list is a list of NGOs or individuals that were awarded grants, but violated grant contracts. Usually, local and regional donors share these lists and these NGOs or individuals are unlikely to receive funding. In any case they will have to work very hard to prove themselves once they have developed a bad reputation.
Grants Management Practice Makes Perfect Putting Theory into Practice Advice from a Professional Fundraiser How the Funder Views Proposals Beauty is a Beast Opening New Doors to Orphans Joining Our Hands to Help Needy Friends 8 9 Alumni Beat 10 11 Bradley Bits 12-14 News and Essays Launching Ultramarine in Dushanbe Washington Civic Education Workshop 2006 Take the First Step 15 Profiles Nana Aburjanidze ’96 Tbilisi, Georgia Evgenij Gribov ’94 Moscow, Russia Rostyslav Semikov ’98 Kyiv, Ukraine
These were just a few useful tips, but I hope they will help you to improve your proposals and implement many exciting projects! Good luck!
Read about the Tajikistan FLEX/YES Conference on Respecting Diversity and Promoting Tolerance on page 9.