Paint By Numbers

by Barbara Stratton, Professional Grant Writer

In pursuit of a foundation grant to support a program promoting cultural diversity, a teacher offered the following needs assessment: In today's fast-paced world, students do not receive a clear vision or understanding of diverse cultures that promote personal pride, confidence, and acceptance of others.

It is a suitable enough opening statement. However, it was also the sum total of the argument. What's missing is the actual assessment. To pursue a grant [successfully] means playing a numbers game at both ends of the process. At the “front end” statistical information about your community, your target population, and your issues is vital. How else will the grant reader get the real picture?

Example: One can describe a community as “urban” but there are degrees of urban that are communicated best through data. The City of Houston, Texas (600 square miles; population 2 million) is more urban than the City of Hackensack, New Jersey (4 square miles; population 43,000). Why is the data meaningful? Because a grant-maker supporting a program in Houston gets a better demographic spread than a grant-maker supporting a program in Hackensack , despite the fact that Hackensack is more densely populated (do the math).

Grant makers that target funding toward specific issues do so because they are aware of the significance of those issues on a more-or-less global basis. Your job, in applying for use of their funds, is to reflect the significance of that specific issue on a local basis. In the United States , we understand that obesity and substance abuse are endemic among youth. What's happening in your neck of the woods? Here's how numbers paint the picture:

The following data is based on 2,296 completed questionnaires representing three high schools in the Terrell County Public School District . Over 75% of students surveyed reported being unable to sustain a 5-minute warm-up on a stationary bike or run a half-mile track; an average of 22% resist participating in physical education classes; 73% exhibit poor eating habits; 47% report alcohol use; 37% smoke tobacco on a regular basis; 30% use one or more non-prescription drugs (cocaine, ecstasy); 25% reported having tried marijuana and 12% admitted they used marijuana "in the past month." Current marijuana use is highest (23%) among students aged 17 to 19, followed by students aged 15 to 16 (15%) and students aged 12 to 14 (2%). On one campus alone, 35% of students reported stress-related illnesses and 25% reported eating disorders (bulimia or anorexia). Over 53% of the total students surveyed lack access to personal fitness, circuit training, and cooperative sports activities outside the school facilities.

At the “back end” of the grant process is evaluation. An outcome evaluation tells us whether the goals and objectives of the program have been met. One “Y” used CATCH Kids Club as a prophylactic measure in an inner-city environment plagued with juvenile arrests. Their grant's objectives related to improved [student] behaviors. An evaluation outcome offered this:

The Outreach Worker followed 55 students back into their classrooms. Of the 55, there were 20 ten year olds; 19 nine year olds; 7 eight year olds; and 9 seven year olds. Classroom teachers had created the following goals for students at-risk: manage anger (27 students); develop coping strategies (9 students); develop racial tolerance (1 student); respect authority (3 students); take responsibility for actions (15 students). Follow-up indicated that 35 students succeeded in achieving goals set for them; 14 students succeeded somewhat; and 6 students did not succeed at all. Of the 55 students, 69% presented no further behavioral issues.

Conclusion: when it comes to winning grants, numbers count.

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