Federal Grants: 4-Part Readiness Series

Dates

Four Sessions via Zoom

Tuesday & Thursday - December 6 & 8 and 13 & 15
9:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m. (PT)

Event Description

Title
Federal Grants: 4-Part Readiness Series

Facilitator
Hannah Cortez, Chief Operating Officer, The Dotted i

NAO, in partnership with The Dotted i, is proud to bring you a 4-part grant writing series that will increase your understanding of federal grants and help you prepare! In this series, we will offer hands-on learning activities, peer networking, and expert knowledge on preparing to seek federal grant funding. In addition to in-class instruction, participants will have weekly homework to deepen their learning and have direct access to course trainers for feedback and support. Through this training, we hope to demystify the federal grant process and give participants a better understanding of how federal funding can be leveraged in your own organizations.

This series is open to all rural Oregon nonprofits but especially targeted at those in the High Desert part of the state. 

This workshop series is made possible with support from The Ford Family Foundation.

Automatic closed captioning via Zoom is turned on by default for all NAO virtual trainings. For other accommodation requests, please contact us at [email protected]. Advanced notice of at least 10 days is appreciated.

Outline

Session 1: December 6

Grant Readiness 
In this session we’ll discuss what it takes to be considered “ready” to seek federal funding. We’ll go over a list of commonly requested documents, how to navigate grants.gov, and discuss how to assess your organizational and program readiness. (Develop a Logic Model in class).

Learning Themes:

1. Organizational Readiness: do you have the capacity to meet the demands of the federal grant requirements (reporting, tracking, financial management, evaluation, implementation)?
2. Program Readiness: does your program have the scope/scale for federal funding? How do you assess this and prepare?
3. Go over commonly requested documents and how to prepare to submit grants through grants.gov (i.e. personal and organization registration, workspace, JustGrants, SAM#, UEI, etc.)

Homework: TBD

Session 2: December 8

Grant Research
Most people feel lost when it comes to researching for grant opportunities in grants.gov because they “don’t know where to start” and the interface can feel clunky. We'll help people understand how to search on grants.gov by discussing the importance of keywords, highlighting the best practices on using the database, and identifying and walking through a NOFA and how to read and understand it.

Learning Themes:

1. How to prospect/find grants that are a good fit
2. How to read a NOFA and know both whether this is a good fit (do you meet the requirements) but also what is it asking of you (what are the limitations and compliance concerns to watch out for)
3. Use a Research List document to organize your grant opportunities
4. Gain confidence in your ability to find federal grant opportunities that are the right fit for your organization

Homework: TBD

Session 3: December 13

Grant Writing
This is where we like to dig in and help prepare our participants for successful proposal writing! In this session we will walk through how to build a narrative outline using the NOFA and teach writing and editing techniques that can help you cut down on your character count and write concise narrative.

Learning Themes:

1. Understand how to create a concise and compelling grant proposal 
2. Learn what funders *really* want to know in your answers
3. How to take a NOFA and build your narrative outline around it
4. Gain confidence in your writing and editing skills for federal grant writing

Homework: TBD

Session 4: December 15

Grant Management/Building Relationships
In this session, we will wrap up our series by discussing how to adequately track outcomes for federal grants and understanding best practices for compliance.

Learning Themes:

1. Understand how to track outcomes and show your program was successful
2. Dive into what you need to know about compliance and the "after the award" work BEFORE you ever apply for funding.
3. Learn how to approach and work with federal program officers

Homework: TBD

About the Facilitator

Hannah Cortez, Outreach and Education Director, The Dotted i As a Grant Specialist with The Dotted i since 2017, Hannah Cortez has raised over 2.4 million dollars for her clients through thoughtful project development and successful grant writing. She has a background in human development, education, and community health which gives her a well-rounded approach to grant seeking, identifying an organization’s need, and building relationships with funders. As the daughter of a journalist, her investigative spirit lends itself to thorough research and identifying the details that will sell your organization’s story! Her passion shines when she’s educating others which is why you’ll often find her presenting at nonprofit conferences or leading grant trainings. Hannah is a Montana transplant originally from sunny California (not the Southern part, the middle of the state where happy cows come from!). Drawn to the sunshine, you can often find her hiking, fishing, camping, or enjoying a book in her hammock when it’s warm outside. When she’s not enjoying the great outdoors, in her free time you’ll find her spending time with family and friends or hunting down the best tacos in Bozeman. About The Dotted i In 2008, Breanna Polacik, CEO and Founder, began her work as a grant writer working with municipalities and tribal entities to secure millions of dollars in state and federal funding for community related grant projects. During this time she had the opportunity to work with a small nonprofit to secure the funding and construct a food pantry facility with zero debt. The amount of excitement and fulfillment she experienced from working on that nonprofit project is what pushed her to switch gears from the municipal side and open the doors of The Dotted i in 2014. Since that time The Dotted i team has grown from 1 to 5 professional Grant Specialists who support nonprofit organizations through grant research, writing and training services. Our mission is to help nonprofits find and secure the grant funding they need to make a lasting impact in their communities.

Cost

$125 for NAO Members
$200 for Nonmembers

The NAO member discount will be applied after you select "Register Now" below. You must be logged in to your member account to receive the discount. 

A link to access this workshop series will be provided in the registration confirmation e-mail and e-mail reminder prior to event dates.

If you have questions or trouble registering contact [email protected]. 

Location

Online