Corrections or additions?
This article by Judith G. Lindenberger was prepared for the
November 21, 2001 edition of U.S. 1 Newspaper. All rights
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Tips for Writing A Winning Proposal
So how do you or your organization get up to $600,000
in state funds to underwrite the mission of your choice? Well, you
have to ask for it, as well meaning friend or relative will tell you.
But how you ask is critical.
Grant proposals have to sing — and gain the attention of the
funding
source as surely as a mezzo-soprano reaches the upper balcony. Lots
of frugal nonprofits have concluded that money spent on a professional
grant-writer is money well spent. Herewith 10 tips from
Judith Lindenberger, a veteran non-profit professional, who has
written
proposals for both non-profits and for-profits:
IN MY FORMER LIFE, I was a corporate businesswoman, grappling
my way up to the glass ceiling. For the past two years, I stuffed
my business degrees in a drawer and got paid for my passion —
working as the administrative director of a nonprofit organization
that helps kids with learning differences.
In my job, I wrote lots of grants. Early on it dawned on me that I
had been very successful in the business world when I wrote business
proposals. In my corporate life, I developed a training program for
business executives who wrote business proposals. The result of that
program was that the business executives wrote clearer, more effective
proposals and their audience made clearer, more effective decisions.
So, using what I learned in both my business career and my nonprofit
career, here are my 10 steps for writing winning proposals even in
a down economy:
Know your audience. Create a mental picture of a typicalreader. Think — how will the reader react to my ideas? whatinformationdoes the reader need to be able to follow and accept my message? Learnyour audience’s points of view and goals. Learn their attitudes andvalues.State your purpose up front. Every proposal needs a solidfoundation and an idea or product the audience needs. State yourpurposeup front. Many first-time presenters mistakenly believe you shouldsave your punch line until the end. Wrong. This is not the time forsuspense.Outline your proposal. After determining that there isa match between your purpose and the audience’s point of view andgoals, follow these three steps to write your proposal:1. Determine what’s in the middle — what is your coremessage?2. Figure out the ending — how will you close? Whatis your call to action?3. Figure out the beginning — how should you open?Start off with answering the question, What is the issue? and tellingyour audience what you want them to do.Focus. Keep your proposal clear and succinct by answeringthe following questions: What is the issue? What is the recommendationand how much will it cost? How did we get here and what is theevidence?What are the outcomes and how can the results be measured?Use visual aids. Your audience is 43 percent more likelyto be persuaded by what you’re saying when you use pie charts, bargraphs, pictures, etc. Simplify, simplify, simplify. A good visualaid looks like a billboard on an interstate that drivers can readwhile going 65 mph.Anticipate and answer questions. Do a bit of detectivework. Find out the subjects of greatest concern. Address how you willmanage those concerns in your proposal.Schedule time for rewrites. Show your proposal to friendsor colleagues. They can observe what you can’t see — how you willsound to your audience. Ask for specific comments. Ask them to pointout any possible weaknesses in your material.Know your subject completely. Know every angle, everypossible concern.Be realistic. What are the key issues of your proposallikely to be? Give the bottom line. Include a realistic and completebudget. What’s the worst case scenario? What are the next steps?Be passionate. Let your convictions show. And, remember,everyone has the same goal — a successful business decision.— Judith G. LindenbergerJudith Lindenberger is director of administration and humanresources at Newgrange, and an independent consultant and founderof The Lindenberger Group. She can be reached at jlndnbrgr@aol.com .Top Of PageKeep Up with ChangeLike it or not, change is a fact. Some people embraceit, and others deny the need to change, preferring to clutch on tothe same-old-same-old down to the bitter end. Nonetheless, changeis going to happen.For executives and corporations, failure to change can mean disaster.And according to Nanette Hartley, founder and president ofCrescentConsulting based in Morris Plains, the need for corporations toforeseeand adapt to change has only become more crucial over the past twodecades. “The rate of change in the world is faster,” saysHartley. “And in the corporate world, the implications are sosignificant that failure to change can mean loss of job or even lossof company. These days if you fail to change with the marketplace,you’re gone.”Hartley will be giving a seminar on “Overcoming Obstacles toChange”as a part of Quality New Jersey’s 13th annual conference,”Focusingon Excellence in the New Century,” on Thursday, November 29, at9 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency in New Brunswick. The keynote speakeris environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. Among the otherfeatured speakersare G. Jeremiah Ryan, president of Raritan Valley CommunityCollege, Laura Spoeri, director of performance management ofSomerset Medical Center, and David Zatz, senior consultant,Toolpack Consulting. Cost: $325. Call 609-777-0940.While companies such as GE have become classic examples oforganizationsthat have successfully changed to fit the times, other companies havebeen slow to see the writing on the wall, languishing in a kind ofdenial that imperils their future. But recognizing the need for changeis only the beginning. Corporations must also learn strategies inwhich change can be successfully implemented.The purpose of Hartley’s workshop is to teach people how to recognizethe need to make changes in their organizations, as well as how tosuccessfully make these changes happen. “Over 50 percent ofattemptsto make changes fail,” she says. “We’re offering a blueprintthat can be applied to all situations, from corporations withthousandsof employees, to small church organizations, right down to a parenttrying to motivate a teenage son to get to school on time.”Hartley received her BS from Ithaca College in 1969. She went on towork as a physical therapist before returning to school, receivingher MBA from MIT in 1981. She founded Crescent Consulting in 1994.Hartley believes that when first looking at a situation, it isimportantto ask the right questions. While that may seem obvious, it is notnecessarily easy. “It’s important to step back, and try to seethe real underlying issues,” says Hartley. “For example,sometimesthere may be a conflict in a department that seems at its surfaceto be about money. But in fact it may be about power, or control,or people being told to do things in which they don’t have anyinput.”Empathy is an age-old virtue, and it is no less so in the corporateworld. Before instituting any changes, it is important for peoplein leadership positions to put themselves in the shoes of those whoare being asked to change. It is essential to have a dialogue withthe people who are being affected and to include everyone in thedecision-makingprocess. Also, looking carefully at changes that have been initiatedin the past and analyzing what was successful and what wasn’t cannotbe overrated. Often people resist change for a good reason —becausethey already know it is not going to work.”Top down impositions really only work in army situations,”says Hartley. “Making a blanket order is fine when one army isattacking another, but even that’s because the general has alreadyestablished enough credibility with his troops so that they believehe knows what he’s doing.”For many, even making the smallest changes requires gut-wrenchingdetermination. Often the uncertainty of the outcome only adds to thestress. Hartley offers some suggestions to those faced with the taskof initiating changes, on a big or small scale.Make a commitment. The starting point is commitment ofleadership. If leadership is not able to put forth a true value-drivencommitment to the time and resources needed to make changes, theywon’t happen. The desire to cut corners is very easy to spot.Engage others. Often leaders of change complain aboutother people’s resistance to go along with these changes. But in factthis resistance often comes not from people’s inherent desire tooppose,but simply from the leader’s failure to bring others along on theprocess. It’s like skydiving. You can’t land unless you jump.Keep scanning the horizon. Things keep changing, evenin the midst of change. One change begets another. The environmentnever stays still so that even after a decision has been reached anda plan put into action, it is important to keep looking for hurdleslooming on the horizon. Stay fluid, change is a continuous process.It’s not personal. By keeping your eye on the goal, youcan eliminate the personal issues that sometimes prevent changes fromhappening. For example, if two people aren’t working well togetherit is important to keep the goal of doing effective collaborativework front and center. People are generally committed to excellence,it’s when “but, it’s just that…” gets in the way thatproblemsarise. Getting to the underlying issues is much easier after removingthe personal side of things.While change can be an anxiety producing prospect for anyone,it is a fact of life. This is as true in the boardroom as it is inthe living room. By embracing the process rather than holding backagainst it, it is possible to make change work. “I have foundthat people really do want to excel,” says Hartley. “If peoplewho are trying to initiate changes can tap into that, by asking theright questions, setting up a process that supports them, you canhave extraordinary results.”— Jack FlorekTop Of PageCorporate AngelsEmployees at the Belle Mead facility of 3Mreceivedrecognition for their contributions to wildlife habitat conservationat the Wildlife Habitat Council’s 13th Annual Symposium, “Scienceand Stewardship: Creating Green Communities.” The Belle Meadfacility,located on Sourland Mountain, was granted certification by thewildlifeorganization.The 3M land encompasses over 1,600 acres, 250 of which the companyuses for rock quarrying and processing operations. The remainder ofthe land is managed as a wildlife habitat.The wildlife habitat team at 3M works at enhancing and restoringwildlifehabitat. Since the facility opened in 1961, the company has workedto improve the growth of upland forests, and has conducted a managedhunting program.Other wildlife team activities include attracting hummingbirds andbutterflies, enhancing stormwater detention basins, erectingbirdhousesfor wood ducks and bluebirds, and controlling invasive plant species.The Belle Mead facility was one of 111 sites recognized at thesymposium.Since 1990, the WHC, a non-profit that works largely withcorporations,has certified 288 sites worldwide.Top Of PageDonate, Don’t DumpFall clean-up means leaves AND computers, say CarolRoyal and Geri LaPlaca, doyennes of a high-tech recyclingendeavor, the Trenton Materials Exchange.Don’t let your used and obsolete electronic equipment pollute ourwaste stream, they say.The Trenton Materials Exchange computer drop-off center has changedits hours; it is now open Fridays from 10 a.m. to 5 pm. and Saturdaysfrom 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.The Exchange accepts any working, broken or outdated computers andelectronic equipment and sends all parts to be de-manufactured andrecycled by a DEP licensed firm.Drop-off items may include: CPUs, monitors, CRTs, printers, cables,modems, and all other computer accessories. Also accepted: TVs, VCRs,typewriters, projectors, small copiers, telephones, and fax andansweringmachines. (There is a $5 handling fee for each monitor and TV.)Items can be dropped off at the Exchange warehouse located at 800New York Avenue in Trenton, directly off Route 1 at the Olden Avenueexit. For more information, call 609-278-0033 or visit www.tmex.org.Top Of PageSeeking Showhouse DesignersThe Junior League of Greater Princeton is looking forinterior and landscape designers for the 12th Designer Showhouse,to be held in spring of 2002. Participating designers will decoratea space inside or on the grounds of the house.The proceeds of the Designer Showhouse provide funding for communityprojects to benefit children in Mercer and Bucks Counties, as wellas to grants to other area non-profit organizations.More than 30 area designers will be chosen to partner with the JuniorLeague. Call Judy Springer at 609-771-0525 for more information.Top Of PageLeadership Trenton FundedThomas Edison State College has received a grantof $50,000 from the Fund for New Jersey to launch Leadership Trenton.The Fund for New Jersey is a not-for-profit private foundation thatdistributes grants to organizations dealing with current problemsfacing New Jersey in order to promote social improvement within thestate.Leadership Trenton is a new program to develop a network of emergingcivic leaders. The program is an initiative of Leadership New Jersey,a statewide leadership program sponsored by the Partnership for NewJersey and the Watson Institute.Previous StoryCorrections or additions?This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
