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The Well-Tempered Proposal By Stephen Wilensky

Tailor your funding

proposal to your

funder's guidelines

to eninanoe your

ohanoes of

suooess.

One important aspect of proposal writing is following the funding guidelines of the business, foundation, or corporation that you are soliciting. You should call potential funding organizations and ask whether your proposal is compatible with their priorities. Have them send or fax you their guidelines, and read them care- fully. Some organizations require a one-page summary of a project, while others request specific details and give you an endless stream of forms to complete.

Never assume that the person judging your written proposal is a musician. A grant examiner's knowledge of music education or technology is often lim- ited. Therefore, be clear and concise and avoid using technical or esoteric terms or rhetoric. Get the examiner's attention quickly, and convince him or her that your idea has merit and will benefit students.

The framework of your proposal is crucial. Do not deviate from discussing the project. Stick to the facts and be as succinct as possible. Keep in mind that the person reading your proposal has limited funds for distribution and prob- ably has a stack of additional proposals to consider, as well. You must convince the reader that your project is worth funding regardless of the competition.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK Be sure to research potential funders. (For information on researching funding programs, see "Proposal Writing 102" in the Winter 2003 issue of MET, available in the article archives at www.metmagazine.com.) Take a close look at previous grant recipients and the amounts they re- ceived. Examine the organization's IRS Form 990 (see Rg. 1) and study its goals and funding priorities. Make sure that the goals and priorities coincide with those of your project. If your project complies with an organization's funding priorities, ask if you may submit a proposal or letter of intent.

Along with your proposal, remember to include a cover letter signed by your department head or proj- ect coordinator. In the cover letter, briefly describe your program, the educational needs that it fulfills, and the level of support it has received.

A COMPLETE PROPOSAL FIG, 1: Tax laws require that foundations file and publish their tax returns Dti IRS Form 990 as

A p r o p o s a l s h o u l d i n c l u d e a m i s s i o n s t a t e m e n t , o n e o r public-domain information. The Foundation Center s 990-PF Searcfi Web page allows you to search

t w o s e n t e n c e s d e s c r i b i n g y o u r o v e r a l l e x p e c t a t i o n s for individual foundation s returns, at http://lnp.fdncenter.oro'finder_990.fitml.

3 8 MUSIC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004

for the project, and a sumtnary oi the project's proposed achievements. Keep it brief. The body of your proposal should consist of the following sections:

Project summary or abstract. Describe who you are, the scope of your project, and its total cost. Be clear and concise. The evaluator reading your proposal should gain a solid understanding of the nuts and bolts of your program from reading the abstract.

Needs assessment. Explain why you require funding. Do you face extraordi- nary financial limitations? Describe how your program will benefit your school's curriculum. Identify a time frame for im- plementing your project. Draw upon re- search and statistical data to strengthen the educational merit of your project.

Program goals and objectives. Identify your overall goals with a broad state- ment. You also need, however, to state your specific objectives that have meas- urable outcomes. What are your prom- ised improvements? How will the program benefit from additional fund- ing? What will be the outcome? If you want to make changes, identify what changes will occur, how, and when. What activities and strategies are you planning that would best serve the stu- dents? Discuss your facilities and ex- plain how you will use staffing. Are parents or outside technical support in- volved in the project? As project coor- dinator, you must establish that you fully grasp the scope of your proposal and that you have determined successful methods for achieving your objectives.

Student impact. Depending on your organization's guidelines, this discussion could be included in goals and objec- tives. Explain in concise terms how the students will benefit from your program.

Community commitment. Will your project benefit the community? How?

Project commitment and future funding. What are your plans for con- tinuing the project? How much sup- port do you receive from the school, from other funding streams, and so on?

Evaluation and assessment. This sec- tion measures the project's results. How effective was the program in achieving its stated objectives? What changes are in order to make the program more ef-

fective? Evaluations can be subjective (looking at how teachers, administra- tors, and students view the program) and objective (basing the program on an evaluation design). Objective evalu- ation avoids potential bias and adds more credibility to your project. This is also an opportunity to fine-tune the project in subsequent years by distin- guishing between its successful aspects and areas that require improvement.

ESSENTiAL ENCLOSURES Using the guidelines you received, make a checklist to ensure that you include all required materials. Be sure that the following items are in your proposal:

Budget. Create a spreadsheet that itemizes all supplies, hardware, soft- ware, salaries, consultant fees, and so on. Accuracy is crucial. Remember that prices change and that you are obli- gated to spend the funds responsibly.

Personnel resumes. Submit a resume or curriculum vitae for everyone asso- ciated with the project, as well as con- sultants or technical advisors.

IRS documentation. Be sure to en- close the IRS's approval letter stating that your school district has tax-ex- empt status under Internal Revenue Code section 501 (a), as described in section 501 (c) (3) (see Fig. 2).

Letter of support. Include a letter from a school administrator confirming that they support and sanction your project.

See Web example 1 L^ to view a successful sample proposal. This pro- posal has been amended for publica- tion purposes.

Despite the quality or merit of any given proposal, there are no guaran- tees in grant writing. Funding is largely determined by a foundation's or cor- poration's financial climate and on whether their investments are generat- ing adequate returns. An organization's funding parameters also factor in to the likelihood of your success.

Stephen Wilensky is the Music Depart- ment chair at Central High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a Tem- ple University faculty meniher and Ful- hright Award recipient. Email him at [email protected] with your comments.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2004 * MUSIC EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY 3 9 wwwmetmigazlne.CDm

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