Understand how our
Strategic Based Grant Consulting Services Work
01.
Strategic Funding Plan Development | The cornerstone of SFG’s services is grant strategy and SFG requires all clients to undergo the Strategic Funding Plan process. Clients have seen the benefits of such a strategic approach in better targeting of time and resources; increased knowledge of community partnerships, which can increase their access to otherwise foreclosed opportunities; maximized leveraging of the full spectrum of restricted and unrestricted revenue streams; higher success rates in submission of grant and bid proposals to governmental and private grantors; and greater sustainability of their funding portfolio. Through the Strategic Funding Plan, SFG is able to gain a clear picture of a client’s past and current funding efforts and needs (and how stable or vulnerable its current funding sources are), organizational structure, and program history. During an on-site meeting, SFG identifies the strengths and weaknesses of existing efforts and infrastructure of the client to determine areas for improvement and development. In addition, SFG assesses the opportunities and threats external to the organization, as well as the agency readiness that will inform the fundraising plan to ensure its success.
02.
Prospect Research | An important deliverable of the aforementioned strategic funding planning process is in depth research of government sources customized to the client’s funding needs and priorities After the funding plan is completed, SFG monitors and updates those point-in-time snapshots of sources, as well as emerging opportunities. When conducting research, SFG vets sources using the following scoring system:
- Cost of funding source development (10 points)
- Cost of administration (10 points)
- Amount of total project costs typically covered by funding relative to other sources (10 points)
- Competitiveness for funds (10 points)
- Time period for the drawdown on funds (10 points)
- Need for and/or capacity to replace initial funding source (10 points)
03.
Proposal Development | With a detail oriented and service-minded team of grant proposal writers and full-time project coordinators, SFG provides federal, state, and local proposal preparation services.
04.
Technical Reviews | In many cases, the client may choose to write an application in-house and in those cases, SFG is available to serve in a mentoring/critiquing role. This is especially helpful in cases where the client may want to develop the capacity of a particular staff person in a new subject area, or even if the client just needs a second set of eyes. This year, SFG staff served in a mentoring role on 5 applications. If the client desires, SFG can complete a line edit for page limits, grammar, and formatting.
05.
Concept Papers are detailed descriptions of the client organization and program, and they include an Executive Summary, Organizational Background, Project Description (Need for Project, Goals/Objectives, Program Oversight, Activities), Timeline, Beneficiaries, Expected Outcomes and Plan for Evaluation, Qualifications of Staff/Organization, Sustainability, Program Budget, Other Sources of Funding. They are designed to answer every conceivable question that may be presented by a funding source and serve as a great source to present to potential partners and stakeholders in the early stages of a project.
06.
Outcome-Based Evaluation | SFG submits applications to a large number of federal agencies, many of which require independent performance measurement and evaluation components. While SFG does not have an evaluator on staff, it has a large network and connections with private and university-affiliated evaluators across the country.
07.
Community Collaboration and Partnerships | Part of SFG’s job as funding consultants and grant writers is to make sure that the client is taking the appropriate steps to form partnerships that ensure the most competitive applications. The Strategic Funding Plan and ongoing consultation serve as mechanisms for this process.
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