The Fund Finder News
Public Safety Grants Consulting
The Fund Finder News
A Bi-Weekly Grants News and Information Update By Kurt Bradley
Issue 30, June 17, 2005
"Justifying Need"
Simply stating that your community or agency has a problem, or "need", is not sufficient justification to gain a funding award for most grants in this day and age. How do you justify that need, and get the grant?
Grant reviewers have become increasingly more critical when deciding who will, or will not, be funded. As more and more agencies and communities compete for the available grant money, the decision-making process has evolved into a much more elaborate process than it used to be. It is therefore essential that you, as a grant writer, adequately discuss and justify the "need" to be funded.
This justification process is accomplished in a grant application in a couple of different ways, and in this Fund Funder we'll go over the ins and outs of each:
- By the Numbers
- Use Your Narrative
- Conduct a Survey
By the Numbers
Many Federal grant applications now require the applicant to answer what are known as "agency and activity specific questions". In essence these questions determine the statistical data regarding your department. Many departments fail to really pay attention to these questions, mistakenly believing that this is just "fodder" material to describe their agency or activities. The importance of these questions and their relationship to your overall score must not be overlooked or ignored.
Examine the questions and your answers carefully and accurately. When you are answering these questions, the grant writer should always strive to have the most accurate answers possible. This is not the place where an "estimate" or an arbitrary number should be inserted. Sometimes these numbers are assigned a crucial weighting factor, and failure to give proper thought and response to these questions can knock you out of competition from the beginning.
If you were asking for funding to purchase a new vehicle for your department, the decision to fund you is based in part on the number of times that vehicle will be used for the purposes stated. If your call volume fails to properly justify that you answer a large number of those type calls requiring that vehicle, you will not be funded.
Mutual aid matters. Likewise, also give answers encompassing the emphasis that DHS grants place on "interagency cooperation and interoperability". It is important to adequately and accurately state not just your own calls, but also how often you are a visitor to the "community sandbox" and that you "play well" with others in that same sandbox. Your mutual aid numbers add significantly to your justification of need.
Program priorities are your primary priority. Another example is in the relationship that a particular question plays in establishing that you are addressing the grant maker's program priorities. In the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program (AFGP), one of the stated primary purposes of this program is to "enhance firefighter safety". I have seen hundreds of departments make one grave mistake that causes them to completely miss this point in their application.
What is that mistake? There is a question in the front of the grant application which asks you to "provide the number of firefighter-related injuries that have occurred in the last three years." Many rejected AFGP applications I have reviewed answer this question with a "0" in the box.
Bear in mind that a computer is weighing and quantifying these answers and assigning a score based upon those calculations. A computer seeing "0" in this box will automatically assume that you are running a safe department and do not need assistance. The computer kicks out the application, and you get a "Dear John letter".
What about population? Agencies should also keep in mind that the numbers regarding your population and demographics also play a critical role in determining your need. It will not fly if you ask for $50,000 to buy a "forensic laser light source" for a community of 1,000 that only had 12 major index crimes during the past 24 months!
How much has your population grown, or decreased, since the 2000 Census? For many of you, population change can be significant.
Consider a community that reported population of 1200 in the 2000 US Census. In 2002, the State DOT 4-laned the US highway through their area. The highway leads into the next major metropolitan area. A developer sees this potential growth corridor and plans out a 500-home subdivision to go in alongside this highway, which will draw the "city slickers" into your town. That subdivision was completed in 2005, so now there are 500 homes filled with residents and an additional 1,250 people. That represents a population increase of iver 100% in less than 5 years – and you still have four years to go until the next census!
When filling out a grant application, population growth and census information like this is critically important. Explain the situation properly and in detail. Do not just rely on what the US Census in 2000 says about your communities; do the research, do the math and report accurately!
Use Your Narrative
The narrative statement of your grant application is your second shot at justification of needs. If your application survived the initial computer screening process and you have been fortunate enough to make it to peer review, this is where you do not want to squander you opportunity to really drive home the gravity of the situation in your community which you are trying to remedy.
Mmake 'em bleed, make 'em cry". This is where you accomplish that task. It is not simply enough to say "the crime problem is out of control in this city" or that your equipment is "old and outdated". Blast them with the facts, the numbers and the specifics. The two statements above should read more like:
"In 2004 our department responded to 81 burglaries of residential properties in our community. The total value of property stolen during those crimes was $167,426. During the same time period in 2005, we investigated 105 residential burglaries within our jurisdictional control, and the value of property stolen increased to $224,589. This represents an approx. 25% increase in this major index crime in less than one year. It is obvious that we have a very severe problem with residential burglaries and it is only a matter of time before a homeowner is severely injured or killed when they encounter one of these criminals burglarizing their domicile."
Or
"Our department has recently completed an equipment needs assessment, and it was determined that our turnout gear is our most critical problem at this point. The turnout gear that we are currently using is all in excess of 15 years old. It is torn in places, has burn holes in the shells and is mismatched. There are female firefighters wearing turnout gear that is two sizes to large for them, causing mobility problems insufficient heat protection. Closures and zippers are missing or broken, and the stitching in many places is coming loose. Repeated washings of this turnout gear have reduced its fire-retardant quality. Our current budgetary restraints preclude us from replacing this equipment except on a piece-by-piece basis. At that rate it will take more than 10 years for us to replace all the turnout gear for our firefighters."
Conduct a Survey
Many grant programs are extremely dependant upon proper studies being conducted to actually determine the need. But how do you conduct a study? Don't they require a lot of money or hiring consultants to do this?
The answer is not simple here but, depending upon what you are trying to study, in most cases it can be accomplished with relative ease and little expense. You must ask yourself, "Is it worth spending a little money, to get a lot more?"
For example, let's say that your fire department thinks there are not many smoke detectors in the homes in your community. Now notice I said "thinks". You could never apply to the Fire Prevention & Safety grant program with just that statement.
Keep a number of things in mind here. First on that list is that the stated program priorities are to address fire prevention and safety, with the targeted audience being juveniles under the age of 14 and senior citizens over the age of 65.
One way to conduct this survey would be to approach the scout leader of a local troop and ask them if they would help you with a "community service project". Most scouting programs require that the achievement of civic and other merit badges is tied directly to community service. We tend to think of this as the troop going out and walking along the highway picking up trash or in the local parks. On the contrary, "community service projects" cover a wide range of activities.
Have the troop agree to station several scouts in front of the local Wal-Mart for the next month every weekend. Provide them with a simple questionnaire with four questions on it:
- Are there children under the age of 14 in your home?
- Are there any persons over the age of 65 in your home?
- Do you have a smoke detector in your home?
- Do you live in "Any city" USA?
Have the scouts ask every adult that enters the store these questions during that time period and then collect the survey and add the numbers up. Most people will gladly take 30 seconds to answer four questions for a Boy Scout or Girl Scout. Hey, guess what? You just conducted a scientifically based study that is statistically accurate and actually proves your theory that there are not many smoke detectors in your jurisdiction. The inclusion of this data in your narrative statement can substantially increase the chances that your program would be funded.
Note too that this scenario actually costs the department nothing but a little time. There are no big consultant fees or extensive mass mailings. Simple, easy and effective!
Conducting and properly documenting need is a critical part of any grant application, and can be the different between a "Dear John letter" and a call from your representative congratulating you on your award. Justifying need is not something that should be done in haste. Proper planning, in advance of the grant program opening, is the ticket.
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