Documenting the Organization’s Strengths

Although funding opportunities typically run in yearly cycles, your organization must always be ready to act on opportunities that might arise. Most organizations that are successful in raising funds or getting grants have done a lot of work in advance of the writing and so are able to respond quickly and efficiently. Funders do not like to see proposals that are clearly cut-and-paste resubmissions. However, each proposal should not be a reinvention of the wheel.

Having boilerplates or templates on hand greatly speeds up the process of putting a grant proposal together, as does having access to the information needed to tailor the proposal for a specific funder. Indeed, all aspects of the services the agency provides can be structured to provide the kind of information necessary for proposal writing, from the design of intake forms to student exit interviews.

When getting ready to write, you must have easy access to the following kinds of information about your organization:

  • PR Materials and Program Guides
  • Mission and Vision Statements
  • Organizational and Program Profiles
  • Student Demographics
  • Community Resources
  • Financial Records

Below are some suggested steps to ensure your agency or program has the information it needs at the ready to write grant proposals. This section covers the first five items and the next section addresses financial records. 

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  1. Compile all existing documentation
  2. Review Mission and Vision Statement
  3. Complete Organizational/Programming Profiles
  4. Track Student Demographics
  5. Review Resources within the Community

A. Compile All Existing Documentation

Maintain an up-to-date folder with any and all materials that provide information about the activities of your organization. It is frustrating and often time-consuming to try and track these things down during the writing process. Although this is common sense, many organizations are so busy with providing direct services to clients that they do not take time to think about collecting these different documents. Each person in the organization may assume that someone else is keeping such a file. Because the task doesn’t fall under anyone’s job description, it is done on an ad hoc basis. To avoid this, make a point to delegate the responsibility to someone to maintain a communications folder.

The types of materials that should be in the folder include:

  • Annual reports
  • Flyers
  • Student guides
  • Brochures
  • Press kits
  • Clippings about the organization

The more materials and information you can gather and organize in advance, the better. You will never submit all the items collected, but you can make selections to tailor your proposal for specific funders.

Have copies of all proposals organized and easily accessible. This is sometimes easier said than done! Proposals might have been written by staff who have left the organization or by outside consultants hired for a specific grant, making it difficult to develop an institutional memory. Do not let this task be done on an ad hoc basis: assign a staff member to keep track of all proposals, those that get funded and those that don’t. Make copies for a proposal file that is accessible to anybody writing a grant.

B. Review Mission and Vision Statements

Review the organization’s mission and vision statements. In brief, a mission statement is a summary of what the organization does today and why it exists. A vision statement is the organization’s long term dream for the organization itself and the communities that it serves. Both the mission statement and the vision statement should make clear what the organization stands for. Because these statements are the guiding principles of the organization, refer to them often when crafting letters of inquiry and grant proposals. Ideally, these statements will be brief and clear (20-35 words) and ready to add to any proposal. If these statements are out-of-date or incomplete, your proposal or letter of inquiry is also likely to be out-of-date and incomplete.

If your organization does not currently have a mission or vision statement, make the time to create one, involving program staff and stakeholders in the process. A vision statement is not long, but it can be complicated to write, because it condenses all the goals and ideals of the organization into a few sentences. Ensure your organization’s mission statement does not sound clichéd (“Education for adults is important”) or ambiguous (“We want to help people achieve their goals”). Following is a listing of Web sites that provide information about writing mission and vision statements, as well as samples for the organization that serves as a case study for this guide.

Information about Mission and Vision Statements
Sample Mission Statement: El Poder Learning Center

El Poder Learning Center is a community-based organization founded to provide service to Latinos in the local Ed Poder and El Pueblo Nuevo communities. El Poder Learning Center supports student empowerment by offering a range of culturally appropriate services and adult education classes. El Poder Learning Center fosters communication with other agencies servicing the local community and provides services for the whole family (from children to grandparents).

Sample Vision Statement: El Poder Learning Center

El Poder Learning Center will grow to provide a wide range of services. By having access to information, education, and training, the residents of El Poder and El Pueblo Nuevo will achieve physical, mental, and economic health. The community will cultivate new resources and maintain current ones.

C. Complete Organizational/Programming Profiles

Although mission and vision statements are helpful in presenting the big picture of what an organization does, you will still need to provide details about specific programs or initiatives. Below are examples of sample organizational and program profiles that an organization can complete, coupled with sample responses. When you are completing these types of profiles, make your responses brief but clear.

After completing the organizational and program profiles provided below ask:

  • What stands out in the organizational profile to make your organization unique? (If nothing, then it will be hard to convince funders that your organization is uniquely situated to provide services.)
  • Do the mission statement and organizational profile match? (If not, then the mission statement does not accurately depict what your organization does.)
  • Does each program’s profile reflect the wide range of services provided? (If not, then your organization might be underselling itself when communicating with potential funders.)
Organizational Profile
Why does your organization exist? What is its purpose?  
Who does your organization serve?  
What is the target population?  
What services does your organization provide?  
Where are the services located?  
What is your organization’s geographic focus?  
What is the schedule of services?  
What is the structure of services?  
How much does it cost to fund your organization?  
Sample Organizational Profile - El Poder Learning Center 

Profile Response

Why does your organization exist? What is its purpose? 

Nearly 50 percent of the adults in our community are functionally illiterate. The purpose of our organization is to teach these adults the basic literacy skills required to fully function at home, work, and in the community. 

Who does your organization serve?
What is the target population?

Adults over age 18 that read below the 9th grade level

What services does your organization provide?

ESL classes, Spanish literacy, computer classes, afterschool program, financial literacy, a literacy lab with educational software; one-to-one tutoring. 

Where are the services located?

At the El Poder Community Center 

What is your organization’s geographic focus? 

The community of El Poder and El Peublo Nuevo  

What is the schedule of services?

Services are available year round. The average student receives 150 hours of instruction. Program length varies by student. 

What is the structure of services?

Each program has a director, part-time staff, and volunteers. Literacy students can drop in the literacy lab to use educational software to practice newly acquired literacy skills. The library pairs volunteer tutors with literacy students to provide literacy instruction. The tutors receive 12 hours of training and provide monthly reports on student progress to the literacy coordinator. 

How much does it cost to fund your organization?

The annual budget is $117,400. 
Program Profile
What is the program?  
Who does the program serve?  
What is its target population?  
Why was the program started?  
Where is the program located?  
What is the program’s geographic focus?  
What is the program schedule?  
What is the schedule of services?  
What is the structure of the program?  
How much does it cost to fund the program?  
Sample Program Profile - El Poder Learning Center English Literacy Class 
Profile Response

What is the program? 

Spanish literacy classes 

Who does the program serve? What is its target population?

Low-literate native Spanish speakers 16 and older 

Why was the program started? Where is the program located?

The drop-out rate of El Poder’s ESL Program was over 65 percent; most students were not literate in Spanish and could not keep up in class. The English Literacy Program was developed in 1998 to improve the literacy skills of native Spanish-speakers so that they can transition to the ESL Program.  

What is the program’s geographic focus?

The El Pueblo Nuevo community in Kings County 

What is the program schedule?

The class is offered every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. for sixteen weeks. During the year, three sessions are offered. 

What is the schedule of services?

The class is offered every Tuesday and Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. for sixteen weeks. During the year, three sessions are offered. 

What is the structure of the program?

An English literacy instructor teaches at the parish community center twice a week using literacy texts from the Mexican Consulate. 

How much does it cost to fund the program?

The program budget is $13,700. 

D. Track Student Demographics

In looking for grants and writing proposals, you should have as many details as possible about the target audience for services. Some grants are limited to specific categories of students, while others favor certain populations.

To avoid having to survey students each time you write a grant, gather this information as part of the intake process. Review the list of categories below and ask these questions:

  1. Do our intake forms currently capture all of these data?
  2. Which items should we add to our forms?
  3. What will the protocol be for asking sensitive questions?
Demographic Categories
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • Country of origin
  • Native language
  • English level (if not a native speaker)
  • Languages spoken at home
  • Level of education
  • Income
  • Employment status
  • Type of employment
  • Number of children
  • Number of school aged children
  • Current grades of children in school
  • Disabilities

E. Review Resources within the Community

When writing grants proposals, most organizations want to address the needs of their local community, but it is important that the proposal does not portray the community only in terms of what it lacks. A one-sided picture of the community works against empowerment and sends the wrong signal to potential funders. You must demonstrate that you are aware of the community resources that already exist. Organizations that can fully utilize local resources present strong arguments for funding. For this reason, you should assess your community’s resources in advance of writing a proposal.

Resources can be people, places, businesses, government agencies, non-profit organizations, faith-based groups, or anything else that provides a benefit to the community. Oftentimes, the process of identifying these resources is the first step towards building collaborations. At the very least, by knowing the other resources in your community, you won’t be tempted to suggest in a letter that your community is devoid of resources. It is this pool of resources that you can draw on for volunteers, board members, or funding.

One way to get a sense of existing resources is to use a strategy called community asset mapping. In brief, a community asset is any resource that can be used to improve community life. Here is a list of Web sites that provide information about this approach.

Community Asset Mapping Resources
Identifying Community Assets and Resources

Keep track of all the collaborations your organization already participates in. These collaborations can range in size and scope, from co-sponsoring a program to simply providing necessary referrals. Do not discount any collaboration because of its size. One reason for this is that, when submitting grant proposals, you will need to include letters of support. It is important to have a list of people whom you can rely on to sign a letter of support quickly (even if they don’t write the letter themselves).

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