In FY2020, the federal government spent $6.6 trillion in Medicare, Social Security, defense and veterans, debt interest, support to businesses, health, education, social services, and assistance like stimulus and unemployment plus assistance to States.
Did you know, $600 billion is awarded each year in federal grants?? The new OMB Uniform Guidance Administrative Requirements place tremendous emphasis on grantee internal controls. So, what are they? Why should you care? How do they impact your grants and your organization?
President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 was signed into law on March 11, 2021, which provides $1.9 trillion funding state and local governments to respond to the public health and economic crisis.
Many grant applications are stronger when a team is working together. There are two
primary types of grant teams:
1. A team of internal individuals working on the same project together. They all work for
the same institution and each fulfill different roles.
Describing Library Problems that Need Funding
In my last post, I shared about the importance of aligning your grant application to a funding agency’s
priorities. In this post, I will discuss how to describe problems for funding.
It is important that the grant application you submit have a clear problem that needs solving. Most grant
applications will require that you write a statement of the problem. The statement of your problem is
the “hook” and should, therefore, peak the grant reviewers’ interest.
The problem statement should have one clear sentence and supporting data. This section needs to
clearly describe the problem your proposed activity will solve. The problem should be supported by
data.
For the purposes of illustration, let’s say that you plan to apply for funds to create a youth literary
magazine. Your statement of the problem needs to clearly describe the problem the magazine will solve.
Include data on how the youth in your community are looking for a place to express themselves and feel
that they belong. Include data on how writing helps youth succeed in school and gain important life
skills.
To locate data relevant to your project, review sites such as:
Local school district
City government
Chamber of Commerce
Department of Education
State
County
Regional Councils
Original published research
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Census data
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Others specific to your project
Once you have described the problem and supported it with data, you should clearly explain how your
proposed activity will address the problem. In other words, your proposed activity is your method for
solving (or partially solving) the problem.
Reach out to PKS Grant Management and Accounting Solutions, LLC for additional ideas on writing a
problem statement.
In my last post, I shared about where to locate library grants. In this post, I want to discuss topics that may be of interest to funding agencies. Now, one of my grant-writing friends has always said we should not chase the money. I agree with this statement. Grants we write need to be good fits for the mission and visions of our libraries.
Finding Library Grants
I worked in libraries and archives for 10 years, and during that time had the opportunity to be part of numerous grant projects. The work I was able to accomplish with the help of grants was some of the most rewarding work I did during those 10 years. Despite the enjoyment, the process of finding and writing grants did not come easily. I spent a lot of time researching and even more time writing. This is the first post in a series about library grants, and in this post, I want to focus on where to search for grants.
These sites include many different library grants:
Grants.gov (search for library)
GrantWatch (search for libraries)
Specific companies/organizations that provide grants to libraries include:
I also suggest researching local foundations in your area.
Reach out to PKS Grant Management and Accounting Solutions, LLC for additional ideas on locating library grants.
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.” This quote comes from one of my favorite books by Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. If you read one book on the art of writing, I suggest this one. Banned Books Week was September 27 to October 3, 2020 and is conducted by the American Library Association Office for Intellectual Freedom.
Jasmine Markanday, CGMS, RPO, MBA
President/Owner
Olathe, KS 66061
Phone: (913) 961-8957
