Proposal and resource development for faculty & staff
STEP 1: WHAT'S YOUR IDEA?
To get started, ask yourself the following questions about your idea and fill out and submit a grant idea form. Call us (x1426) if you need any help submitting the form. We look forward to discussing your idea together.
- Does my idea advance the mission of the College?
- What problem am I trying to solve? How do I know this problem exists? Do I have/can I get data to back this up?
- Is my idea both innovative and realistic?
- Who else on campus or on the community might be interested or might have resources to put toward this? Be creative!
- How do I define the program's success? What are my goals and objectives?
- Given my definition of success, do I have a reasonable plan for how to get there?
- What financial and other resources do I need to get there? Can I actually get done what I'm proposing to do?
STEP 2: FINDING A FUNDER
There is nothing more important to the grants development process than researching for an appropriate funding source. This will take up much more time than actually writing the proposal.
If your idea is aligned with the College's priorities, the staff in the Development Office will conduct research to find an appropriate funding source. If you have a source in mind, let us know.
If your idea is not aligned with the College's priorities, the staff in the Development Office will show you how to conduct research into funding sources so that you can continue to pursue your idea. We also have some reference materials available for your use. Or, we may have an idea for a funder off the top of our heads! While we are always available to help, we will not be able to devote tremendous resources to a search for ideas that are not top College priorities.
Before moving on to Step 3, the Development Office needs to "okay" your potential funding source so as to make sure the College is not competing against itself.
STEP 3: DEVELOPING THE PROPOSAL
Once a funding source is found and approved, the Development Office will work with you to get the go-ahead from the President's Staff and to start writing. First we will help you complete a Preliminary Approval Form and will arrange for it to go before President's Staff.
We are also here to structure the writing process so as to submit the best proposal possible. This will typically involve a collaboration to get the substantive information from you and the grant lingo from us. Please feel free to call on us if you would like us to conduct a grant-writing workshop for your department
STEP 4: PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
The Development Office will take care of getting the necessary signatures and mailing out the proposal. Congratulations on submitting what we're sure will be a winning proposal!
The last and hardest part: waiting!
STEP 5: SO YOU GOT YOUR GRANT! NOW WHAT?
Once your project is awarded, the Development Office and the Business Office will sit down with you for a grants management workshop. See the grants section of the GCC Business Office web site for a preview. At this workshop, we will review your budget; create a budget worksheet that will get coded from the Business Office so you can start spending money; review protocols for expenditures; and review the funder's requirements for reporting.
You will receive monthly budget reports from the Business Office.
Documenting your work and writing reports to funders is your responsibility, although the Development Office is glad to be of assistance particularly for your first report. The Development Office will also coordinate the mailing of reports to funders.
If you find that you need to request a change to your budget, call the Development Office immediately (x1426). If it is an allowable change, we will submit a revision to the Business Office and you will see the changes reflected in your monthly budget reports. If your change requires approval of the funder, we will almost always make that request for you. Please do not contact a funder without checking with us first!
Good luck and congratulations!!