Grant Writing Essentials for Education

18 Hours / Access Length: 3 Weeks / Delivery: Live Online, Instructor Led

Course Overview:

Learn to write a competitive education grant proposal in a 3-week synchronous, instructor led, online course. In this course, participants will learn both practical and conceptual aspects that are important to the proposal-writing process. Emphasis is given to proposal idea development, identification of the appropriate education focused granting agencies, developing relationships with funders, how to write for education reviewers, and tips and strategies of proven value in presenting your education based proposal to reviewers. Topics will include the components of a grant proposal, ethical principles in grant writing, forming community partnerships, finding funding opportunities and demonstrating sustainability.

Synchronous learning refers to a learning event in which a group of students are engaging in learning at the same time, just from different locations and connecting to the course through an online learning portal. You will connect to the class live, seeing the instructor and the course presentation like you would from a traditional classroom, just that you can connect to the class from anywhere you have your computer and an internet connection. So, take the class from your home, from a coffee shop, from a local library, or anywhere that makes sense to you.

This comprehensive hands-on course will cover everything from grant terminology to developing a sound proposal. Class participants will receive the essentials to grant seeking and grant writing strategies and skills required to submit foundation, state and federal grant applications for funding. Students leave this course feeling confident in their grant writing abilities and ready to start winning the funding they need to help make a better life for themselves and others.

This course will make use of GoToTraining as the primary delivery method of instruction.  Students can test their connection and audio by clicking here to use the step by step walkthrough provided by Citrix.

Instructor Biography:

Dr. Victoria Steeger has worked in business and higher education for the last 25+ years. She is active in educational leadership, continuing education, workforce development and human performance development. She is currently the Vice President of Partner Development and Communications for ProTrain, LLC. Previously, she served as the Assistant Provost for Continuing and Workforce Education at Bucks County Community College. In that role, she provided the vision and supervision of the executive leadership of four departments with yearly enrollment exceeding 80,000 students per year.

She is a grant reviewer for the US Department of Labor and US Department of Education; she often serves as a grant writer and is a reviewing editor of three professional international journals. Victoria holds both Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Education and a Ph.D. in Instructional Technology focusing on Human Performance Technology and Instructional Design.

Course Outline:

Lesson 1: Developing the Proposal Idea

We will start the process of writing a grant proposal by gaining a comprehensive understanding of the grant seeking process. Then we will be doing our research. Which falls into two categories: ascertaining the program we want to fund and researching a funder that could be a good match for our needs. We will also identify strategies for developing relationships with funders.

Lesson 2: Goals and Objectives

The next steps are to clearly define a compelling problem statements and develop both the goals and objectives for our program. The problem statement lets funders know what problem we want to solve while the goals and objectives let them know what we want to accomplish, both big picture and specifically.

Lesson 3: Methods and Evaluation

The methods component of the proposal systematically walks funders through the strategies the organization proposes to carry out in order to accomplish its objectives. Methods answer this key question: how will an organization actually accomplish its work?  This step also explores learning how to write an authentic and effective evaluation plan so that the organization can effectively demonstrate the success of its program and mea- sure program impact—and also capture the lessons learned.

Lesson 4: Sustainability and Budget

Potential funders want to know that organizations are thinking beyond their funding; they want assurance that the organization is planning beyond the scope of their time-limited funding. In this section we will identify the basic tools to develop an effective program budget and address not only operating during the life of the grant but beyond, sustaining the program.

Lesson 5: Background and Summary

What are the mission, values, and other distinguishing characteristics of the organization? And what is it about this particular organization that enables it to successfully execute on what it promises to deliver? The organization background component answers these two questions and more.

Lesson 6: Finalizing and Submitting the Proposal

In this step we will identify the basics of constructing a solid and compelling summary. This is a key element of the proposal and It is usually positioned as the opening element of the proposal. It is typically the section written last to ensure that all critical proposal elements are incorporated.  Also, this step takes on a particular significance in light of the seismic shift in the funding world from paper grant submissions to online submissions via email and online portals for grant submissions. 

The necessary textbook is included in the cost of the course.

Grading System:

Student must pass all quizzes, exams, and national exam (if applicable) at a passing rate to be eligible for a Certificate of  Training Completion. If an internship is included in your course you will be required to complete the internship prior to receiving a Certificate of Training Completion.

Attendance:

Students are expected to arrive on time and participate in course discussions. Successful completion of the course of study recommends 100% attendance. If during the course period the student’s attendance level drops below 80%, they will be encouraged and given the opportunity to attend the next scheduled class for the course they enrolled in. Should materials change, student is responsible for all additional cost.

Payment Plan Policy:

Students may withdraw from the program for any reason up to 1 week prior to the start of program. In this case, the student’s payment plan agreement shall be rescinded. If the payment plan has begun a non-refundable administrative fee of $25.00 will be assessed and remaining funds will be returned to payer in check form by mail. 

Refund Policy: 

There can be no refund for the course, once the first class has been concluded; or if any course material, including the eBook, is accessed. If extenuating circumstances exist, case by case situations will be reviewed by ProTrain. If a refund is issued, the refunded amount (- a $25 processing fee) will be dependent upon books being returned in excellent condition (i.e. no writing, missing pages; ripped or damage to pages and/or binding).

Re-Admission Policy:

Any student who has dropped out of the program, or has been suspended from the program for nonattendance may be readmitted within one year by completing a personal interview with the director of education and paying any applicable fees at the time of readmission. Students who were terminated due to conduct issues are not eligible to be readmitted.

Policy on Student Conduct:

Appropriate Conduct: All students are expected to conduct themselves in an orderly and professional manner. Any student not conducting themselves in an orderly and professional manner, which includes use of drugs and alcohol during school hours, dishonesty, disrupting classes, use of profanity, excessive tardiness, insubordination, violation of safety rules, improper usage of lab or classroom computers, or not abiding by the school rules will lead to either probation or dismissal from classes.

• Cable and DSL internet connections are recommended for the best experience.

• CPU: 1 GHz or higher
• RAM: 2 GB or higher
• Resolution: 1280 x 720 or higher
• Speakers / Headphones
• Microphone (Webinar / Live Online sessions)

• Microsoft Windows 7 or 10 (Home, Pro)
• Mac OSX 10 or higher.
• Latest Chrome OS
• Latest Linux Distributions

NOTE: While we understand that our courses can be viewed on Android and iPhone devices, we do not recommend the use of these devices for our courses. The size of these devices do not provide a good learning environment for students taking online or live online based courses.

• Latest Google Chrome is recommended for the best experience.
• Latest Mozilla FireFox
• Latest Microsoft Edge
• Latest Apple Safari

• Office suite software (Microsoft Office, OpenOffice, or LibreOffice)
• PDF reader program (Adobe Reader, FoxIt)
• Courses may require other software that is denoted in the above course outline.