By: Micki Vandeloo, President, Lakeview Consulting
Are you ready? As we start the new year, maybe your company is considering using grants from federal or state agencies to support the cost of infrastructure, training, equipment or other activities. But are you ready to apply for those grants?
We previously released a printable checklist to help you prepare for your next grant effort. Here are the basic items you need from that checklist as well as some additional ones based on current funding opportunities:
Key Components of a Grant Readiness Checklist
Strategic Plan
Your strategic plan contains valuable information on planned activities which allow you to take a proactive approach to seeking and applying for grants.
Team
Applying for grants can’t be done in a vacuum. Having a strong, experienced, cross-functional team to provide input to both grant research and application development.
Key (and Updated) Business Documents
These include most recent audited financial statements; a current list of the Board of Directors members with term expirations and titles (if applicable); a current organizational chart; key project team members’ resumes; tax exempt letter from the IRS (if applicable); DUNS number; EIN number; and a current business plan.
Defined Project(s)
Again, having a current strategic plan can help greatly with this, but you must have the ability to answer the following questions about each project you are undertaking:
- What activities are associated with the project?
- Who will be doing those activities?
- When will the activities be done?
- How much will it cost to do those activities?
- What will change because of completing the project?
Grant Activity Communication Plan
How often will your grant team meet? How will you notify internal staff of a grant award? Who is responsible for researching grants and communicating what grants are available to staff (and making sure the list is updated)?
Marketing/Commercialization Plan
This plan lists the goals for commercialization; a description of the product or innovation; target market analysis, competitive landscape analysis and market size/growth potential; marketing strategy; commercialization strategy; intellectual property/regulatory considerations; partnerships/collaborations; financial projections; risk/mitigation strategies; metrics for success and timeline.
Data Management Plan
This plan includes types of data to be collected during the project; data collection methods; data storage and backup; data sharing and access; metadata/documentation; data retention; legal/ethical/compliance considerations; roles and responsibilities; resources; and approval.
Risk Management Plan
This plan includes risk identification; risk assessment; mitigation strategies; monitoring/reporting; contingency plans; roles and responsibilities; risk register; and risk review schedule.
Workforce Development Plan
This plan, required for an increasing number of federal grants, includes target workforce and stakeholder partnerships; training and development activities; long term workforce sustainability; metrics and evaluation; and budget.
Community Engagement Plan
This plan, again required for an increasing number of federal awards, includes target community and stakeholders; engagement strategies/activities; communication strategy; and evaluation and accountability.
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This grant readiness checklist may seem like a long list of things to pull together, but having a qualified grant professional can greatly help with collecting and generating these documents. At Lakeview Consulting, we provide templates for many of these documents and coach our clients to become grant ready. Being prepared to apply for grants will make the process much easier and more efficient.
