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Over 60 govt employees complete grant writing course
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Posted on May 26 2009
Some 60 employees from various government offices in the CNMI recently completed a two-day course in writing proposals for funding small-scale and long-term projects and programs.
Hawaii Youth Services Network executive director Judith F. Clark and office manager Regina Torres conducted the grant writing training on May 21-22 at the Susupe Multi-Purpose Center.
Clark said it was the first time that such training was done on Saipan. It was intended to teach government employees how to create the best proposal when applying for grants.
Clark explained that grant writing is not just about the ability to seek grant funding from specific foundations, corporations or federal agency, but also the right kind of opportunity that fits the organization or agency.
The most important consideration, she said, is to maximize the chance of getting funded by finding opportunities that meet the needs of the agency one is representing.
“You must learn a system for rating funding opportunities,” she said.
All divisions and departments of the CNMI government were represented at the training.
Major highlights included tips on using websites like grants.gov, where all federal grant opportunities may be found; knowing how to read and understand a federal request for proposal; and identifying sources of data to make a compelling case for the need of one’s program.
Clark stressed the importance of how to write goals and objectives that are realistic, achievable and measurable.
Other pointers are how to prove to funding institutions or agencies that one’s organization has the necessary experience, governance and financial control systems to manage the project and the funds in a responsible manner; and how to effectively describe the qualifications and responsibilities of the project staff.
During the training, the participants actually prepared project proposals that are now being readied for submission to grant funding institutions.
