Paper Crane Funding SolutionsContract Services
Looking for grant funding? Listen to “Writing Compelling Grant Proposals”
Time for a little less talk, and a lot more action.
We’ll just do it.
- Are you so busy doing the job that you don’t have time to fundraise for it?
- Need another set of hands to write grant proposals?
- Almost ready to hire a Development Director, but not quite?
When you need hands-on assistance from experienced people for whatever reason, we stick by you, roll up our sleeves, and do the work, whether it’s researching statistics about the community you are serving, writing grant proposals, creating budgets, or customizing a Fund Development System for your organization.
Our goal is to build your organization’s ability to successfully fundraise without our help (teaching you to fish and all), but for those non-profits with staff who are already stretched to capacity, we’ll come in as your interim Development Department.
How we can help
Are you conducting your development activities within a system, or is it more handle-it-as-it-comes? Keeping all of those balls in the air without a systematic approach can be stressful and overwhelming, not to mention costly when they get dropped. We help you put all of the pieces into a Fund Development System that anyone can follow so that fund development isn’t dependent on you or any other individual. We’ll also help you integrate the system within your organization.
Our team is adept at writing and editing grant applications, proposals, reports, letters of inquiry, and concept papers. We have expertise with creating general narrative templates, and we can help you tailor your proposals for specific funding sources or requirements.
Wondering where and how to find prospective funders? We can help you define, identify, research, and approach new funding sources.
Are you overwhelmed or weighed down with budgeting? Need a program budget or unsure how to calculate indirect costs? The budget tells the story of your organization, project, or program with numbers, and it must align with the narrative. Clients turn to us to help create and review their financial documents and evaluate them from a funder’s view.
When describing the population you are serving, research data and statistics can help paint a vivid picture. But how do you decide which stats are most compelling, and how do you find them? We research the demographics of those served by your programs and services, guide you to what funders will find compelling, and suggest sources of data to track for performance measures.
These days, foundations and government programs often require an evaluation plan that includes identifying goals and outcomes (not just activities and outputs) and measuring those outcomes with quantifiable data. Demonstrating your results in this way is also compelling to individual donors. But even more than that, setting up measurable goals and tracking them is good for your program – to show your progress and to adjust your program management if needed.
We recommend using logic models as a framework for evaluation plans, and we help our clients through every step of evaluation including:
- creating a logic model
- identifying goals and outcomes
- finding or creating data collection tools
- gathering data
- analyzing the results