• Never write a proposal if you have not first fully developed the project. Otherwise, you have nothing to write about.

• There is no such thing as a fill-in-the-blank proposal that can be just mailed to a list of potential funders.

• Have multiple, fully-developed projects on the shelf, ready for proposal writing and you will always be able to meet proposal deadlines.

• Each grant maker should receive a different, highly personalized proposal, fitting "to the letter" whatever guidelines s/he requires.

• No jargon. No "bureaucrap." Simple, clear, concise sentences.

• Writing is easy. It's about 20% of the issue in grants acquisition. It's only hard if you have nothing to say!

• Never, ever cheat on margins, pages, words - on anything. After all, if you will cheat on the proposal then what in the world will you do with the money!
• No matter what you've been told, don't shotgun – don't write one proposal and then mail it out to a bunch of potential funders.

• When developing a budget, think project budget first.  List every penny it will take to run the entire project.  Don't forget support staff, copying charges, postage, memberships, telephone charges, meeting costs, and all the "hidden" expenses.  Then think, what part of this budget is appropriate to request from the funder.  No grantmaker will fund every cent of a project.  They want to see your investment.  Then put together an itemized list for the part of the overall budget you're requesting from the funder, the request budget.  Use this request budget to fill out the grant maker's summary forms.  Remember the forms you see are just summaries of line items, not the budget itself - the budget itself are those line items you used to complete the summary.

• Grant makers want good proposals.  They will help you.  Call them and ask questions - but be sure you've done your homework first and that you're not asking a question already answered in their literature.

• There are a number of steps in the Project Development Process, including, but not exclusive of: Identify Needs, Specify Problems, Design the Project Idea to Solve the Problem, Determine Fundability, Fully Develop the Project, Profile the Project, Find a Matching Funder, Write Goals and Objectives, Develop a Project Budget, Develop the Funding Request Budget

• Project Development is the critical element in successful grants acquisition.

• Projects are sometimes funded by just one source, but that is rare. Normally a project will be funded by a partnership of several sources.

• Once a project is developed, many proposals about it can be written and submitted.

• Whether you request funds from Federal, foundation, state, local, or a corporate source, you will be asked to describe the details of your project.

• You should provide evidence in your proposal that your project has a reasonable chance to work.

• To be fundable, a project proposed must solve a problem in which the grant maker is interested.

•   Each grant maker is an individual and should be approached in a different way.

•   Design the project before you go looking for a matching funder.

•   Funders match when they're trying to solve the same problem you are.

•   Grant makers like to partner on a project.  If you have one grant maker willing to invest in your project, it's likely you can attract more.

• TRAM Research Funding Opportunities and Administration
  It contains a search engine for locating funding opportunities from many ... The funding information is updated daily ... also contains a set of grant application forms ...
  tram.east.asu.edu/

Texas Records and Information Locator Service (TRAIL) Funding ...
... Search for Funding Opportunities in TRAIL * Help. ... the Governor's Office State Grants--Team, the Texas State Library ... agency staff who are making grant or funding www.tsl.state.tx.us/trail/grantsearch

City of Austin - Funding for Texas Nonprofits
... The State Grants Team's mission is to alert nonprofits throughout Texas about funding opportunities. Grant Finding Resources lists a number of resources about ...
www.ci.austin.tx.us/library/ funding_for_texas_nonprofits.htm

• Proposal Preparation Toolkit
  ... of Justice Funding Opportunities National Criminal ... National Highway Traffic Safety
  Administration. ... National Telecommunications & Infrastructure Administration. ...
  www.grad.niu.edu/osp/fundingfedagency.html

• Injury Prevention Resources on the Internet
  ... Safe Communities, Traffic Safety Resources, Crashworthiness of ... Health, Databases….Funding Opportunities, Safety and Health ... National Library of Medicine, Databases ...www.nhtsa.dot.gov/nhtsa/whatis/regions/ Region05/05SafeComList.html

Who's Who in Traffic Safety
... The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention connects people ... grant announcements and funding opportunities will be ... by Congress, from the National Clearinghouse on ... www.edc.org/HHD/csn/buildbridges/whoswho/csap.html

MADD Online: Links
... A national non-profit formed in 1997 to educate ... Traffic Safety Facts for 1999. ... Includes information on grant funding opportunities, research and statistics on ...
www.madd.org/stats/0,1056,1116_71_80,00.html

Criminal Justice Links - Capitol City Publishers - news for state ...
... Office for Victims of Crime; Bureau of Justice Statistics; OJP On-Line Funding
Opportunities; ... National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. ...
www.capitolcitypublishers.com/links/criminal.html

National Organization's for Youth Safety (NOYS)
... Traffic Safety Fact Sheets - Now On-Line ... data from the 2000 Census, containing a national overview, state ... Keeping Rural Kids Safe and Healthy"
www.noys.org/center.html

Funding Opportunities
... and Child Health Bureau and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration plan ... site -- contains the most recent funding opportunities available through ...
www.ems-c.org/cfusion/funding.cfm