Grantwriting: Sustainability

A grant is a proposal that seeks funds to solve a problem and normally is directed by a nonprofit organization [IRS 501(c)(3) designation] to a federal, state, or local government agency, a foundation, or a corporation.

Each term, partners for this capstone change.  You will be writing on behalf of a nonprofit that promotes or engages in sustainability in some way.  Specifics about these partners and their funding needs are provided in the Course Learning Modules on the Home Page.  Read the brief description of the partners and their projects, and work with me to choose one. You can work independently on a single project, or you can team up--two-to-three person "teams" will be the ideal.

You should expect to gain valuable experience with the grant writing process. Grant writing involves several steps including preparing or revising a business plan for your partner, identifying potential grant sources for the projects available, and finalizing a grant that follows the protocol required by the funding source. Because grant writing is a dynamic process that does not follow "academic" timelines, we can expect the need for a little flexibility regarding which of these tasks will require the most attention. Some of the projects available to us this term will emphasize research, for example, rather than drafting final text or identifying funding sources. The important outcome is that you, as a participant in the class, will have a chance to learn the fundamentals of grant writing and to help produce a "living" grant that you can showcase as part of your professional portfolio.

The course also challenges you to think about the phenomenon of publication and the commerce of ideas from a disciplinary perspective, as well as the vitally important concept of sustainability.

Your tasks, therefore, can be categorized as 1) a community-based project, 2) a book review of a text that engages the issue of sustainability, and 3) a variety of short writing opportunities throughout the quarter that ask you to reflect on your experiences in the course.