« AFG New for Fiscal Year 2009 Part IV (concluded) | Home | AFG New for Fiscal Year 2009 Part II »
AFG New for Fiscal Year 2009 Part III
Continuing on with what is new with the AFG program for the fiscal year 2009. This information is the first to be released and is in the form of a presentation. There was no narrative to go along with the facts and numbers.
The use of excess funds has changed somewhat this year. With approval from the DHS in an amended request filed by the applicant, 50% of excess funds can be allocated for training and /or wellness and fitness initiative.
The importance of a good, persuasive, and descriptive narrative cannot be emphasized enough. All grant opportunities require a narrative and each element must be specific when addressed. There are four separate areas that are required to be addressed. Make sure they are thoroughly addressed, precise, and accurate. These four areas are:
1) Project Description and Budget Required
2) Financial Needs
3) The Cost to Benefit Ratio of the Project
4) The Positive Effects on the Daily Operations and the Community
Key points of a narrative the panelists are looking for were written with input from the panelists themselves. The better an application follows their guide, the better the chances of approval.
1) Write the narrative so that the needs are clear. Remember that your peers are on the review panel – convince them that your need is real and necessary.
2) Include all local information and statistics that pertain to your project. Leave out any mention of national statistics.
3) Only provide needed information for the panelist to read. If a fact is well known, do not repeat it. A wordy narrative is not persuasive, just annoying.
4) Include the training program at your facility and the compliance percentage. If you are not yet at 100% compliance, state the plan on how you will achieve this goal.
5) Clearly describe who you are.
6) Be very specific where you and your facility are located, and the size of the community you provide protection for.
7) Identify the risk to your protection area and what problems the lack of funding has caused.
8) Present a clearly thought out plan to resolve the risk or problem you are looking to fix.
9) What, if any, local or federal standard will be in compliance once your project is completed
10) Describe in detail the budget and overall cost of the project. Be thorough but do not get greedy.
To be continued…
Click Here for Help with: AFG Grant Application.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.