Journals

5.4.2022 Journal 24 (The Final One):

There was a lot of great conversation today about knowing what our strengths are as members of a team and being able to trust what your strong points are and what those of your teammates are.  Bethany and Grace made an excellent point about doing what you can and then trusting your teammate(s) to do their part.  This made me think a lot about how my group worked together because it is clear to me now that we had to be really trusting of one another to uphold our group standards in our writing and turning in assignments.  Another big point from these presentations was the budget again, specifically, the phrase “in-kind” and what it means.  It was also really interesting that the Blue Ocean group didn’t struggle with the budget section while the rest of us did.  We had a great conversation afterwards about how we all have different strengths and theirs was the budget.  Other big points included open communication, being challenged by procrastination, having a similar idea of what the expected quality of work is, and the challenges of working in a group for the whole semester as a team of three (3) vs. a team of two (2).  

5.4.2022 Journal 23:

Grant seekers should know that this class is an incredible way to explore and improve understanding around writing grant proposals.  Some highlights for this course include: 

1. Group work for an extended period of time 
2. Learning technical writing 
3. Better understanding of how grants work 
4. Experience with peer review 
5. Jesse’s jokes and acting like he’s billions of years old 
6. Learning more about other topics like whales and books

5.4.2022 Journal 22:

The biggest trend that I noticed during the presentations today is that everyone seemed to really struggle with the budget.  I cannot say whether that is something we didn’t cover thoroughly enough in class or if the American education system failed to teach us how to budget, but either way I think this is an opportunity for growth within all of us and for the course overall.  I think that it would have been helpful to get a better understanding of the language used when creating a budget and then how to identify how to determine what the cost of something might be or how revenue might be achieved.  Another common theme among the presentations was communication.  One of the groups cited poor communication as a stressor for their group while the other said that good communication played a huge role in their group’s success.  Lexi, Skyler, and I got along so well that communication between us flowed very naturally, but for one of the other groups it seemed like their personalities weren’t as similar so they had a difficult time with that.  Additionally, the other groups had a difficult time finding information on their organizations, but we were fortunate that everything was very accessible to us.

4.20.2022 Journal 21:

YRFCA: 

1. Evaluation Plan: Really good use of numbers! It clears up a lot of what areas of your program will be delegated to what specific goals. It is clear and very easy to understand. I think the part in the qualitative data where you mention local businesses is a very smart move as it demonstrates that you are invested in the local community.
2. Budget: clearly and concisely laid out so it is easy to understand 
3. Org. Background: 

MEIRS

1. The Evaluation Plan has a good breakdown of the separate projects you hope to do underneath your expansion of the program.  I really like the length of it but it feels a little vague and jumbled in some places. 
2. Budget: well outlined budget for the cost of purchasing necessary materials and funding staff positions.  I appreciated how much research you put into the cost of purchasing things such as bus passes and computers.  
3. Org. Background: very deliberate and easy to follow; I trust that the people that work for the organization are culturally sensitive and would provide the assistance that the immigrants will need via support, however I am wondering what professional qualifications they will have to help the immigrants with finances, etc. I think it is great that they are culturally sensitive, but they should also be educated on that as well.

BOSMC:

1. The Evaluation Plan: You guys did an amazing job describing all aspects of your program in detail! Still a little confused on how exactly you plan on measruing your success or progress in the several projects that you listed. I see a lot of numbers but not necessarily how you plan to get those numbers. 
2. Budget: extremely specific revenues and predicted costs, clearly well thought out plans for everything.  
3. Org. Background: you describe in depth the information of experience, expertise, and education about the people in charge of the organization and they seem well qualified and already well established in the community. 

IRW:

1. Evaluation Plan: Love the bullet points! It was a super clear and concise breakdown of how you plan to evaluate your progress and success. I think the surveys are a good concrete way to achieve that.
2. Budget: well written narratives for each line of the budget that explain why the funding is necessary.  
3. Org. Background: I think you guys did a great job explaining your background, education, and establishment already in the community. It seems that it would be seamless to implement your organization into the already established involvement into the community.

4.18.2022 Journal 20:

3 Big Things for Each Group from Empowered Women Empower Women:

MEIRS

• Statement of Need: shares statistics about immigrants and refugees living in the Portland area giving context.
• Job Acquisition: Is this in conjunction with the city of Portland at all or is it independent? You mention that there will be 40 computers provided by MEIRS, will this be a cost included in this grant or is it something that MEIRS already has access to?
• I think the use of percentages and people affected by immigration are a great way to show how important your organization is and then explaining how you will help all of those people tie it all together. 

BOSMC: 

• Project Overview: I really like your project description. It is very clear and concise. I would love to see that carried throughout the rest of your proposal. Maybe practicing word economy to keep the whole thing consistent. 
• I appreciate how you involved how this organization affected both the humans and whales potentially affected by this problem, as it ties all groups together. The more aspects of the community that are affected, the more vital the organization is itself, and therefore the more likely it is to get funded. 
• Statement of Need: Your statistics caught my attention immediately and pulled at my heartstrings.  You did an excellent job sharing why the whales need help and what exactly the problem is in a way that people who don’t understand oceans and stuff will get.     

IRW: 

• You grab the attention of the audience right away when you describe how important and vital it is, and would be, to have young people be more invested in reading. The stats that you use in the very first paragraph are very beneficial in painting the picture of why your organization is important and worthy of funding. 
• I appreciated the way you described the Blind Date with a Book program in the project overview because it caught my attention and made me excited about the idea. 
• Goals & Objectives: The way you formatted this section of your proposal is extremely clear and super easy to grapes and understand. The three overarching goals are easy and relevant to your program.

YRFC Grant Proposal: 

• I really liked how in the proposal section you described what was in the pamphlets etc. and how the system was going to work. You left no room for questions and were very clear. I thought this type of proposal was very beneficial as it describes exactly what the fund plan to do. 
• Appreciated that information was shared about why non-native and invasive species are such a threat, specifically to York, ME.  It gave context and a reason for 
• Project Description: It looks great! However, I would make sure that none of the sentences feel redundant. 
  • Instead of, “YRFCA has created a collaborative community to combat climate change impacts by encouraging households of York, Maine to subscribe to various subscription programs sponsored by our organization”  you could write, “YRFCA has created a collaborative community to combat climate change impacts by encouraging households of York, Maine to subscribe to various programs sponsored by our organization.”

4.11.2022 Journal 19

Budgeting is one (1) of my weaker skills when it comes to non-profit and program management.  I have a tendency to set unrealistic goals and dream big without consideration of funding sources or other barriers.  Right off the bat, I appreciated that the budget was described as a narrative with numbers.  I think this is an excellent metaphor because while I don’t speak numbers particularly well, I do know how to tell a story that pulls heart strings.  Starting with a basic overview of the general budget was really helpful for me because I have a limited understanding of finances and I need that sort of material broken down in a different way and that’s exactly what this text did.  I now better understand what should be in a budget and why.  While I can’t consider myself an expert in budgeting by any means, I can certainly say I have a functioning understanding of it now. 

4.11.2022 Journal 18

I really enjoyed reading both group B’s & group C’s evaluation plans.  When compared to the last time we checked in with group B, they have come up with more specific numbers and goals.  I felt that this helped to solidify their plan and would make them more marketable to funders.  It might be even more beneficial if they added the specific number of students that would equal any given percentage.  (Saying that you will help 30 students feels more tangible than 12% or whatever it might be).  I think there is value in including both, they’re just different types of information.  I feel that the pre, mid, and post tests are a great addition to the evaluation plan and an effective way of better understanding how the program is working from the perspective of the participants.  Additionally, I would consider rephrasing some statements such as the second bullet point to avoid using free-time twice and use more specific language than educationally trained when referring to the backgrounds of staff.  I was extremely impressed with group C’s evaluation plan.  It was not only incredibly specific, but it helped me better understand how whale rescue is defined and what reasonable goals for improvement are.  I appreciated all of the statistics and the way they intertwined.  Being able to write so eloquently, and with such detail proves that you are not only very passionate about this topic but educated on it too.  I have nothing but great things to say about this piece, other than a few wordsmithing suggestions and local revisions. 

4.06.2022 Journal 17 

          When asked the question “how do you plan to evaluate your proposed project,” qualitative data immediately comes to mind.  As a social worker, I am much more comfortable working with anecdotal evidence than numbers and statistics.  With that being said, I can appreciate the value of numeric data, I’m just not as familiar with it.  From my perspective, anecdotal evidence will help program leaders to understand whether the youth are grasping the content they’re being presented and if it is having an impact on their behavior.  If a non-binary student can say they are more comfortable exploring their gender further because they understand female anatomy or male anatomy, I would consider that material successfully presented.  However, in some cases, quantitative data is much more structured and informative.  With all of this considered, I think there are a lot of approaches that could be taken to evaluate the effectiveness of Sexualized Stigmas. 

1. The purpose of evaluating this program is to better understand what types of material is most helpful and whether the ways in which it is being presented are effective.  If students can say they are more confident in their bodies and there is data to prove an increase in self-respect, then we can say we did our job.  However, this isn’t a program that we can implement for a few years with great results and then suddenly take away because it has decreased pregnancy rates (or another metric), we have to keep up the hard work and continue that on for future generations.  
2. The findings will be used to inform future programming content and presentation modalities.  
3. After the evaluation our organization would hope to learn whether students took away with them a decent amount of information or if we need to reconsider our curriculum and/or teaching methods.  
4. Upon completion of the evaluation, our organization will be in a position to share the success (or maybe lack thereof) with other agencies to encourage (hopefully not discourage) transitioning to a more inclusive sex education cirriculum. 
5. The data collected through the evaluation will inform whether the material type and presentation modality need to be reconsidered for future implementation.  If the program was successful in its goals and objectives, then it can be expanded.  Otherwise, it might need to be adapted or recreated altogether.  
6. We can consider having used the investment wisely if it is well managed and distributed between purchasing teaching tools and models, paying staff, and establishing a strong, effective curriculum.  

The best way to determine whether the budget is appropriate or not will be to work with an individual (or multiple) that are familiar with financing a nonprofit organization such as this.  If someone has experience with managing large sums of money for the purpose of creating large scale programming and can advise the program staff themselves, there is a better chance of appropriate and successful money management.                                

4.06.2022 Journal 16

Upon reviewing our writing components so far, I was impressed with the progress we have made so far.  While I am proud of the content we have produced so far, there is still room for improvement.  

Statement of Need: 

• Review the statistics for the Waterville area served by HGHW and ensure they align with what we have written down.  

Letter of Interest: 

• Even though we have already submitted this to the Pepper Foundation, there are still things I would like to improve. 
• Touch on negative impacts of abstinence based sex education.  

Project Overview: 

• Expand on the training for staff and volunteers 
• Explain more about the program design and implementation in the classroom specifically 

Project Description: 

• Consider the number of households in Waterville and what percentage of those have school aged children. 
• How will we handle push back from the community, the district, and families?  

Organization Background: 

• Include awards that HGHW has received and been nominated for 
• Located founders on the website and list their credentials 
• Remove redundancies 
• Include success stats for already implemented programs 

3.30.2022 Journal 15

As someone who has experience working with nonprofits, I am very familiar with the importance of distinguishing your organization from others.  An organization needs to be familiar with their target population and the needs of the area in general.  If they aren’t filling unmet needs or taking a new approach to solving a problem, they are going to get lost in the crowd of other organizations trying to do the same thing.  When applying for a grant it is important to make the organization stand out to potential funders.  If a funder can tell that a grantseeking organization is credible, well run, and doing important work they are more likely to fund them.  That’s just common sense, right?  Well not always, some nonprofit organizations do not see the value of having a strong leader and a straightforward action plan.  Grantseekers should take the time to create well written and planned out proposals for grants including the organizational background from this chapter.  Including things like the organization name, location, target population, date of establishment, partnerships, and programs can help one organization stand out from another.  

3.28.2022 Journal 14

I felt that the online evaluation sample focused primarily on qualitative data while the sample from our reader had a lot of quantitative data.  I appreciated that the online article introduced the connection between the evaluation and the goals/objectives of the program.  However, I felt like it was missing a lot of the more specific information about how to create an evaluation process and what it looks like for a proposed grant funded program.  The chapter in our reader offered more specific suggestions and helped me to better understand what is really expected from an evaluation.  

3.23.2022 Journal 13

The reading about the strategies component was very helpful to me because it provided me with a straightforward “roadmap” for what to include in this section.  Additionally, I can see the value of a grant-seeker including a strategies component in their proposal from the perspective of the funder.  It is one thing to make promises to run successful programming, but it is another thing to have a plan to do so.  Having a plan holds the grant-seekers accountable to their promises and keeps them inline with what the funders are expecting. 

3.21.2022 Journal 12

I appreciate the way that the author of our text emphasized the importance of evaluating the efficacy of a proposed program once it has been implemented.  I found Step 6: Preparing the Evaluation Component to be very informative and it was a fantastic reminder of why evaluation is critical.  As the author said, evaluating a program can reveal successes and shortcomings for both the program directors, the staff, the volunteers, the participants, the board of directors, and funders.  The evaluation process creates an opportunity for everyone involved to voice their opinions and share their experiences, both positive and negative.  Bringing light to this can encourage those in charge to reflect on the goals and objectives of a program and potentially encourage beneficial change.  The textbook suggests that when grantseekers write a proposal, they should include information about how they plan to evaluate the program.  This provides the funders with insight into how the program is supposed to run and holds grantseekers accountable.  When planning the evaluation process, grantseekers should consider the following questions: 1. What questions will the organization’s evaluation activities seek to answer? 2. What are the evaluation plans and time frame(s).  3. If the intention is to study a sample of participants, how will this sample be selected?  4. What procedures will be used to determine whether the program was implemented as planned?  5. Who will conduct the evaluation? 6. Who will receive the results?  7. How does this program or project define success?

3.7.2022 Journal 11

Sexualized Stigmas is a proposed program of Hardy Girls, Healthy Women (HGHW) and with funding support, it would provide school based inclusive and accurate sex education to girls, boys, and gender expansive youth.  The sex education cirriculum in the State of Maine requires bare minimum information to be provided and it does not need to be culturally responsive or inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ community.  The Sexualized Stigmas program would educate volunteers, HGHW staff, and even school district staff ro present responsive and inclusive sex education to students in participating districts.  This partnership with area school districts will create an opportunity to educate young people about uncomfortable, but necessary topics. 

2.28.2022 Journal 10

I appreciated the simplicity of this chapter.  It provided clear and concise instructions on how to write well-worded and focused statements, proposals, and grants.  Since I have experience with grants already, I am aware of the importance of having clearly defined goals and objectives.  I am currently working on writing a grant for the non-profit I am interning with and I have come to realize that there is a lot of value in knowing what direction you want your non-profit to go.  

Having well defined objectives are an important part of being a successful nonprofit and obtaining reliable funding sources.

2.21.2022 Journal 9

I am really proud of how our idea pitch went today.  I felt that we were really well prepared for it and that our passion for the subject brought a lot of energy to the room which contributed to the overall success.  It was clear that our class favored the first (1st) idea over the second (2nd), despite a few outliers.  It is hard not to consider whether the controversial topic of the first (1st) idea had any impact on which option our peers chose.  I often forget that not everyone is as comfortable talking about sex education and body education like I am and as a result I didn’t consider that this is a really controversial topic which might receive push back from the places where we want to implement the program.  I think going forward it will be important for us to consider how we will persuade school districts that this is a necessary form of education and not inappropriate or overstepping.  Sex education is a really controversial topic and so it needs to be approached delicately.  

2.14.2022 Journal 8

Within the last year and a half, I was a part of a team that was very problematic for me.  The team was made up of volunteers that were tasked with planning events and educational activities around a certain topic.  As the leader of this organization, it was my job to assign tasks to each of the other volunteers.  I asked two (2) of them to take on planning a large event for us and then delegate tasks to myself and the other volunteers.  Very quickly, these two (2) volunteers took over everything and refused to allow anyone else to have any role in planning the event.  Instead of saying that the way they were taking over made me uncomfortable, I kept quiet and allowed it to affect the quality of work our team was putting out.  I was nervous that they might get upset with me and accuse me of being an overbearing leader that was control hungry.  The reality was that I was not confident in their ability to plan an event that was well informed and trauma considerate and I wanted to be included in the process to ensure the proper steps were taken.  In hindsight, I should have spoken up as soon as I noticed them taking more control than I was comfortable with so that tension could be avoided.  Outlining my expectations for them again and reestablishing the roles together could have improved the way we interacted as a team.  Another solution might have been to have a team discussion about our individual expectations for the event and how we plan it together, that way we are reassessing together instead of me putting my feelings on them.   

2.9.2022 Journal 7

This chapter got me thinking about the way wealth is distributed within our society.  What I found particularly interesting is all of the hoops that nonprofits have to jump through in order to get funding from grants or the government and yet large corporations get massive tax breaks because it “stimulates” the economy.  The reality, however, is that it only furthers the wealth gap.  The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.  Aside from my social awakening, I appreciated this chapter’s focus on how a needs statement outlines the problem the organization plans to address and exactly how they plan to do so.  In the case of an organization that supports the arts, the book talked about that while it doesn’t meet a specific social justice or equality need, it does preserve tradition and history and teach upcoming generations different ways to express themselves.  I think it is really important that an organization, regardless of its focus, is able to justify its efforts and goals.  A problem statement is an excellent way for an organization to do so and effectively engage with grant funders. 

2.7.2022 Journal 6

Lexi, Skyler, and I decided to inhabit Maine’s Women Fund for this project.  After our groups were initially assigned and we were tasked with a non-profit organization related to mental health, we immediately jumped into a conversation about the inaccessibility of mental health services especially among minoritized communities.  I appreciated my group’s ability to look at the larger picture when it came to service accessibility.  As a social work student, I am acutely aware of how difficult accessing health services can be, especially mental health services because of stigma and insurance underrepresentation.  My groupmates shared a similar understanding, which made it easier to decide on an area of interest for our organization.  Aside from our shared passion for mental health and accessibility, we all acknowledged that there are even large gaps in services for individuals of minoritized populations such as the LGBTQ+ community, immigrants, and women.  Included in our conversation about women was a larger discussion about gender in general and the importance of representing all gender identities, not just the binary genders.  With that in mind, we focused on mental health services specifically for individuals identifying as female.  However, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I was disheartened to see that there are few nonprofit organizations focused on inclusive gender identities.  We decided that the next best option was to focus on female identifying individuals.  Ultimately, we chose the Maine Women’s Fund as our nonprofit organization because we felt the mission and overall values aligned well with ours. 

2.2.2022 Journal 5

As a social work student I am keenly aware of how important relationships are, but never before did I understand the complexities of the grant-seeking and application process in relation to networking and interpersonal connection.  I always saw the process of applying for grants to be streamlined, formal, and impersonal, so I was surprised to read so much about the importance of pursuing connections.  At the same time, I can’t help but think about how one might perceive this as a fake connection because a potential applicant is forming a relationship with a funder for the financial benefit of their organization instead of for a personal nature.  However, there is something to be said about business relationships and the significant roles they can play in making progress in communities, non-profits, educational institutions, etc.

1.30.2022 Journal 4

I found the video on finding grants from Grantspace to be very informative.  I wasn’t familiar with the intricacies of foundations, non-profits, and funding sources, so this was eye opening material for me.  As a social worker, it is important that I understand how funding sources work and crucial that I can navigate the various processes involved with securing funding.  I find it interesting to think about the connections and networking that is done within the funding/nonprofit community.  Success with funding is based largely upon connections built between individuals at nonprofits and funding sources.  I hadn’t considered how much success is based on relationships, but upon reflection it makes sense that building a relationship with funding sources can lead to better success because so much nonprofit work is focused on interactions with others.  In particular, I am thinking about what it might look like to a funder if an individual at a social services focused nonprofit is cold, unwelcoming, and not personable.  That could reflect poorly on the organization as a whole.     

1.26.22 Journal 3

Our group decided to create a non-profit organization focused on supporting the mental health of immigrant children and youth with trauma history as a result of their immigration process.  As three (3) white female identifying individuals, I feel that it isn’t our place to found an organization with a focus on immigrant issues that we don’t know anything about from personal experience.  I did however, appreciate that our focus was on helping people access services they need and I would like to focus on advocacy services, education, or direct care for my final project.  I consider advocacy services to include things like mental health, access to services, human rights.   I understand education to include supportive services, accessibility advocacy, and private education services.  Finally, I see direct care as mental health services, group homes, and case management services. 

1.24.22 Journal 2

As a fourth (4th) year social work student, I have a field placement at a local nonprofit organization and I have had a number of summer internships at other agencies.  In the future, I aspire to make large scale changes to the mental health field and in doing that, I will need technical writing skills like proposal and grant writing to assist me in procuring both support and funding.  From this class, I hope to learn the “lingo” required for writing successful grants and for understanding expectations.  Specifically, I am eager to learn how this type of writing differs from other forms of professional writing one might employ in the workplace.  I consider myself to be a strong writer and I am looking forward to being challenged by this new approach that will hopefully add to my tool box of change.  Even if I don’t follow the path I see myself on now, experience with proposal and grant writing is an excellent skill to have on one’s resume as a social worker, especially if I intend on continuing in the private sector rather than accepting a government job.  Additionally, I think this course will provide me with an opportunity to work with other professionals from different fields to achieve a common goal in an unfamiliar environment, an experience that is very common in the workplace. 

1.24.22 Journal 1

I found our first reading for this class to be both informative and surprising.  It laid out a detailed groundwork for grant writing and the associated process that I was unfamiliar with, even as someone who has experience working in the nonprofit sector.  As a social work student, I have interned at a number of small non-profit organizations.  Those positions have provided me with opportunities to become familiar with the funding process for nonprofits, more specifically grants.  My experience with grants has been limited, but I have been able to watch the executive directors of several agencies go through the process of writing grant proposals with the assistance of program staff.  However, when compared to the opportunities accessible to larger organizations such as external consultants, a fundraising staff, and advertising materials, small nonprofits are at a significant disadvantage.  

One thing that I found particularly interesting is the amount of resources that can go into writing a grant proposal that stands out.  Prior to completing this week’s reading assignments, I had never considered how much work goes into funding nonprofit organizations.  In the past, I have seen bits and pieces of grant proposal writing as my executive directors asked program staff for stories from their interactions with kids or families, but I had no idea that so much work had to be done to write a spectacular proposal.  Additionally, since my experiences have only been with smaller nonprofit organizations, I was unaware that larger agencies have fundraising staff members or hire external consultants for the grant writing process.  This week’s reading helped to expand my understanding of grants and what they can look like for organizations of various sizes.