‘Grant Writing 101’ Eases Stress of Grant Search

The Rev. Rosa Marie Smith-Williams, pastor of Corinth AME Zion Church in Siler City, N.C.

NASH and HARNETT COUNTIES — When you’re a small church, you need help to make a difference in the community, said Rev. Rosa Marie Smith-Williams, pastor of Corinth AME Zion Church in Siler City, N.C.

And with limited funds, Smith-Williams turns to grant funding to help make that difference.

But having spent the past 35 years in Texas, the pastor wasn’t familiar with the funding sources available to her in North Carolina.

That’s when a program offered through Cooperative Extension at N.C. A&T came in handy. 

“The class did offer resources, different places, where you apply for grants,” Smith-Williams said. “That was valuable information for me. It gave very practical but useful steps to help in writing a grant.”

Though they are the lifeblood of many nonprofits, the process of applying for grants is often confusing and daunting.

To help with this, Kittrane Sanders and Traci Dixon, community rural development agents in Harnett and Nash counties respectively, got together to offer a “Grant Writing 101” workshop in Harnett County last year. Sanders previously offered similar one-on-one and group sessions; the pair teamed up to reach more people. 

“We try to break things down in digestible parts,” Dixon said. “When you look at the whole process, it does seem very overwhelming.”

The sessions, held weekly for three weeks, emphasize having a focused strategy. That is necessary to be successful in securing those much-needed dollars, Dixon said.

Participants are first asked to write down in detail what it is they want to fund.

“We encourage them to define their mission and goals first,” Dixon said. “We’re really helping them to do some self-reflecting on their organization before going forward with the search.” 

That way, participants can focus their efforts on the best funding sources, based on their mission statement and their organization’s goals, Dixon said.

Proposal development, budgeting, evaluation framework and effective communication also are covered. The series emphasizes the importance of building relationships with funders, partners and stakeholders.

Eight nonprofits participated in the first workshop sessions, which total 12 hours. After taking the course, Smith-Williams — a 1997 N.C. A&T State University graduate — said she was able to secure a $4,200 grant from the North Carolina Council of Churches for mental health training for community members. 

That training will help people understand the signs of mental illness, where an appropriate referral might be made, and what can be done to assist the individual, Smith-Williams said.

“In the African American community, there is still a stigma around mental illness,” she said. “It’s more prevalent than ever before and we need to educate the community.”   

The Chatham County Health Department and the public health program at Campbell University will provide experts and help lead the training program, Smith-Williams said.

As part of their Grant Writing 101 offering, Sanders and Dixon also plan to offer pop-up sessions to help participants who may have trouble finishing up their grant proposals.

“They want the knowledge, but then they see the time commitment that needs to go into actually writing a grant,” Sanders said. “It’s easy to say, ‘Oh, I’m going to work on it,’ but this will give them the opportunity to say, ‘I’m going take an hour, two hours out, go sit in the class to actually start working on an actual grant.”  

Dixon and Sanders plan to offer two workshops a year, one in Harnett and one in Nash County.

 [LB1]Quote here about the importance or why she chose that topic?

 [KC2]@Lydian L Bernhardt I think I’ve addressed your suggestion.