Amador County – About 18 people attended the second day of a local grant workshop Monday at the county public health building, with mostly non-profit organizations looking for ways to write and collaborate on grant applications. Organizers of the seminar, “Get Ready, Get Set, Go Get Grants” are experts in the art of acquiring grants funding, and even operated the workshop on a “mini-grant” of $1,000 from the Amador Community Foundation, and with technical support from the Amador County Recreation Agency. Facilitators of the workshop were Karen Dickerson of The Grant Tree Group of Jackson, and Renee Chapman of Pine Grove. The pair finished the second of 2 sessions Monday, and set appointments with attendees for assessments of their draft grants on March 1st. Some attendees had already submitted grant applications with the help of Dickerson and Chapman. Dickerson said the most important part of grant writing is the “needs assessment,” telling participants: “You’re going to have to prove that there is a community need.” She said they needed data and facts to support the programs for which they seek grants. Chapman agreed, saying “nothing speaks louder than the facts in the world of grant writing,” and data is at the crux of the project – “demonstrating how your project solves the problem.” Dickerson and Chapman, both successful grant writers, gave a sample proposal and tutored attendees on resources, and outlined the elements of a grant proposal. Dickerson, whose “proven track record” includes more than $1.2 million in grant awards, said a good application should be kept under 9 pages, and include goals, objectives, methods, activities and if possible, sustainability. The grants application should try to answer the particular grantmaker’s mission statement. Dickerson said: “If you ever get the opportunity to be a grant reviewer, do it,” noting that the experience for her has helped her hone her grant writing to cut to the important information, and write what the “grantmakers” want to know. Chapman told attendees to “leave yourselves plenty of time to plan and rewrite” and “don’t find yourselves preaching to the choir,” as people who offer grants to help with certain issues already know the importance of those issues. Other tips include seeking more than one funding source, collaborate as much as possible and make small promises and deliver with big results. Chapman said she liked seeing in workshop break periods how participants “work together on how to make the community better.” The November 9th first session of the workshop included 25 people, and the second had 18 in attendance. Attendees included members of ACRA, Amador County Historic Railroad Foundation, Environmental Health, Children’s Council, State Preschool, Student Music Fund, Child Abuse Prevention Council, Monarch Montessori, TSPN Teen Zone Live, Amador Tuolumne Community Action Agency and Americorps. Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.