Our class has quickly begun the Learning by Giving grantor process! Because the role of grantor is multi-faced, we divided the responsibilities amongst different committees. The first committee to take action was responsible for writing the call for letters of intent. They used what they learning in class and from our grant writing textbook to format it and then highlighted sections that the class should go over together. We reviewed it in class to make sure the final product was exactly what we needed to be.
Here is the final product:
January 25, 2017
To: Harrisonburg Area Non-Profit Organizations
Re: Call for Letters of Intent
The James Madison University Grant Writing class, in partnership with the Learning by Giving Foundation, will be awarding two $5,000 grants to non-profit organizations in the Harrisonburg area. The Learning by Giving Foundation was developed as a method of teaching effective philanthropy to college students. The foundation enables this by giving money to a class of students so they may invest in local non-profits. It has provided our Grant Writing class with the opportunity to award these grants. This allows the students involved to gain integral knowledge of all aspects of the grant writing process as well as fostering growth of charitable organizations at the local level.
Qualifications:
Organizations must be located within 50 miles of the City of Harrisonburg
Organization must be a 501(c)3 non-profit
Letter of Intent Requirements:
Should include contact information, brief description of the organization, its role and mission, and provide a preliminary summary of needs
Should not exceed 1 page: 8.5x11, standard 1" margins, double spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font
A PDF should be sent electronically as an attachment to learningbygivingJMU@gmail.com by February 14th, 2017 at 11:59PM
Additional Requirements:
The opportunity for the JMU grant writing class to award these grants is being completed as an education experience. Therefore, a requirement of applying for a grant is that each organization must be willing to meet with two students periodically throughout the crafting of the grant proposal. These meetings will allow students to achieve a holistic understanding of the grant making experience as being a part of both the grantor and grantee process. The goal of this experience is a hands on opportunity for the students so they will be involved in each step of the grant writing process.
In order to avoid conflict of interest stemming from students working with agencies, the student pair assisting an agency will not be involved in reviewing said agency's proposal. A non-biased format has been established.
Award Date:
The grants will be given at an award ceremony held at JMU on May 3rd at 4:30pm in the Dean's Conference Room on the 5th Floor of JMU's Health and Behavioral Studies Building.
We hope you will respond with a Letter of Intent and this opportunity may help to continue your valuable work in the greater Harrisonburg area. If you have any additional questions, please contact us at learningbygivingJMU@gmail.com
Sincerely,
The JMU Grant Writing Class