Underserved Producer Grantwriting Assistance Project

            September 17, 2007

Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI) is a nonprofit educational institute in East Troy, Wisconsin advancing our vision of an environmentally, economically socially sustainable agriculture through our work in education, research, policy, and market development. 

We announce a new project, funded by USDA’s Risk Management Agency that pays experienced grantwriters to assist producers in submitting proposals to federal agencies to support their work.  The project places priority on serving socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, whom RMA describes as belonging to “a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of their identity as a member of the group without regard to their individual qualities. SDA groups are women, African Americans, American Indians, Alaskan Natives, Hispanics, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.”

Background –MFAI’s staff has long conducted workshops nationwide to help train farmers, ranchers, non-profit groups and others in the field of sustainable agriculture to successfully apply to federal programs offering grants and other resources.  Despite excellent evaluations of our grantwriting workshops, it is clear that they are inadequate to overcome the language, cultural, educational, and institutional barriers that impede underserved producers and producer groups from applying to USDA programs. 

Goals:  We seek to increase the number of successful applications to RMA and other USDA programs from immigrant and other underserved farmers and ranchers; assure that language and culture are not a barrier to successful application; build ties between communities of underserved producers and local institutions; and engage other USDA programs in coordinating with RMA to build the capacity to provide such assistance.  Our project has received a one-year RMA Partnership grant that began September 10, 2007.

Due to limited funding, the first year of our project will operate only in three regions of the nation – the South, West, and Midwest.  In each region, our regional coordinator will inform underserved producers and producer groups about the project’s assistance; offer regional grantwriting trainings for producers; and train a cadre of experienced grantwriting advisors to assist underserved producers.  The project will offer interpreter services if needed.  Advisors will not write complete grant proposals for producers single-handedly, but rather work with local partners (agency staff, NGOs, or local volunteers with experience in grantwriting and project administration) to create a collaboration plan.  That plan will: 

• Suggest the USDA program most suited to a producer’s needs, including explaining program requirements, limitations on funding uses and applicant eligibility.
• Along with local partners, help producers frame their project, identify project partners, and develop a project timeline, plan of work, goals, measurable objectives, budget, evaluation and communications strategies, and a plan for ensuring the project’s sustainability after the grant is completed.
• With local partners, assist in preparing the proposal, including helping write and review drafts, and ensure timely submission with necessary forms, attachments and letters of support.
• With local partners, assure that the project, if it should be funded, has the capacity to administer the project according to the agency’s specifications. 

For more information about how this project can help underserved producers, or if you are an experienced grantwriter interested in helping producers through this project, please contact the Midwest Coordinator serving the states of IA, MN, WI, ND, SD, KS, MO, NE, IL, IN, MI, and OH:  Deirdre Birmingham, deirdreb@mindspring.com (608) 967-2362

The Project Director is Margaret Krome, mkrome@sbcglobal.net (608) 238-1440

Producer Grantwriting Assistance Project

Roles of Grantwriting Advisors

This project does not seek to provide full grantwriting assistance to underserved farmers and ranchers it serves.  Instead, it hopes to both provide assistance and be a catalyst for assuring that it is provided by partners local to the producer.  Tasks will include the following:

a- Reviewing the assisted producer’s application for grant-writing assistance and notes/comments from the regional coordinator to assess the applicant’s needs and the status of the proposed initiative;

b – Meeting in-person with a producer or producer group interested in applying to a federal program to interview them regarding their project and funding needs and, based on results of the interview, recommend a plan of work; arranging for interpreter services if needed;

c - Helping the applicant identify local resources who can work closely with the applicant and grant writing advisor on writing the proposal.  Grantwriting advisors will work with the regional coordinator to identify such support, reaching out to Cooperative Extension agents, Agricultural Innovation Center or comparable institutions, Resource Conservation and Development Staff, county Economic Development staff, nonprofit organization staff, community volunteers, and others.  These local resources will be crucial to the successful submission of a grant proposal and the implementation of the project, if funded.

d - This will require creating a collaboration plan between a grantwriting advisor, the producer he or she is assisting, and the local resource to clarify roles for assembling the project and preparing a successful proposal.  A collaboration plan will include many of the following elements:

  - Frame the project, including convening a meeting of potential partners;

  - Confirm the federal program for which the project seems best suited, including reviewing with the producer the federal program’s call for proposals (deadline for submission of applications, format, eligibility requirements, permissible use of funds, etc.)

  - Outline proposal;

  - Write proposal;

  - Write budget;

  - Obtain letters of support from collaborators, commitments for matching funds, etc.

  - Edit proposal; 

  - Obtain a DUNS number and other requisite information well in advance of submission;

  - Review final proposal to make sure the package is complete;

  - Assist with submission; and  

  - Create a reliable plan for administration and implemention of the project, if funded.

e  - Implementing collaborative plan of work

   - Designate who will perform tasks in collaboration plan

   - Communicate among partners indicated in collaboration plan

f – Communicating Regularly With Regional Coordinator on progress of the grantwriting assistance.

g – Upon completion and submission of the grant proposal, reporting on the process and results in a timely fashion to the regional coordinator, before submitting request for payment for work, including:

   - dated log of meetings, including location, attendees, names of local partners, dates, hours

   - copy of the submitted proposal

   - short quotes, stories, photos of participants who are willing to have these shared with RMA

What Grantwriter Advisors Do Not Do

            Write a full proposal alone  (They are catalysts for long-term mechanisms to address the need)

            Assign themselves, although they can propose a match to their regional coordinator

Qualifications of Grantwriter Advisors (G.A.s)

            It is in everyone’s interest that this project give only excellent help to underserved farmers and ranchers.  Thus, we have created a simple application process: a letter to the Regional Coordinator:

 1) stating that the G.A. has written two successful federal grant proposals (one, if a graduate student and prepared to work closely with successful faculty sponsor or regional coordinator if no faculty sponsor available); 2) giving references who can speak to the G.A’s track record in following through on commitments and on the G.A.’s good organizing skills; 3) including a brief writing sample.

Matching Grantwriting Advisors to Producers

            Matching grantwriting advisors and producers is up to the discretion of the regional coordinators.  There is no guarantee of there being a match, even for grantwriting advisors who have gone through our training. However, grantwriting advisors can try to propose one, understanding that it is the regional coordinator who decides if the producer is an underserved producer and if the match is good.

What makes a good match between grantwriting advisors and producers?  Considerations include:

            - location

- language needs/skills

- advisor’s familiarity with culture of producer applicant

- advisor’s familiarity with federal program most suited to producer applicant’s needs

- advisor’s familiarity with type of project proposed

- advisor’s ability to find local help

Finding Local Assistance

Because we seek to cultivate linkages between local institutions and underserved producers and wish to build local capacity to assist such producers, we place a high priority on finding local support to assist in developing and writing proposals. 

- Who is responsible for finding local help? 

Ultimately, the Regional Coordinator must assure that such help is obtained, but she may consult with a grantwriting advisor to identify such support, reaching out to Cooperative Extension agents, Agricultural Innovation Center or comparable institutions, Resource Conservation and Development Staff, county Economic Development staff, nonprofit organization staff, community volunteers, and others.

Sometimes the agency or institution who informed a producer about the availability of our project’s resources will be helpful in identifying local resources.

How do grantwriting advisors collaborate with local partners without tripping on each other?

            - Create a plan of work for each producer

            - Discuss collaborative plan of work and roles