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Grant Seeking: Home

Information about applying for grants, including specific grants for PALNI libraries

Grant Support Available

Please contact Amanda Hurford (amanda@palni.edu) for questions or help with your grant proposal.

  • Identify grant needs.
  • Review proposals.
  • Help you establish a timeline.
  • Address roadblocks.

Copyright Notice

PALNI's Grant Seeking LibGuide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. PALNI’s logos and branding template are not covered by this license, and all rights to such material are reserved.

Creative Commons License

Tutorials/Courses

Beginner's Guide to Grantwriting

In-person workshops and other resources are offered by Purdue Extension.

E2Go Grants Workshops

Self-paced and instructor moderated virtual courses offered via MCLS.

Free Online Grant Writing Classes

Courses on grant writing through nonprofitready.org

Grant Writing for Digital Collections in Libraries & Museums

From Library Juice Academy, this course discusses grant planning and writing, for digital collections creation.

Self Paced Learning: Introduction to Proposal Writing

A free, short-course from Grantspace, a service of the Foundation Center.

Grant Writing Textbooks

Budget Basics for Grant Writing: A Handbook of Budget Basics for Writing Grant Proposals
Leslie Paige & Misty Koonse, Office of Scholarship and Sponsored Projects, Fort Hays State University, n.d.

Principles of Grant Writing: Text and Course Companion
Carolyn Marshall-Jackson, Grambling State University, 2021

Grant writing tips

How to Use Grant Writing to Offset Library Budget Cuts
Information Today, 38(1),16-17, Amber Boedigheimer, Jan/Feb, 2021

10 Tips for Successful Grant Writing
Chronicle of Higher Education, Lisa Chasan-Taber, Feb. 14, 2018

8 Traits of Successful Grant Writers
Accessible to PALNI member libraries.Turnkey Writing Solutions.

Tips for Mastering Data to Demonstrate Impact
Accessible to PALNI member libraries. Chronicle of Philanthropy presentation, May 17, 2018

Common roadblocks to successful grant writing

The Grant Support Task Force can help you with any of these roadblocks. 

  1. Organization work required before a grant application can be written.
  2. Breaking down a grant project into feasible timelines.
  3. Conveying the grant idea effectively and in a manner that reviewers can understand and appreciate.
  4. Neglecting to communicate how the investigators will measure project success.
  5. Failing to fulfill all application requirements.
  6. Applying lessons learned from previous grant rejections.
  7. The grant acquisition process is mysterious and staff do not know where to begin.

 

Source: Woody, R. C. (2018, Dec. 5). Identifying Museum Funding Roadblocks. Lucidea. 

Solutions to barriers to successful grant writing

  1. Follow directions.
    Read parameters carefully.
    Do you meet eligibility requirements?
    Respond to all parts of the application.
    Check your math.
    Pay attention to character limits.
  2. Show your process.
    How did you choose your partners? Describe your vetting process. 
    Select partners before starting the grant application.
  3. Tell the same story in budget as in narrative.
    If grant only funds part of the project, where will the remainder come from?
    How will the project continue after the grant period ends?
  4. Define success.
    Determine the end goal of your project.
    How will you measure the degree of success?
    What will be your outputs and outcomes.

 

Source: Kamin, E. (2017, Nov. 14). 7 Tips for Writing an Effective Grant Proposal. National Environmental Education Foundation.