Grant Application Tips

1. Look at what was funded in the past – Learn what types of projects are funded in our grant programs. DCCF and most funders share recent grant recipients on their websites.
2. Build a relationship with DCCF (and other funders) - Understanding your mission and impact is important to us. We want to help you achieve your mission and you help us achieve ours. 
3. Is your organization's mission or grant request aligned with the purpose, geographic area, or population served of the grant program? If not, even the best-written application will not be eligible. If you're unsure about eligibility or alignment, ask us. Consider what is the best use of your time.
4. Log in early - Confirm that you can access DCCF’s Grant Management System.
5. Have a compelling need and clearly communicate it – DCCF grant programs are competitive. Grant committee members compare each application’s community need to determine funding priorities.
6. Discuss the grant application internally - Colleagues from your organization may have additional information that might improve the quality of the application.
7. Read the questions carefully and answer them succinctly - If you are not sure about a question, ask us. Next, answer succinctly. You want to have and keep a grant committee members' attention. 
8. Build grant committee confidence – Demonstrate a clear understanding of the need or problem and what your organization will do about it--start to finish.
9. The Grant Budget is important and should be clear and easy to understand.
   • The grant budget should follow the narrative of the application and is, essentially, the grant application in numerical form.
   • Vague items, such as “Labor is paid for,” result in grant committee questions and uncertainty about the grant request.
   • Revenue and expense totals should be equal.
   • If other funding sources are involved, including any in-kind services or products or organizational operating funds, include them in the grant budget.
10. Measuring results and demonstrating outcomes - DCCF grants are for one year and should not require repetitive or on-going funding. Therefore, measurements and outcomes should be straight forward and not complicated.
    • For example: If you are requesting new laptops, your measurement could be that the laptops were purchased, installed, and used. The outcomes are the before and after story of how the new laptops impacted staff or clients. (Outcomes are not the number of staff or clients served.)
11. Upload attachments early – Don’t wait until the last minute to upload documents. After uploading, check them to make sure they are displaying correctly.
12. Spelling and grammatical checks - Don't give a grant committee member a reason to be critical of your application by making spelling or grammatical mistakes that are easily avoidable.
13. Additional supporting information (optional) – When relevant, "before" pictures, vendor quotes, or research-related articles can be helpful.
14. Ask someone to proofread your application – Ask a colleague or friend for feedback about the readability and clarity of your grant application. (You can email a PDF version of your application.)
15. Ask us to review your application before it is submitted - We are happy to provide feedback. The earlier in the timeline, the better we can serve you.

Call or email Lori Trenholm, Director of Community Investment, at 785-843-8727 or loritrenholm@dccfoundation.org to discuss ideas, ask questions, or request an application review.

Thank you for applying for a DCCF Grant!

For more information, contact Lori Trenholm, Director of Community Investment