Grant Writing Basics

Tips for Proofreading Your Next Grant Application

Developing a proofreading strategy can greatly improve the quality of your federal grant application. Here are some tips from grant-making offices across the government that you can use for developing this strategy.

1. Enlist content proofreaders early in the process to focus on macro issues (e.g., organization of narrative sections, logical flow within your application, etc.)
2. Develop a master checklist (e.g., list of required forms and attachments, formatting requirements, evaluation criteria, etc.)
3. Give your application a grade (e.g., rate your own application; identify opportunities for improvement)
4. Enlist a proofreader late in the process to focus on micro issues (e.g., word choice, sentence structure, and typographical errors)

Read more here on how WaterNow can support your next grant application!

 

How to Determine Eligibility for Federal Funding Opportunities

Determining your eligibility for federal grants is an important first step in the federal grant application process. Funding opportunity eligibility requirements are defined by legislation and federal agency policies. To receive a grant, you must meet an opportunity's eligibility requirements. Below are some tips for finding federal funding opportunities for which you may be eligible: 

1. Know your applicant entity type

Are you a nonprofit organization? Municipality or water utility? Tribal organization? Knowing this allows you to better narrow your search for funding opportunities

2. Search by keyword, then narrow your results

Every funding opportunity has unique eligibility requirements, so using Grants.gov Search is an important part of the process for determining an entity's eligibility for funding. Begin by going to the Grants.gov Search page and search by keyword. Be as specific as possible. After conducting the keyword search, narrow the results on the left side of the screen by selecting the Funding Instrument Type, Eligibility, or Category. Finally, be sure to save your search so that you can receive notification of new funding opportunities matching this criteria as they are posted in the future.

3. Get into the details of each funding opportunity

Once you have identified a group of funding opportunities that you appear to be eligible for, it’s time to closely review the official eligibility requirements of each one. You want to do this before you begin significant work on the application, so that you can be sure that the program is a good match for your applicant entity. The funding opportunity’s eligibility requirements may be listed in the Eligibility section of the grant Synopsis. But often the requirements are discussed in much greater detail in the official notice of funding opportunity (NOFO) document created by the federal grant-making agency. On Grants.gov, this document is usually found under the Related Documents tab. You can also use the Link to Additional Information field on the Synopsis Tab.

4. Reach out to the agency point of contact

If, after reading the NOFO, you still have any questions about eligibility, contact the federal agency point of contact listed in the NOFO.

For more information on how to determine your eligibility for federal funding opportunities read more at this blog post.

How to Apply for a Federal Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov

 

Apply for a Federal Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov

First-time applicants can understandably feel daunted by the task of applying for a federal funding opportunity on Grants.gov. Below are the key steps in the application process to help you feel more confident about the journey ahead.

Step 1: Make sure you have registered an on account on Grants.gov

Step 2: Determine your eligibility and identify a Funding Opportunity using Grant.gov search

Step 3; Apply to the Funding Opportunity by creating a workspace

Step 4: Complete your application

Step 5: Check your application for errors and submit your completed application

For more details on these steps, check out this blog post at Grants.gov.

Drought Contingency Planning Fact Sheet

This application is currently closed. Click the fact sheet below to learn more about eligible applicants and projects, federal funding amounts, and how WaterNow can support your application process.

Drought Resiliency Projects Fact Sheet

This application is currently closed. Click the fact sheet below to learn more about eligible applicants and projects, federal funding amounts, and how WaterNow can support your application process.

Environmental Water Resources Projects Fact Sheet

This application closes March 31, 2023. Click the fact sheet below to learn more about eligible applicants and projects, federal funding amounts, and how WaterNow can support your application process.

Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects Fact Sheet

This application is currently closed. Click the fact sheet below to learn more about eligible applicants and projects, federal funding amounts, and how WaterNow can support your application process.

Water Conservation Field Services Program Upper Colorado Basin Fact Sheet

This application closes May 31, 2023. Click the fact sheet below to learn more about eligible applicants and projects, federal funding amounts, and how WaterNow can support your application process.

Water and Energy Efficiency Grant Fact Sheet

This application is currently closed. Click the fact sheet below to learn more about eligible applicants and projects, federal funding amounts, and how WaterNow can support your application process.

Water Affordability Dashboard

Water Affordability Dashboard

The Water Affordability Dashboard is a tool developed by the Nicholas Institute's Water Policy Program to provide a clearer picture of how affordable water services are in the United States. The dashboard helps users answer four questions for each utility:

1. Who lives in the utility's service boundaries?
2. How much do water services cost?
3. How affordable are water services?
4. How does affordability change with water usage?

The data and code behind the dashboard are open source to enable others to use the data to ask their own questions, explore solutions, and work toward improved water affordability and equity.

The dashboard was designed to allow users to explore the affordability of water services (drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater) within their utility and across other utilities. You can learn more about the community served by a utility, the cost of water services, and the affordability of those services for a community.

Click the link below to access the dashboard.