Winning Library Technology Grants

Grants can support the changing technology needs in your community even while your library budget is flat or shrinking. With so much competition for grant dollars, it can be pretty daunting to find a technology grant that’s right for your library, as well as confidently write and submit a winning proposal.

This online course takes the guesswork out of grant work. Grants expert Stephanie Gerding will help you:

• Find the best technology funding sources and grant opportunities for your library
• Understand how to do the needs assessment, project development, and evaluation for a technology grant
• Plan and write a technology grant proposal with a competitive edge
• Anticipate what grant reviewers are looking for and bring clarity and professionalism to your proposal

When you complete the course, you’ll be excited, motivated, and ready to develop, submit, and implement technology grant proposals.

Course Description: In this online course you’ll learn about an easy-to-follow grant process cycle and time-saving strategies. You will receive practical advice and personalized feedback from an expert grant reviewer. If you've taken the Edge Assessment or completed technology planning processes, we'll show you how to incorporate your goals into your grant work. The course includes discussions, valuable worksheets, and interactive online meetings that will put you on the right track to be successful at winning grants.

Course Outline: When you log in to the Infopeople online learning site, you will see weekly modules with these topics:

• Week 1: Planning, Preparing, and Prioritizing for Grants
  • Overview of the grant process cycle
  • How to plan and prepare for a technology grant process
  • Importance of partnerships and collaboration
  • How library planning documents are the basis for grant proposals
  • How to determine community technology needs, formally and informally
• Week 2: Designing the Project and Identifying the Team
  • Technology project planning with a realistic and achievable timeline
  • How to identify and measure outcomes for a technology project
  • How to justify your library’s technology needs
  • Describing how technology will be maintained post-grant
  • The technology grants marketplace—what is currently being funded and what is passé
  • Introduction to evaluation in general and specifically outcome-based evaluation (OBE)
  • Why a grant team is needed and who should be on it
  • Involving local IT
• Week 3: Researching and Finding Funding Sources
  • Technology grant sources—who gives the funding?
  • Technology grant resources—where can I find grant announcements?
  • Local sources that are not as competitive as national sources
  • Determining whether a funder is a good match for your library
• Week 4: Writing a Winning Proposal
  • Technology grant proposal writing
  • Overview of the grant review process
  • Common grant proposal components
  • Getting funded and implementing your technology grant project
  • Evaluating the grant process cycle

Pre-course Assignment: Before the course begins, you should examine your library’s strategic plan, technology plan, current goals, and relevant needs assessments. You’ll gain the most benefit from the course if you identify a specific technology project for grant funding.

Time Required: To complete this course, you can expect to spend 2½ hours per week, for a total of eight course hours. Each week's module contains readings and various options for assignments, discussions, interviews, and online meetings. You can choose the options most relevant to your work and interests. Although you can work on each module at your own pace, at any hour of the day or night, it is recommended that you complete each week's work within that week to stay in sync with other learners.

Who Should Take This Course: Library administrators, staff, Friends, board members, and anyone involved with grant work. The course will be especially beneficial to those who have taken the Edge Assessment or completed a technology planning process, and to those who have a technology project for which they want to seek grant funding.

Online Learning Details and System Requirements may be found at: infopeople.org/training/online_learning_details.

Course Start: This online learning course starts on Tuesday, November 5, 2013. There is an extra week added to what would normally be a four-week course because of the Thanksgiving holiday.

After the official end date for the course, the instructor will be available for limited consultation and support for two more weeks, and the course material will stay up for an additional two weeks after that. These extra weeks give those who have fallen behind time to work independently to complete the course.