Presenting Your Request for a Grant

This is not a required outline for presentations. It is provided to help you think about education your audience in a way that will be easy for them to follow and to remind you of important areas to address.

Introduce yourself briefly: 

  • * You’ve only got five minutes, so you want to get to your project quickly.

Define the problem you are addressing:

  • *What Southwest Michigan social justice problem are you addressing?
  • *What evidence shows the scope, significance, and effects of the problem?
  • *Why does this problem exist? What public policy is causing or standing in the way of solving the problem?  Who is profiting from the current situation?

Explain the approach/strategy of your project:

  • *What are you doing (or will you do) to address the problem? How are you creating more equitable access to resources or services?
  • *As relevant, explain organizational structure, actions that will be taken, coalitions that will be build, ways you will build awareness for your efforts, etc.
  • *If you are seeking to expand an existing effort, what demonstrates your success so far?
  • *Who else is working on the same problem in Kalamazoo?  Are you collaborating with them? Are there existing resources that you are leveraging?
  • *What makes, or will make your project sustainable?
  • *What steps will you take to educate others about the public policy obstacle?
  • *Does your project move us closer to systemic, equitable distribution of resources in our city?

Explain how you will use an Urban Democracy Feast grant.

  • * How will you apply the money?
  • How will the grant affect the sustainability of your efforts?
  • What is your plan for the next six months, at which point you will report back at the next FEAST?  How will you measure progress and success?
  • What are your plans beyond the next six months?