Involving Evaluators on Grant Proposals

By Stacy Hayden

Research Associate

Shaffer Evaluation Group recently finished working with several partners to develop and submit grant applications for the Department of Defense Education Activity Broad Agency Announcement for 2023. SEG frequently partners with school districts, institutions of higher education, tribal governments, and community organizations on grant applications. Our partnership starts during the period of grant development and continues into the grant term.

Shaffer Evaluation Group offers fee-based grant writing services as well as post-award support when selected as the external evaluator. We also offer limited complimentary services to support your grant application—we write the evaluation section at no cost in exchange for being named as the evaluator in your grant application. Here are some questions you may have about working with SEG on a complimentary basis to develop a grant proposal.

1. How will you be involved in the grant proposal process? What will your role be?

While every proposal is handled a bit differently, SEG always works as an external partner in the process. We typically ask clients to contact us once a full rough draft is developed as we cannot do our work without understanding the scope and specific activities being proposed for the project. However, sometimes clients need support with developing goals and objectives. If this is the case, SEG can often connect with clients briefly via a virtual meeting to discuss the drafted goals and provide initial feedback.

After the draft is sent to SEG, we work to develop the designated sections. These are sent to the point of contact once developed for feedback. If needed, SEG will make changes and send the final version back to the client.

2. What sections of the grant narrative will you be responsible for preparing?

Each grant solicitation requires different components. Typically, SEG prepares the evaluation section, which may include a narrative section and/or an evaluation framework. In some cases (e.g., Department of Education proposals, National Science Foundation proposals), SEG may also prepare a logic model and/or theory of change for the application. However, the scope varies by type of proposal. Coordinating this with the evaluator at the beginning of the proposal process will ensure everyone is on the same page.

3. Your expertise spreads to other sections of the grant proposal too. Can our organization have your support in those sections as well?

Often there are additional questions/requirements that reference evaluation or the role of the evaluator throughout the grant application beyond the evaluation section (e.g., “plan for monitoring the implementation and effectiveness of professional learning”). SEG is happy to provide support in preparing these sections by providing clarification on components within the evaluation plan, answering questions about typical practices, and providing feedback on client ideas. However, we typically cannot write these sections as part of our complimentary grant support, but feel free to contact us to learn about our fee-based grant writing services.

4. How do we contact you if we have questions throughout the proposal process?

Technology has made collaborating on grants incredibly easy! Many of our partners choose to use tools such as Google Docs to develop their grant proposal. This is a great way to share your grant proposal with us, particularly as it allows us to see changes over time. However, we typically look at this at key points in time as opposed to checking it frequently. When we are providing complimentary grant proposal support, it is helpful if you email us with questions as opposed to tagging us in online documents as we may not be checking these frequently.

5. Are you able to attend all our grant team meetings?

While we find the time we are able to meet with clients who are writing proposals helpful, unfortunately we cannot attend all grant team meetings during the proposal development process. We often have to balance the work we are already doing for our clients with supporting grant proposals. While we are happy to meet to discuss your plan for the grant/answer questions, we try to meet one time toward the beginning of the process and then answer additional questions as needed via email or phone.

We love having the opportunity to partner with clients prior to grant funding. Being able to provide input at that stage helps to ensure projects are set up for success with strong goals, objectives, and plans to measure progress. The complimentary support provided by SEG at no cost in exchange for being named as the evaluator in your grant application varies from proposal to proposal, but the questions above are a great way to discuss expectations with your evaluator prior to beginning the process.

As previously noted, we also offer fee-based grant writing services that position SEG as a member of the grant team and provide more support. Please contact SEG if you are interested in partnering on a grant proposal -- whether using our complimentary support services or fee-based services.

Consulting Stakeholders in the Grant Writing Process

By Courtney Hagan

Research Associate

Developing and writing an educational grant can seem like a daunting process of where to begin, especially considering the level of detail that may need to be etched into each goal, objective, or outcome. In addition, it is also important to consider how aligned these goals, objectives, or outcomes are to the needs of the populations you are serving or the populations implementing the project. One tactic that may be useful is consulting stakeholders – students, project staff, faculty, teachers, school / university leadership – during the grant writing process to ensure that their voices and needs are represented early in the process.

Who is a Stakeholder?

Stakeholders are interested individuals or groups with an interest in your project’s implementation or outcomes. Stakeholders can be:

• Implementers of the activities that are part of the project (e.g., teachers, faculty)

• Advocates for sustaining the project based on successful outcomes (e.g., parents, business community)

• Funders or authorizers who will support the continuation or expansion of the project (e.g., school board, regional foundation)

• Beneficiaries of the project (e.g., students)

Tips for Inviting Stakeholder Feedback in the Grant Writing Process

1. Come to stakeholders with specific questions in mind. It may be a good idea to ask your various stakeholders tailored and detailed questions that aim to pull their needs forward (see table).

Stakeholder	Example Questions
Staff implementing the project	We would like to implement this specific project: Is this feasible for us to implement within the timeframe we have specified? What would be the specific action steps needed to implement this program fully? (e.g., are there barriers for getting action steps approved by administrators?) Do staff have the time availability to help fully implement this project?
Project beneficiaries	We are considering implementing this project that you will be receiving: Is this something that you feel is needed? Do you have recommendations on delivering this program? Are there programmatic aspects / components that we are missing?
Funders or authorizers	We are seeking funding for this project: Is this project something that you feel is needed in our community? What type of evidence would you need to fund or authorize the continuation of this project in the future?

2. Make stakeholder groups aware of their roles, responsibilities, and expectations that you have laid out throughout the life of the grant. To help establish that this project is feasible, it is important to fully describe the intended project to stakeholders you are consulting. For example, teachers may be expected to deliver specific components of the program directly to their students, therefore it may be important for teacher feedback on the feasibility of the program to be considered.

3. Demonstrate your commitment to stakeholder participation by including a stakeholder advisory group in your project proposal. A stakeholder advisory group offers benefits across the life of your project, including community support and buy-in, advice and feedback on project implementation, and communication channels to disseminate the results of your project. In your grant application, identify the types of stakeholders you intend to recruit and the types of advice they will contribute across the term of the project.

By inviting the stakeholder groups early in the process, you are helping to enable teamwork, create buy-in, and de-silo the processes the project needs to go through within the grant’s life course. Engaging stakeholders early on helps to ensure project success.

Refining Grant Goals, Objectives, and Activities

By Stacy Hayden, SEG Research Associate

Shaffer Evaluation Group often is asked to support the development or refinement of grant goals, objectives, and activities. Clients are able to articulate the “why” behind a project, which often stems from a need they plan to address. The “why” is the first thing needed to write an appropriate goal statement. When SEG reviews grant goals in a grant application, we commonly observe that the alignment of the language between the goals, objectives, and activities often needs to be tighter and more well-defined. The example below for a Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) project demonstrates the connection between each of these three components.

Although some funders have specific requirements for the format of their goal statement, goals are generally broad, long-term, and achievable such as the example in italicized text.

By the end of the funding period, grades K-5 military-connected students will demonstrate increased science interest and/or achievement using qualitative and/or quantitative measures.

Objectives are directly linked to goals; however, they should be more specific and break down the approach supporting the goal into discrete strategies. For example, the goal presented above could be broken into three objectives.

• Objective 1: Design a makerspace and engage students through school day or before/after school activities.

• Objective 2: Engage students in STEM enrichment and/or extracurricular activities.

• Objective 3: Develop and implement STEM professional learning for all school staff based on needs assessment.

While these objectives are specific, they also provide flexibility to allow for necessary changes. However, all objectives are designed to ensure successful progress towards the goal.

Finally, activities need to be developed. Activities are sometimes confused with objectives, as they are the steps in implementing a project and are necessary processes, actions, or events. Activities are linked directly to objectives. Some examples may include collaborating with partners, developing materials, conducting training, and analyzing data. For example, let’s look at objective 1.

Objective 1: Design a makerspace and engage students weekly either through school day or before/after school activities.

• Activity 1.1: By the end of Year 1, establish makerspace planning committee and tour two local makerspaces.

• Activity 1.2: By the end of Year 1, develop makerspace at elementary campus.

• Activity 1.3: By the end of Year 2, engage students K-5 in weekly makerspace activities through school day or before/after school activities.

Each of the activities represents necessary steps that will be required to ensure the objective can be completed. The activities above represent processes (e.g., identify gaps), actions (e.g., assemble team), and events (e.g., engage students in activities).

When beginning to develop your goals, objectives/strategies, and activities, first start with the “why.” Once you’ve developed your goal statement, begin to think through what the objectives and activities might be as each build on the other.

The new Department of Defense Education Activity grant solicitation was released at the end of January. Shaffer Evaluation Group offers fee-based grant writing services as well as post-award support when selected as the external evaluator. We also offer limited complimentary services to support your grant application—please contact us about writing the evaluation section at no cost in exchange for being named as the evaluator in your grant application.