FAQ'S

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A to Z Grantwriting with Linda Vallejo was established in 1985 when Ms. Vallejo began presenting a 3-hour grantwriting workshop through the Learning Annex in Los Angeles . She continued to offer these workshops for ten years. At this point, Ms. Vallejo had been working as a grantwriter for five years with a variety of non-profit organizations in the Southern California region.

In 1999, Ms. Vallejo expanded the A to Z workshop curriculum and began teaching grantwriting on-line. Today, this on-line course is ranked No. 8 in the nation and is presented in over 500 colleges and universities nationwide. In 2003, Ms. Vallejo presented her first three-day seminar, sharing her expertise and abilities with students in a personal classroom setting.

Ms. Vallejo has taken the past five years to perfect the A to Z Grantwriting Manual to provide a multitude of resources, tools and samples to help students raise needed funds for their organizations and efforts.

Over the past twenty years, A to Z Grantwriting with Linda Vallejo has provided grantwriting consultation and training services for a variety of non-profit organizations in Southern California , and presented seminars that have reached thousands of students regionally and nationally.

We believe that the A to Z Grantwriting high standards and excellent curriculum are the keys to our success and staying power.

Please go to the home page to review Ms. Vallejo's resume.

Most grantwriting seminars and workshops take students through the grantwriting process, using a fine-tooth-comb to write and rewrite the proposal until it is “letter perfect.” But what happens to the proposal once it's complete? It's impossible to implement a successful grantwriting campaign, and raise needed funds, without a birds-eye-view of the grantwriting process!

The A to Z Grantwriting Seminar presents a detailed birds-eye-view of the grantwriting process, taking the students step-by-step from researching and organizing good match potential funders, to organizing a development office, to developing positive communications with funders, to organizing a grantwriting team and working with collaborative partners, to submitting the final product, to the final step of submitting a report to the funder.

Also, unlike many other courses, the A to Z Grantwriting Seminar has been designed to work not only for non-profit organizations, education and religious institutions, but also for government agencies, for-profit business enterprises, and individuals seeking support for personal projects and needs.

Each student is provided with a complete copy of the A to Z Grantwriting Manual including a multitude of resources, samples and tools, a targeted list of “good match” funders in their specific area of interest, and a certificate of completion.

Absolutely! Ms. Vallejo has taught hundreds of “fledgling” grantwriters! The A to Z Grantwriting Seminar will provide students with the essential resources and tools needed become a successful grantwriting professional.

For those of you wishing to become a grantwriting professional, here are a few suggestions on how to find your first client:

a) Select a “like-minded” community non-profit organization with an excellent reputation and whose leadership you trust,

b) Attend a few special events to introduce yourself to leadership and express your interest in volunteering as a grantwriter OR arrange for an introduction through a colleague or friend,

c) Develop a list of the government, corporate, and foundation grants available for this type of organization and program effort,
d) Collect letters of recommendation from community members, previous employers and educators, to share your excellent communication, organizational and writing skills, and

e) Offer to volunteer to write one-or-two proposals, and if the process is successful ask for a part-time or full-time grantwriter position with the organization.

Students who successfully complete the A to Z Grantwriting Seminar will receive a Certificate of Completion, but A to Z Grantwriting does not certify its students. No independent body is capable of certifying grant professionals. There is no legitimate certification process that can be compared to that followed for Certified Public Accountants or Certified Fundraising Executives. Organizations that claim to certify their students as grantwriters are incorrect.

Many of my students are interested in learning how to write grants to support business efforts! All of the tools and resources presented in the A to Z Grantwriting Seminar can be used in implementing a for-profit business grantwriting campaigns. Also, students will be provided with a detailed outline of a complete business proposal package, proposal samples links, and research and writing tools.

Here are several resources I hope will be helpful in finding support for your business efforts.

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES AND FUNDERS

US Census Bureau Business Opportunities
http://www.census.gov/procur/www/opportunities.html

Small Business Administration Home Page
http://www.sba.gov

Pro- Net : an electronic gateway of procurement information
http://pro-net.sba.gov

Sub-Contracting Opportunities information: A by-state listing of Government prime contractors with addresses, points of contact, and supplied products or services. This list is provided for those small businesses having similar products or services as points of contact for networking and sub-contracting opportunities.
http://www.sba.gov/expanding/subopportunity.html

Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA)
http://www.mbda.gov

Small Business Administration Home Page
http://www.sba.gov/aboutsba/

SBA Certified Microlenders listed by State
http://www.sba.gov/gopher/Local-Information/Certified-Preferred-Lenders/

Minority Enterprise Development Hotlist
http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/hotlist/minor.html

Small Business Development Resources and Opportunities http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/8abd/indexresources.html

Women's Business Ownership
http://www.sbaonline.sba.gov/womeninbusiness/

Funding For: Business And Economic Development
http://www.lib.msu.edu/harris23/grants/2biz.htm

Federal Business Opportunities
http://www.fedbizopps.gov/

The Small Business Administration (This site is a must!)
http://www.sba.gov
Here you can access top resources for starting up a business or for issues that women in particular face.

BusinessTown.com
http://www.businesstown.com/accounting/basic.asp
You'll find great advice on budgets and accounting here.

BulletProof Business Plans
http://www.bulletproofbizplans.com/bpsample/Sample_Plan/sample_plan.html Need help with your business plan? This site has great advice and free samples.

Business Link
http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/home?r.l3=1074298368&r.l2=1074298365&r.t=RESOURCES&r.i=1075067963&r.l1=1073858796&r.s=m

An individual can affiliate with a like-minded organization or school, and use the organization's non-profit status to submit proposals for grants.

As an example, an individual who wants to develop a program to provide art classes for the elderly, would work with a non-profit organization that serves the elderly, write a grant in collaboration with the organization, and provide the class at the organization's site for their elderly clients as well as at other centers in the region.

An individual wishing to affiliate with a non-profit organization should write a complete program outline and budget, and plan on completing the final proposal in collaboration with the organization's leadership.

The nonprofit organization will serve as the fiscal agent receiving the awarded grant funds. In some cases, the non-profit fiscal agent will request 10% of the awarded grant in exchange for keeping appropriate financial records and submitting final reports to the funding source.

Yes, but support to faith-based organizations is limited. A faith-based organization may choose to create a separate, community-based non-profit organization not associated with the parent faith-based organization. This non-profit organization must maintain separate financial records and a separate board of directors to avoid a conflict of interest. Non faith-based organizations, serving the community at large, have access to a broader number and variety of funding sources. A to Z Grantwriting Seminar students will receive a complete list of faith-based funders in their region.

Here are two resources I hope will be helpful in finding support for your faith-based programs..

TOP's Support for Faith- and Community-Based Organizations
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/top/grants/funding_topics/faith_based_grants.htm

US Department of Health and Human Services, The Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives
http://www.hhs.gov/fbci/

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