October 27, 2016
There are many reasons to love October: fall foliage, apple cider, and pumpkins, to name a few. At Via Evaluation, we add to that list the beginning of a new federal fiscal year (October 1), and grant forecasting! Planning is critical for successful grant writing, especially for highly competitive, complex federal grants. If you wait until the RFP has been published, you risk spending the short 6-8 weeks before the deadline in a frenzy. To help you avoid that (and to get you home on time), many federal agencies publish annual grant forecasts to alert the public of which grant competitions are expected to occur during the year, and when. Using RFPs from previous competitions, which can be found on grants.gov, you can start developing your project early. You can also use grants.gov to identify federal agencies’ grant making patterns. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance and the Federal Register may also be helpful in your grant research.
Although becoming a pro at grant forecasting can be a challenge, and requires a substantial time commitment, it is well worth the effort to meet your organization’s goals.
Don’t have the time or staff to devote to grant forecasting? No problem! If you represent a K-12 school, higher education institution, or community-based organization, and would like assistance with grant forecasting, to learn about grants that you may be eligible for, or if you would like to discuss a specific grant opportunity that you are interested in, please contact us for a free consultation. We look forward to hearing from you this year!
