Data? Grants? What To Know.

By Lara Ruggles

When your grant application is reviewed by the committee who will decide what projects will be awarded their grant, one of the primary things they will look for is that you know your community. They want to see that you are aware of the research and trends in your field, as well as what is happening right in your own backyard, because this communicates that you can accurately summarize why your program is needed and what greater community need is going to meet. How can you communicate this clearly and succinctly every time? Learn how to make use of the data that's available, and include the data in your grant application!

If you've ever taken a creative writing class, you've probably heard the adage, "show, don't tell." What this means is instead of saying, "Greta was absolutely exhausted," you use the details of what Greta is doing to set the scene and communicate her exhaustion to your audience. You might say, "Greta let out a heavy sign and set her purse down on the kitchen counter, sliding down into the nearest barstool and dropping her head into her hands. She closed her eyes and let five entire minutes tick by without moving before she heaved herself back up and pulled a Lean Cuisine out of the freezer."

So what's the equivalent of showing, not telling, in a grant narrative?

Let the data tell your story for you.

Instead of saying, "Our community theatre makes our community more busy and vibrant," or even "our theatre brings audiences downtown and generates traffic for other local businesses," you can say "a Chicago economic impact study shows that every $1 spent on a ticket to an event at an independent entertainment venue generates $12 for the local economy, making independent venues a powerful generator for local economies (Arts in the Loop Economic Impact Study, 2019 revision)." This illustrates the role of arts and entertainment in fueling the local economy. More data can be found about how theatres and the arts impacts restaurants, hotels, retail shows, and the community as a whole.

When you can let the data do the talking, it makes a powerful case not only that your program or organization is doing work your community needs, but that you know exactly what impact you're making and what would be missing in your community without you. It illustrates to grant funders in an intimate, visceral way the void that would be left in the community if your organization weren't funded, and why you're the right organization to be doing this work.

In chronically-underfunded fields, like the arts, it's essential to illustrate the connections between the arts and the broader health of the economy, and between early access to the arts and better educational and achievement outcomes. The data showing these connections helps to correct the false perception that the arts are expendable or inessential. Anyone working in this field can tell you how essential arts are for building connections between disciplines and even between regions of the brain, for understanding ourselves and the larger world, for increasing success in all areas of our lives - but it is data from scientifically-researched studies that can help us communicate that impact in a more concrete and irrefutable way.

Doing your research to gather data showing the need for your program and clearly illustrating you "why" will pay dividends well into the future. It will become part of the language you use to speak about your program and increase your confidence in doing so, and it will continue to be a reference point for grant applications to come. It will give your grant applications an edge that just might make the difference in getting the funding you need.

Bynes Consulting Group has a broad-range of skills and knowledge. My subject matter expertise is in the arts, Maddy's is in health and human services, while Melanie's is in international nongovernmental organizations and the environment and Sarah's is in local governance and planning. Through this subject matter expertise, we are able to bring the latest data and research to your grant application. Please feel free to reach out to any one of us if you're interested in help writing your grants.