Ready. Set. Grant!

Public works staff play a vital role in enhancing and elevating the probability of securing grant funding for their community and clients. They often engage in “grant readiness” efforts to meet community objectives and key performance metrics, measuring benefits and outcomes. Preparing a successful grant application is a team effort and starts well before the release of a tice of Funding Opportunity/Availability (FO/FA) for federal and state grants. Often, the project, program, or service must already be part of an integrated portfolio of implementation concepts vetted well in advance to meet short and long-term community and agency goals. Without this pre-grant effort conducted in a partnership, candidate grant projects can be at a disadvantage in meeting specific grant purpose and criteria such as equity and environmental justice, sustainability, ecomic development, safety, and public engagement, each tagged with supported data analysis (e.g., think benefit-cost analysis). Strategic partnerships formed with community members, agencies, and stakeholders also strengthen the value of grant preparation. These actions significantly impact how grant applications are evaluated and can be the difference in determining a grant award. Under today’s umbrella of highly competitive funding, public works participants who think strategically, build project portfolios, and map out the timeliness of their project investments that align with community goals contribute directly to securing federal grant funding and delivering measurable benefits. This presentation will dive into the techniques, considerations, and factors to increase participants’ influence toward winning important grant money! After this session, participants will be able to:
• Determine how to prepare for grant opportunities that accelerate reimagining and rebuilding our infrastructure and improving quality of life in a safer, more sustainable, resilient, and equitable way.
• Set the table to tell the story of an outstanding project that meets short- and long-term community and agency goals.
• Combine and modify projects or programs to increase funding potential and be better positioned to deliver success at a lower cost.