Statistics That Can Give Your Grant Proposal the Leading Edge - Part 1 By Roberta Cooke
Using a few well chosen statistics can give your grant proposal an edge because they add validity to your case, show your knowledge of the field and add a professional image that will reflect well on your organization. But many questions arise when you add statistical information, either voluntarily or as a requirement of the RFP. I. What statistics should I use? II. Where do I go to find the most useful statistics? III. How do I know if the statistics I find are reliable? IV. How do I properly footnote the cited statistics? V. How do I accomplish all of the above in the least amount of time? Each question can be daunting by itself, and together they can often seem overwhelming. But they need not cause you any anxiety if you address each question separately. I. What statistics should I use? Often finding the "right" statistics to prove your point can seem confusing. Knowing what is available and where to find it makes your search much easier and faster. This article will discuss the different aspects of researching statistics and the process of determining which statistics to use to give the greatest benefit to your grant proposal. The resources cited will list some of the most widely used web-based research sources which contain the broadest span of information. Of course it is not possible to list all of the resources available for every field of interest, so the topic of "children and youth" will be used to demonstrate and explain the process of exploring, researching and analyzing the best ways to use different kinds of statistics. The first step to consider in determining which statistics will be the most useful to you. To start the process you need to create a complete list of characteristics which will explain your clientele, their lives, situations or circumstances. Whether you work for an organization that tries to improve the environment, a third world country, the arts, a medical facility or animal rights you will need to understand the environment surrounding the your project before you can decide which statistics are the best to seek. You need to know as much as you can about your clientele. This may require you to spend some time interviewing people in your organization that deal directly with clients. While creating your list of characteristics remember that it is important not to limit yourself to thinking of only the characteristics connected to what your clients do with or at your organization. Instead, make sure you search for statistics that demonstrate everything that impacts your clientele or their situation. For an example: you may wish to give a synopsis of what type of neighborhood your clientele live in, or are forced to live in because of their circumstances. You may wish to cite the crime rate, or document that the number of police officers have been cut in the last few years. Another angle to research may be to see what percentage of your clientele's salary needs to be used for rent, or perhaps, what is the highest level of education attainment of the average parent in your community. Example: CLIENTELE: CHILDREN AND YOUTH Below is a sample list of some of the areas to consider for statistical research; this list is by no means complete. a. Family structure - Statistics to show: Percentage of children/youth living with 2 biological parents, 1 biological parent, etc. Type(s) of home environment Residence - rental or owned; percentage of income spent on rent/mortgage Language spoken at home Average family income Time parent(s) spend traveling to work - i.e. if parents spend 3 hours a day commuting to work, that is time they are not with the children and you may wish to explain where the children are during that time? Means of transportation parent(s) use to go to work - if parent(s) use public transportation then that may lengthen their time away from home and will need to be calculated into in their expenses. Parental influence studies Hunger Teen Pregnancy rates and influences Studies on sibling influences b. Education - Statistics to show: The individual children - The schools they attend - are they Title I? National School Report Cards give mountains of information about a particular school with comparisons to the state averages - i.e. standardized test scores, drop-out rate, student mobility throughout the school year Post high school opportunities The parent'(s) - education attainment - type of jobs parent(s) have: (professional, management, labor, unskilled, etc.) c. Community Problems and the programs available for children/youth - Statistics to show: Day Care - quality (majority licensed or unlicensed) and cost Pre-schools After-School Programs Week-end Programs, Summer Programs Free and reduced lunch programs Crime rate Gangs Drug use Healthcare Religious organizations Remember that this list is not complete and that you need to think of whom your organization is helping and/or impacting and the details of your particular community or situation(s). After you finish your list of characteristics you will need to analyze what statistics you feel would best show your case and then research for those specific statistics. Do not assume that there aren't statistics available to prove your point. Do keep in mind that it is always best to use the most recent statistics available and always document and fully footnote where you have obtained your data. You may also wish to list the details pertaining to your organization and what it does to impact your community, state, nation or the world and why your organization was created. Once you have committed this information to paper you will have a full working knowledge of the situation(s) which you will be able to use to research statistics that will give the grant reviewers a comprehensive view of the problem(s) your organization addresses. Other Significant Resources Even though this article will be concentrating on web-based research it is still important to remember that there are other excellent additional avenues that you may wish to review which are all rich in statistics as well as the latest developments and current studies that have been performed in your particular field of interest: Professional Associations Professional Societies Think-tanks Journals and publications which are specific to your particular field. Congressional Committee Reports are often excellent to use because they are current and reliable. The Senate and House committee reports may be obtained from the following web site: from THOMAS, maintained by he Library of Congress. This will be discussed in more detail concerning the research of statistics. The above resources can also be excellent sources for finding quotations from experts in your organization's field. Often quotations can be inserted into your grant proposal which will further show the grant reader that your organization is both aware of the identity of the experts and that you are keeping current on the developments that occur within your field. Once you have established a solid understanding of both your clientele and the areas that affect them, you need to find statistics that will help you explain the type of situations and circumstances that your clientele are experiencing. You will often find that in your grant proposal you can use statistics to explain the current circumstances that have created the negative outcomes or deficiencies that your organization is working to change. For instance you could point out that not only will your organization be making an impact on your clients but also their families, the community and ultimately society as a whole (i.e. programs that will educate and keep one youth out of jail will save the tax payers over $40,000 per year). With a few well chosen statistics you will be able to accurately and definitively articulate your case. Example#1: You are working with a church organization that has programs for the youth of the community and you need funding for a new Saturday program. You may want to research statistics that show the percentage of children who live in homes where violence is a daily occurrence are at a much higher risk to commit violent crimes later in their own lives, and that other influences can mediate these influences. There are also statistics that show that religious training affects the decisions that youth make in their teen years and beyond. Comparison Charts Sometimes the statistics that will drive the point home can be effectively displayed in comparison charts. Example #2: The XY organization would like to jump-start a pilot high school reading after-school program and offer 56 high school students the opportunity to meet during 4 sessions with 3 different nationally acclaimed authors. Below are three statistics from which you may wish to pick to illustrate that the students in your proposed program area are facing great odds against success in language arts literacy. (Note: all three charts are from the same source and are covered under one citation in this article to save space -- this would never be done in a grant proposal. Only one statistic would be used from one source if at all possible; if the same source is repeated then the footnotes are documented separately.) You will only need to use a few statistics in each grant proposal so it is important to select the ones that will be the most beneficial. About the Contributor Roberta Cooke Roberta Cooke is a development and funding consultant who specializes in creating new opportunities for educational and not-for-profit organizations. She brings to the table extensive knowledge of how to apply business principles to the philanthropic sector. Her work with numerous urban, minority and grassroots charitable organizations has made her an expert in marrying empathetic prose with empirical data. She offers clients the insights gleaned from a decade's worth of statistical analysis and research. This data helps organizations prove to their grantors both the success of their programs as well as the situations and circumstances that their clientele face, providing a financial rather than a "feel-good" impetus for donors to pledge their dollars. In a development director capacity, Roberta effectively manages donor and other resources to maximize the opportunities available to her clients. Her skills in communications and publicity maximize the impact of donations and elevate the profile of client organizations in the media and philanthropic community. Roberta has also served as a philanthropic educator, training not-for-profit organizations to help them better articulate their needs, maximize their resources and perform the community and media outreach necessary for growth. She currently resides in New Jersey with her husband, daughter and two cats. 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