The Presentation

I have a big presentation this weekend.  Remember that big grant that I wrote about last month?  Well it has been read and dissected and the commission would now like to speak with me for 15 minutes about the proposal and the flaws and omissions from my application.  I feel pretty calm about the interview...although I seem to not be getting very much accomplished today.  Hmmm.

I had mixed feelings about applying for this grant.  First off, it is a lot of work.  I know that writing a 30 page document and including another 35 pages of support may simply sound like a fun afternoon for you, but this took a good chunk of my time.  This is also a competitive process.  There are 18 really high quality organizations that are applying and only around 8 will receive funding.  That means a couple of things.  First, I am going up against several very experienced and accomplished grant writers which means there is no faking this.  Second, if we do happen to be one of the 8 chosen, it will come at the expense of someone else in our community who is doing outstanding work.  I wrestled with the pros and cons for quite a while.  Did I really want to invest a large amount of my time...trying to do something that did not have overwhelming odds of success...that might hurt another organization...just for $50,000?  That is a nice chunk of change, but was it worth it?

My Board of Directors thought we should apply.  My staff were not excited about me being wrapped up in another project, but they thought it was probably a good idea.  What actually swayed me was the Joel's Place kids.  Our Ride Team is comprised of 8-12 teens who have both immense amounts of skill and high character.  They teach lessons, perform demos, help promote Joel's Place and get to ride for free as a perk.  What they have been talking with Kelli about is what they can do in order to raise money for the other riders at Joel's Place to be able to ride for free also.  Instead of gloating and reveling in their elevated status, they are trying to find ways to serve the other kids at Joel's Place.  If they can sacrifice their time, resources and energy to serve then so can I....and I actually may have the skills and experience to make their vision a reality.

I made the grant out for 10 months of free skating.  We already have sponsors that can fill the other two.  This proposal would allow us to offer an entire year of free riding to our members.  When we offered that last summer our attendance tripled, our meals served went through the roof and the number of kids who attended development programs increased somewhere near tenfold.  We don't charge much through the year, but when we can remove the cost barrier for our high risk population, Joel's Place blossoms into what it is intended to be.  Kids come because it is safe.  They stay because it is fun.  They receive mentoring and training and we see both their skills and their characters develop over the year/ 2 years/ 5 years/ 10 years that they stay with us.

A funny thing happened as I worked on the grant proposal.  The process was not just time consuming and hard...it was also really good.  It led to finding an outcomes-based system that does a great job of highlighting what we do and how we can measure that.  It led to conversations among the staff about what we value and where our priorities are.  It led to implementing systems and structures that will both allow us to gauge our effectiveness in transforming lives as well as focus our programs and our staff trainings.  It led to identifying our major barriers in growth and effectiveness and developing strategies to overcoming them.  We are in a significantly better place as an organization than we were a month ago, and it is completely unexpected.

I don't know if we will get this grant this weekend.  I still have mixed feelings about it.  However I can talk to my Board and my staff and the Ride Team with integrity about realizing the vision of year-long free riding.  I can look at the progress of our organization and the tremendous course that we are on and I can honestly tell the commission that Joel's Place, and the 1,100 kids that we serve, would be an excellent investment of their resources.  I can't ask for much more than that.