Final Mock Grant Proposal

Final Mock Grant Proposal

June 6^, 2020

Barbara Stewart

Chief Executive Officer

Corporation for National and Community Service

P.O. Box 20525

250 E Street, SW Washington, D.C.

Dear Ms. Stewart

Enclosed is a request by Youth Sports Association, Milwaukee, that the Corporation for National and Community Services continues its partnership with our youth’s program and help us stop violence by funding of some total $30,000 for capacity building support for 2021.

Corporation for National and Community Services have helped us build a strong organization through our continued partnership. Past funding has helped us in capacity building and has helped us develop and sporting program for the youths that help in keeping the youths out of the streets. Increased violence in Milwaukee means that the association must develop a robust program that will attract more youths to join.

We plan to commence a campaign that will help us raise $350,000 to fund our youth program for the year 2021. To steer this program effectively. We must strengthen our capacity as an association. Our association has the following components, community organizers’ development, technical team, strategic communication team, public relations development, and organizational executives’ development. We intend to develop our community organizers around the professional present in Milwaukee. Also, we intend to get in a long-term lease with the local authorities to use the available facilities in Milwaukee, where the sporting events will be held.

We invite the Corporation for National and Community Services to extend their partnership with us to ensure that we achieve the above mentioned 2021 goal plan as well as our overall mission of stopping violence among the youths and teens in Milwaukee.

Sincerely

Xxxxxx

Executive Director

Executive Summary

Youth Sports Association was founded in 2010, and it has been serving the youths in our community. It serves as a rescue program for the vulnerable teenagers living in the violence-prone cities. We help the youth pull out of the street violence by giving them a healthy alternative in sports. Our mission is to guarantee the youths violence-free living.

The association partners with community organizers to help reach the youths in the streets. We have always partnered with the community organizers natives who understand the language of their people. Our goal is to build a cohesive community with an eye on the welfare of the youths.

Youth Sports Association is a not for profit organization with a membership of 3000 under the categories of individuals, family, and business membership. Through our membership subscriptions and donations, events day sales, and various donations personal and corporate donations, we have been able to run our programs. Our programs include ball game tournaments, cross country, and indoor games. Our programs have graduated athletes to college and national leagues in the recent past.

The association’s goals are to enhance the capacity of sports programs and ensure youths are engaged in productive activities away from the violence happening in the streets. Also, create awareness of the perils of violence among the youths. We also want to build cohesion and positive interaction between the teens and the adults, police, and the government in Milwaukee. The association will exemplify a high level of professionalism and fiscal responsibility throughout the program.

Statement of Need

As Youth Sports Association embarks on a plan to raise funds for their 2021 youth sporting program that will see a series of sporting events in Milwaukee County, it has contracted the Dieringer Research Group, Inc to conduct a leadership Assessment and Capital campaign planning study. The study was designed to help gauge the potential of the success of the programs through the gathering of opinions and suggestions from community leaders, local authorities, and community organizers in the community. The study had 126 participants, all who were influential members of the community in Milwaukee.

The interviewer sought opinion on a variety of subjects impacting on leadership and fundraising. Among the areas of concern included;

• Reputation, perception, and image of Youths Sports Association, Milwaukee
• Awareness of the Board and other leaders
• The merits and demerits of the projects
• Acceptability of the program by donors and fundraisers
• The awareness of the sporting program among the donors
• Identify possible volunteers and campaign leaders during the fundraising campaign.

The purpose of the interviews was to understand the views and reception of the programs among community leaders and influencers. The position of the community leaders and influencers will help enhance the fundraising act ivies, volunteer support, and possible source of financing and potential merits and demerits of the program.

The response of the interview questions helped the organization to identify potential loopholes in the fundraising campaign. There is a need to clarify the problem that the association intends to solve through sports programs as well as clarify the overall vision and mission. About 72% f the responses acknowledged that the reputation of Youth Sports Association was good or very good, while the remaining 28% could be interpreted as people who did not see a chance of the organization succeeding in its mission in Milwaukee. Also, some gave reasons for their negative response, arguing that they did not understand how the sport was going to end violence, and some though the sport is not the best alternative for the youths in Milwaukee.

The study helped raise new factors for consideration about the image and reputation of the Youth Sports Association:

• The need to create awareness and publicity of the effectiveness of the sporting program is solving the violence puzzle in Milwaukee.
• Many leaders in Milwaukee view the program as outstanding and one capable of ending violence among the youths.
• The community leaders and influencers will only endorse and work with organizations with a good reputation.
• The sporting program was considered superior to other programs in the area.

The organization intends to conduct sporting programs that will involve indoors and field events as well as ball games to pull youths out of the streets. The research company carried out research to help determine the credibility and strategic intuitive of the organization to plan and hold such programs successfully. It also used the interviews to determine the board’s ability to translate the vision into a tangible concept. The Dieringer Research Group, Inc decided to narrow down the study into two sporting activities- the boxing and soccer competitions for both men and women. The study looked at the plans of how the organization intends to host those events. How well are the people in Milwaukee aware of such programs coming up in their county? What is the cost of holding such events? Moreover, is there availability of the facilities to enable such activities to go on as scheduled. The study concluded that the programs would require a great deal of attention from a marketing and public relation point of view to increase the possibility of donor acceptability.

The major readiness problem that the program faces is the lack of publicity and potential entry of major players in the industry. The organization is determined to succeed in providing sporting events for the youths in Milwaukee, with the goal being to eliminate violence among the youths at all costs. However, the association must educate potential funders and donors on the overall benefit and effectiveness of sports in eliminating violence. Also, the association must educate the donors about the association and its successful undertakings in Detroit and Baltimore. We need to walk around Milwaukee and educate the parents, local authorities, potential donors on the benefits of the youth sporting programs in eliminating violence in Milwaukee.

The Dieringer Research Group, Inc interviewed several participants, including community organizers, leaders, local authorities, parents, and youths, if they were aware of the programs being launched in 2021. Sixty-eight percent of the participants said they were aware of such plans because the community organizers had created awareness around the county. However, to help close the gap of the possible 32% of people with no such information, it was necessary to increase the frequency of communication and advertisement of the projects.

Further, interviewees were conducted to help determine the acceptability of the project by the donors. The study concluded that the association needs to create a strategic plan, have the right leadership that will help bring cohesion with the public, and the association needs to improve its infrastructure. Therefore, the public campaign should be launched after the right mechanism, strategy, and infrastructure is in place. It is essential first to create the awareness of the project was to succeed in Milwaukee.

The proposed program will be the most extensive youth sporting program in Milwaukee. The association succeeded in creating such programs in Detroit and Baltimore, and now it is time for Milwaukee.  With increased awareness and positive public relations, the association believes it will rally donors to help achieve its mission and solve the problem of violence in Milwaukee.

Goals and Objectives

The goal of the Youth Sporting Project is to help eliminate violence among youths and teenagers in Milwaukee. The project will use indoor sports and ball games events and tournaments to help engage the youths and pull them off the streets. To help organize such programs, the association needs capacity building. Capacity building will see the association enhance its ability to communicate and create awareness of its youths’ sporting projects by working competently and compellingly, develop infrastructure and help the association develop a more strategic approach during fundraising and improve the image, position, and effectiveness of the association.

The organizational performance will be evaluated through a capacity-building assessment that will be conducted by a v development consultant. The assessment will further help us review the practices and strategies and will point out the areas that need improvement. The process will help the association to identify what it needs. The association proposes the assessment to tackle areas such as goals, mission, effectiveness, strategic planning, leadership, programs, board governance, communication strategies, financial condition, community development, and cohesion outreach and human resource management.

Second, the association looks to conduct infrastructure management. To conduct a comprehensive and balanced fundraising campaign, the association needs to close the gap of under organization and to understaff its faces currently. The association will create a new position of Development Manager who will be tasked with fund development. The development manager will help the association develop policies and procedures to guide the fundraising campaign.

Third, the association will build the capacity for a fundraising campaign. There exists a fundraising plan that is casually based on the past successful programs in Detroit and Baltimore. However, the project in Milwaukee posses different challenge, and the plan need to0 be customized to fit the current problem. The association’s committee of development has carried a thorough analysis to come up with a growth-oriented fundraising plan that fits the projects at hand. The annual fundraising plan includes analyzed and reviewed performance of the previous projects, an updated new case for support, a categorized gift goal, and objectives, a well-developed analysis of the strate4f-es and accountabilities, and a revised benchmark for timely success.

The association also intends to develop its membership by increasing its membership to 4000 members to allow for support at a higher level. Besides, the association will develop its board through a thorough assessment that will help identify members’ weaknesses and strengths. Strategic communication will be developed through an audit of the current organizational communicatio9n strategies. The association intends to improve its relationship with the public, media, and donors. Finally, the association intends to improve its technical support through the purchasing of proper office equipment, the creation of a website, and training of staff.

Evaluation

Tithe success of the project will be measured through data collected by the benchmarking committees. A committee will be formed to follow through all the objectives and goals to ensure that the benchmark is met. The committee will evaluate changes in donor acceptance, number of the youths participating in the events weekly, number of calls or emails requesting for information about the projects, number of new membership subscriptions, and the number of donations made by our current donors and the traffic in our website visits. Also, there will be a revenue goal for every fundraising component to enhance funding of the current budget. The effectiveness of the fundraising strategy will be gauged through defined revenue goals benchmarks. There will be a midcourse evaluation that will analyze the timely progress of the projects and activities, and adjustments will be made where necessary.

Budget Summary

The amount that the association is expecting a grant will be used in part to help and fund the capacity-building project. The organization, through its savings and member subscriptions, will cater to other costs. The following expenses will be covered.

Conclusion Request

Although there are other programs to eliminating violence among the youths and teenagers in Milwaukee, Youth Sports Association offers a higher capacity to ensure that a considerable number of youths are involved. We are offering an all-inclusive program where the youths will take part in diverse sports. The association has registered success in the past with programs in Detroit and Baltimore.

Youths Sports Association is the sole organization providing such sporting programs in Milwaukee. Within a short time, the activities will be up running, and the programs will give the youths in Milwaukee an opportunity to engage in more productive activities. However, we must first build the capacity to ensure successful fundraising.

The total cost of the project is $350,000. Youth Sports Association is requesting a total of $30,000 to fund the capacity-building project. Your grant will significantly impact our capability to upgrade our fundraising capacity and fulfill our mission in Milwaukee.

We look forward to a continued partnership.

Thank you for your consideration of our requests.