The Children's Theater Foundation of America

A Primer For Grant Writing

CTFA GRANTS 2008

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If you are not experienced with writing grant proposals, don’t let the process intimidate you. Take your passion about your project and then craft a description of it into a series of documents that will communicate that excitement along with evidence that you can actually do the project.

Take the time to follow instructions in the CTFA Grant Application Guidelines. Sometimes good projects must be rejected before review because all the materials requested for review are not sent with the grant application.

Your Preparation:

YOUR NEEDS: What would you use the grant money for?
a) development (writing, creating, researching, etc.)
b) education (classes, travel for learning, observation)
c) production (money for producing some element of a play)
d) other….
Write it down.
GRANT CRITERIA: Read the descriptions of the grants and highlight key words in the text such as “theatres with “operating budgets under $250,000”; “Fees and expenses for a noted guest artist” etc. Pay particular attention to the date when the grant would be issued and during what time span your grant project must occur.
Compare these GRANT CRITERIA key words with YOUR NEEDS list. These criteria will inform you if a particular grant might be available for consideration for your project.
MORE INFORMATION: If you wish to see what kinds of projects were funded by CTFA grants in past years, you click the RECENT RECIPIENTS link. There you will see listed grant recipients and their projects.

IF the GRANT CRITERIA and YOUR NEEDS do not match, or some element of the GRANT CRITERIA eliminates you for consideration –– move on to researching another grant. Spend your time using this review process with other grants until you find a match.

IF the CTFA GRANT CRITERIA and YOUR NEEDS match on several elements and there is nothing listed in the criteria that eliminates your being considered—proceed to gathering specific information for writing and submitting your grant request.

CTFA Grant Preparation:

Scroll down or click on the CTFA Grant Application and Award Descriptions link on the "Grants" page. You will find each grant offered by the CTFA summarized.
Choose a grant for which you will be submitting an application. Remember you may only submit one proposal for consideration each year and you must designate by reviewing which grant criteria best fits your needs.
PREPARING YOUR GRANT APPLICATION: When you find a grant that fits your project best, CLICK to download the Summary Sheet and Application Details for that specific grant. (Download pages are available in either Adobe Acrobat, or Rich Text format. A file will be downloaded to your computer and you can open the Adobe Acrobat format with an Adobe Acrobat READER, which is free from Adobe website, or use the Rich Text format which will open in your word processing software. TIP: If you wish to fill in the Summary Form using your computer’s word processing system—you may need to: 1. OPEN the downloaded file; 2. SELECT all the text; 3) COPY the selected text; 4) PASTE the text into a new blank document in your own word processing software. This will create a new file that can be edited in your software.)
READ all the information on the Summary Sheet and the Application Details. The Summary Sheet serves as a cover sheet with basic information about you and your request. It must be fully completed and attached to each copy of your grant request.
THE APPLICATION DETAILS sheet will review the information for the guidelines for the specific grant and list INFORMATION that you MUST PROVIDE as a part of your grant proposal including a narrative description of your project, a project timeline, financial information, and other details. Be sure that you include the answers or information specifically requested. Incomplete summary sheets and grant applications will be rejected. Summarize your project for the Summary Sheet. Spend some time doing this and revising it. It is the first impression your project will make and the heart of your request. Have others review it to see if it is clear and succinct.
Begin drafting your NARRATIVE PROPOSAL. This is the expanded form of your proposal (no more than 500 words). Remember to include the who, what, when, where, and why that will help someone reviewing your request understand. Tell your story with the excitement you feel. Be sure to include how your project addresses the general criteria of Quality, Feasibility, Relevance of the CTFA funds to the project and other specific information requested for that grant. Ask someone who is not familiar with your project to read it for clarity. Revise and trim until your narrative can be clearly understood and might make a person reading your description excited by the potential of the project. Type (input) your text into an easy-to-read document and print.
Go back to your APPLICATION DETAILS list and gather the other required information such as project time line, budget information, etc. Prepare easy-to-read and understand documents and organize them in the order requested on the Application Details list.
CHECK LIST: Go back to your Summary Sheet and complete the Check List and make sure that all other information is supplied.

GRANT APPLICATION SUBMISSION:
Print out and make 6 copies of all your materials for your grant submission and make 6 packets of information. Mail or ship these packets “postmarked” no later than the deadline listed for each grant or award to the CTFA AWARDS COMMITTEE (address listed with Grant Application information).

Your completed grant proposal will be reviewed by CTFA Board Members who care about the field of theatre for young people and volunteer their time for this important project.

QUESTIONS: In most cases we ask that you use your best judgment. There is some flexibility in the wording of the grant criteria to allow for new creative options. The CTFA review committees use the same criteria as that posted on the website.

Applications are accepted only from theatres and theatre artists within in the United States of America.

Descriptions and Applications