If your nonprofit would benefit from grant-writing support, consider joining a service-learning partnership offered by Professor Lisa Dush of DePaul University.
This partnership will connect your organization with graduate students in Prof. Dush’s Grant and Proposal Writing course, which draws students from DePaul’s Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse and the Graduate Certificate in Strategic Writing and Advancement for Nonprofits. Over approximately seven weeks, the group of approximately twenty students will work in teams with 3-4 Chicago-area nonprofit organizations to develop materials that will be of use for these organizations’ grant-seeking efforts.
Is Your Organization Right for this Partnership?
Over the years, the course has partnered with a broad range of nonprofit organizations, in terms of mission and budget. Many funders are hesitant to support nonprofits that are very young, do not have stable sources of income (e.e., donors, program revenue, board contributions), and that lack an active strategic plan. If your organization does not meet these criteria, it may be too early for grant-seeking and the partnership will likely not be successful. The best partnerships—those that advance nonprofits toward funded proposals—are also typically with organizations that have already done some LOI or grant writing, whether successful or not.
What Will Our Organization Get from this Partnership?
A small team of students from the class will complete these or similar tasks for your organization, with your input:
- Research Candid’s Foundation Directory to determine several possible aligned foundation (philanthropic or corporate) funders
- Start or update a spreadsheet for tracking grant opportunities and deadlines
- Draft 2-3 letters of inquiry (LOIs) to potential funders
- Additionally, at least one student in the course will extend their work with your organization in their final project, resulting in one or more draft grant proposals to specific funders. Some organizations find it more useful to have student(s) draft a Case for Support, which consolidates information about your organization’s history, mission, approach, programs, and funding needs for use in future grant proposals.
What is the Time Commitment and Project Schedule?
- By 5 pm on Th Aug. 27: submit an Interest Form
- Before September 7: have a 1-hour meeting (by phone or Zoom) with Prof. Dush to discuss your organization, its current grant-seeking practices, and your priorities for the partnership. Before or after that meeting, send Prof. Dush any existing grant-seeking materials you are willing to share; this will help orient students.
- Tu Sept. 29, 6:30-8:00 pm: Attend a meeting (on DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus, Zoom possible) with Prof. Dush’s class, to meet the students, describe your organization’s work, and discuss project and funder priorities. If possible, several students will visit your organization and/or observe programming by early October, to get to better know you and your work.
- Tu Oct. 20, 6:30-8:00 pm: Attend a meeting (on DePaul’s Lincoln Park campus, Zoom possible) with Prof. Dush’s class, to debrief on students’ funder research and prioritize funders and projects for their LOI and proposal-writing task
- Between Oct. 21 and Nov. 20: be available for answering questions and giving feedback to students developing LOIs/proposals
- Tu Nov. 24, for 30 minutes between 6-8 pm: Attend a final hand-off and debrief meeting with students who have created materials for you; review their final memo and materials prior to this meeting
How Do We Sign Up?
If your organization is interested in this partnership, please complete the Partnership Interest Form by Thursday, August 27. Please read the “Is Your Organization Right for This Partnership” section of this page carefully before applying. Feel free to contact Prof. Dush at ldush@depaul.edu with questions.
Additional details about Prof. Dush’s past nonprofit partnership courses are available online at https://lisadush.com/nonprofit-projects/.