By: Rodney Slaughter, Dragonfly Communications Network
As the deadline for the TOP grant gets closer, March 21, 2002, this may be a good time to review what constitutes a winning TOP grant application. This year TOP expects to fund between 30 and 40 grant request with the $12 million appropriated by Congress. This is a significant decrease over last years funding, which was at an all-time high of $45 million. The average size grant this year will be $350,000.
The focus of the TOP grant is innovative uses of technology. The TOP grant started in 1994 and has a history of funding emergency service-related grants. But you won’t see the same kinds of grants being funded year after year. Instead, you will see technology grants that take model programs funded in the past in a new direction or provide a new application. TOP grants focus on:
＊Benefiting underserved communities
＊Removing barriers to the use and access of a technology
＊Building community networks
＊The application of specific uses of technology that employ digital network technology
The type of projects that are awarded TOP grants usually last two to three years. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is realistic when it comes to developing and deploying any new technologies. The proposals are evaluated with a score for each section:
20% Project Purpose
20% Innovation
20% Diffusion Potential
15% Project Feasibility
15% Community involvement
10% Evaluation
100% Total (the higher the score the better your chance for funding)
TOP grant program representatives offered these six “Golden Rules”
1. Never assume–that the grant evaluator knows your lingo or what you mean to say!
2. Get to the point–do not add superfluous information!
3. Be specific–in your request and the way you are going to carry out the project!
4. Be realistic–you can’t save the whole world, focus on those you can!
5. Find a neutral reader–someone outside your industry to review your grant proposal!
6. Proofread–check spelling and grammar, and be sure your application is complete!
The reason many TOP grant proposals do not get funded is that there is a limited amount of money for the number of applications. The following are the five main reasons many proposals do not make the final evaluation:
＊They address a generic problem. TOP grants are awarded only to innovative projects.
＊They do not clearly define the beneficiaries. Who are the end users of the technology?
＊They do not show any real partners. Demonstrate public/private partnerships.
＊The feasibility is questionable. Are you familiar with the technology and realistic about it?
＊The project cannot be sustained. Give details of how the program will support itself!
The Keys to a Winning FEMA Application
Dragonfly Web sitewww.dragonflynet.com/home/organization.cfm.
