We're here to help!
The proposal writing process can be daunting, but CT Grant Writers is here to help. CT Grant Writers brings over 20 years of experience to provide grant writing, training, program development, and research services to a variety of public, private, and government entities. Our staff has helped secure over $50 million in public financing and we look forward to helping with your project next!
Writing Federal, State, Foundation & Corporate Proposals
Training in Grant Writing
Consulting on your proposal
Grants Research
About
Tom Sobocinski started writing grants when he took a grant funded position in Hartford that required him to submit one or more grants each year in order to maintain the program and keep his job; a great incentive. Since then he has worked for a number of agencies and has written grants that have been awarded more than $100 million. His writing expertise has supported social services, educational and workforce training programs for under-served populations such as job seekers with disabilities, homeless veterans, and low-income older workers, as well as incumbent workers in high-growth industries such as advanced manufacturing and financial services.
He has provided training for the public at the request of congressman Jim Himes and has provided intensive grant writing for the State of Connecticut Department of Labor. At Fairfield University Tom teaches Grant and Proposal Writing, a service learning course for undergraduates that is part of Fairfield’s professional writing program.
Services
CT Grant Writers offers a host of services to help your business - we support both for-profit and non-profit businesses looking for assistance.
CT Grant Writers can assist in identifying sources of funding that will contribute to your organization’s success including:
• Finding grants to support your organizational mission and goals
• Determining your organization’s eligibility to apply
CT Grant Writers can assist you to develop a plan and make it fit the funder’s criteria by:
• Determining how you can meet the expectations of the funder while meeting the needs of your organization
• Considering stipulations the funder puts on the award
CT Grant Writers can provide grant writing services to assist you in applying for federal, state, foundation & corporate grants by:
• Examining what to consider when applying for a grant
• Considering the components of the grant and how they should be written
• Coordinating the written narrative with the budget
CT Grant Writers can provide proof-reading, editing, formatting and then advise you on submitting your proposal by:
• Providing an objective critique of your proposal before you submit
• Proof-reading your proposal with a critical eye
• Turning your so-so proposal into a persuasive winner with some serious editing and re-writing
CT Grant Writers are experts with census data, labor market information and other data that can be organized and presented to provide credibility to your mission and objectives by:
• Making a case (statistically) for what you are proposing to do
• Finding the facts to back up your need statement
• Referencing the facts and validating the information
CT Grant Writers can assist you in the design and implementation of this evaluation system to:
• Convince the funder that you will be accountable
• Build an evaluation plan into your project that will measure your outputs and provide you data for both a formative and summative evaluation.
• Demonstrate that you have accomplished what you promised in your proposal.
CT Grant Writers can assist you to clear government hurdles and develop the capacity to accept funding and provide the type of controls that satisfy funders and keep your accounting straight.
• Provide assistance in starting a new non-profit organization
• Develop mission, goals and purpose
• Assist to develop capacity in order to satisfy your organization mission and reach its goals
• Establish your organization as a 501 (c) (3) corporation so that contributions to your organization can be considered charitable and can provide a tax deduction.
CT Grant Writers can provide you with training services that will assist you and your staff to hone their grant writing skills by:
• Turning your ideas on what your organization could do to better meet the needs of the people you serve into concrete plans and write them into an innovative grant proposal
• Learning how to use credibility, emotion and logic to persuade the reviewer that your project is deserving of funding
Results
With our valued clients, CT Grant Writers has helped to secure over $36,447,287 in funding.
AmeriCorps for The Governor’s Partnership to Protect Connecticut’s Workforce, Inc. dba, The Governor’s Prevention Partnership has ten AmeriCorps members who will mentor 90 third through eighth grade students in Hartford, CT who have been chronically tardy and/or absent from school and frequently referred for discipline. EdCorpsCT was awarded $136,839 from the Corporation for National and Community Service with another combined $118,448 from other local sources.
Tech Hire for the Westchester-Putnam Workforce Development Board- The Hudson Valley Tech-Hire Partnership is serving The lower Hudson Valley counties – Westchester, Putnam and Rockland. Total funding: $4,000,000 with an additional $1,000,000 in leveraged resources provides training for long-term unemployed, underemployed and incumbent workers in advanced manufacturing; biotechnology, healthcare, information technology and IT related industries.
Disability Employment Initiative 7 for the Connecticut Department of Labor Office of Workforce Competitiveness to fund Connecticut’s Disability Employment Initiative for Youth. The award, $2,500,000 is focused on 175 in-school and out-of-school youth, ages 14-24, including those who have dropped out of high school and those who have graduated from high school but have not gone on to post-secondary training and have not been able to secure employment. This group is particularly vulnerable and at-risk of lifelong reliance on disability benefits and or becoming involved in some illegal activity leading to eventual adjudication or even incarceration.
TEAM, Inc. of Derby, CT is a Community Action Agency that has operated Head Start programs for decades and is now expanding its operations of Head Start and Early Head Start programs into Waterbury and Naugatuck, CT. CT Grant Writers helped develop and write the proposal to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. TEAM was awarded $4,249,516 per year – for up to five years.
Apprenticeship USA for the State of Connecticut Department of Labor Office of Apprenticeship Training (CTDOL OAT) is the applicant organization in this proposed Connecticut’s Apprenticeship Expansion Rx that is specifically targeted to aerospace manufacturing and maintenance employers and to the many parts suppliers and servicing employers associated with this sector. Key Outcomes of the Expansion grant include: successful employer engagement and increase of new sponsors; - Acquisition of industry required credentials and successful number of apprenticeships established; Pipeline of A&P mechanics flows to meet industry demands; Increase number of women in non-traditional occupations; and increase the percentage of underserved population. The three programs will serve 1,672 apprentices. Total amount of the awards is $2,550,000.
The Southwest Area Health Education Center (SW AHEC) contracted with CT Grant Writers to develop an application to the 2015 Summer Causality Brand Grant. SW AHEC’s mission is to enhance access to quality primary and preventive healthcare in SW CT by linking students, providers and families through education, workforce development and community collaborations. SW AHEC was awarded a $42,750 matching grant to re-brand the organization.
CT Grant Writers assisted the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven to secure an award of $300,000 from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to fund the Prosperity Foundation (TPF). The TPF will build a permanent endowment for donors interested in funding innovative programs that positively transform Connecticut’s African American community in the areas of education, economics and health. The Prosperity Foundation is an outgrowth of the Communities of Color Initiative of the Community Foundation.
This spring, CT Grant Writers assisted the State of Connecticut Department of Labor-Office of Apprenticeship Training (OAT) to apply to the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration’s American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI). With a plan to develop 1,000 new apprenticeships in manufacturing, business services and healthcare, a large portion of the funding will pay for the classroom component of the apprenticeships. The award of $5,000,000 over three years is provided through fees paid by U.S. companies for H-1B visas.
Resources
Grants.Gov (www.grants.gov) - This is the site to find most federal grants; it is also where you find packages to submit grants on line
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (www.cfda.gov) – Useful overviews of federal grant process, search functions, glossaries, links. Be sure to click the “Top Ten” Program List to get a quick summary of the most popular funding opportunities.
The Grantsmanship Center (www.tgci.com) – Maybe the best single source of successful federal grant proposals; one of the few sites that may be worth the cost.
National Resource Center E-Newsletter (www.ccfnews.org) – Useful twice-monthly newsletter focused on faith-based and community-based organizations and the federal Compassion Capital program.
www.fundsnetservices.com/searchresult/53/Connecticut-Grants.html
Online federal resources (www.firstgov.gov)
Department of Education (www.ed.gov)
Associated Grantmakers (www.agmconnect.org)
Grantmakers In Health (www.gih.org)
The Foundation Center (www.fdncenter.org)
Federal Data Sources:
The Census Bureau (www.census.gov) – Still the starting point for many grant seekers making their case for need.
FedStats (www.fedstats.gov) – Save time by using this excellent portal to data compiled by 100+ federal agencies. Click on “Topic Links A-Z” to see the wide range of data available through this site or through direct links to agencies.
Local Data Sources:
(Note: These four agencies are perhaps the most useful, but to find data and reports from other Connecticut State Agencies, go to the Connecticut Government Portal (www.ct.gov), and click the “Reading Room” link):
Connecticut State Department of Education (www.state.ct.us/sde) -- Click the “School and District Data” link for local information, including Strategic School Profiles and No Child Left Behind Reports.
Connecticut Department of Social Services (www.ct.gov/dss) -- Click the “Publications” link for reports and data.
Connecticut Department of Public Health (www.dph.state.ct.us) -- Click the “Publications/Statistics” link for reports and data – a very comprehensive source.
Connecticut Department of Public Safety (www.ct.gov/dps/site/default.asp) --Click the “CT Crime Reports” link for Uniform Crime Reports and other data.