not have to search through your application to find information. If the information is out of order, there is a chance that the reviewers will not review the application.


3. Ensure your calculations are accurate— Are your budget statistics and informa- tion accurate? A number of applicants do not review the budget numbers to make sure they are accurate, consistent, and realistic to the grant amounts. An inaccurate budget means a ruling against your application in the early re- view stage. Besides, if you can’t manage your own budget, how will you be able to manage additional funds allocated to your business?


Tip: Use the latest, most up-to- date budget figures, not old ones


fom previous years. For example, do not use epidemiological budget reports fom 2010 when you can use 2017.


4. Provide proper justification—Trade places with the funder and imagine offering a large sum of money to fulfill a mission. You would want to know that your money will be spent properly. Many applicants lack the thorough budget justification needed for the funder to have complete confidence that their monies will be well spent. For example, your narrative states


that you are going to spend $657,000 to drug test 100 people for a one- year period. Tis means that you are charging $6,570 per person. You must quantify the narrative. Te narrative and the justification must match.


Tip: A great way to impress the grant reviewers is to prove the


competence of your proposed solution by ensuring that the funding request matches the scope of the project.


5. Balance long-term and short-term goals—many applicants do not demon- strate with their application the necessary


www.datia.org


balance between long-term and short- term goals. Te application should show future plans demonstrating that you understand the bigger picture, while also stating details on expected and immedi- ate outcomes. Remember, a funder must feel like they are making a wise decision when choosing your organization.


Tip: To ensure the success of the proposed long-term and short-


term goals, make sure you have total buy- in fom your organization’s leadership.


6. Share your story—Once again, you must comply with grant guidelines and instructions, but you should also write with clarity and interest. How does your program provide the solution to the issue? Address the issue and clearly convey the solution and advantages of your program with a story. Effec- tive grant writing maintains a balance between technical guidelines and read- ers’ interest. It is the strong approach to realistically stating your case that grabs the reviewers’ atention while keeping you in the competition because of a thorough, yet interesting grant proposal. For example, for grant


announcement PA-18-061, the applicant should provide a clear and concise solution for supporting the research data initiative. Tis solution must detail how the CLIA-certified lab will collect and analyze the data in conjunction with providing clinical practices to identify the risk factors. Tat solution would flow much like a


storyboard that includes: • Explaining that the target population is individuals with earlier onset of drug use who are now aged 50 or above.


• Hiring a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Social Worker (LICSW) and a Certified Addiction Counselor (CAC) to provide clinical evaluation, counseling services, and data collection.


• CLIA-certified lab screening for all clients and provide the data.


Tip: In addition to meeting all grant requirements, make sure


your story includes verbiage fom the grant announcement. Tis helps to clarify your proposed solution by aligning the narrative with the grant.


In summary, grant applications should


be compliant, thorough atention- grabbers. Trough the narratives and figures, the funder must know that they are making a wise investment when choosing your drug testing organization. Do the legwork and submit a grant package that “leaves no stone unturned” because there are clients and customers waiting to receive your skilled services. ❚


Mark Lassiter is the Chief Executive Officer at Atlantic Consulting Group (ACG), a grants management com- pany in the Washington, DC area. He has devoted his


company’s mission to helping small busi- nesses qualify and successfully complete behavioral health grant services. With more than 10 years of experience in full-cycle grants management, Mark has a proven ability to foster relationships with grant funders and organizations for behavioral health and substance-use disorders. His vision and ability to develop these relation- ships lead to short-term “wins” and long- term solutions because Mark knows that people service people.


Prior to organizing ACG, Mark served as the Deputy Director of Operations at the Addic- tion Prevention and Recovery Administration (APRA), for the Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), and then as Director for the same department for the District of Columbia (Washington, DC). For a preliminary review of your grant application or to schedule a consul- tation, email marklassiter@atlanticCgroup.com.


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