September 30, 2009

Media Clips

Commitments to Empower Women, Girls Announced During Clinton Global Initiative
Philanthropy News Digest, September 23, 2009

Foster Kids-Turned-Moms Becoming Alarming Trend
San Antonio Express-News, September 21, 2009

Adolescent Denied Citizenship for Refusal to Receive HPV Vaccine
LifeSite News.com, September 16, 2009

Youth Spotlight Joslyn Monsivais While I was in high school, I joined the Right Choices for Youth teen coalition. I believed in the abstinence message and wanted to make a difference in my community. Eventually, I became a board member and recruited other students to RCY. RCY was awesome. I did it for three years, and in my senior year, we went to San Francisco. We got to talk to people on the street about abstinence, about what they teach their kids about sex. It was really interesting to hear all these different perspectives. But I grew up in a “church” family, so I’ve always known that I wanted to save myself for my husband. I guess it’s just my faith. And it helps when you have a support system. My family backs me 100 percent. And I also have friends who believe the same as I do. But a lot of it also has to do with just being in control. I don’t drink. I’ve never done any types of drugs. I think some people go out and party and lose their heads. They’re not fully aware of what’s going on. I think that’s one reason so many people think it’s OK to sleep with whoever whenever. I try not to put myself in situations where I’m not in control. In high school, I wasn’t invited to parties all the time because people knew I wouldn’t go if there’d be drinking. But I didn’t feel excluded. It was cool that they knew what I believed, and there wasn’t any peer pressure. No one was trying to force me to do anything I didn’t want to do. So instead, I talked to RCY staff about starting a “Fifth Quarter” party. It was a post-game party where students could get together after high school football games to hang out with friends in a risk-free environment. We held the party at the high school field house. We had a DJ, snacks, and an area for dancing. It was really fun. I think everyone had a good time. Now, I’m a full-time university student. I play intramural flag football, I coach soccer. I work part time. I’m very busy! I just try to do my best every day and keep a positive attitude. I abstain from risky behaviors and focus on my goals for the future. If you have outstanding youth in your program, let us know about them. E-mail: ncfy@acf.hhs.gov.

Right on the Money

Recipe for a Winning Grant Proposal

It's no secret nonprofit organizations are struggling to find new funding sources in these tough economic times. But with the right grant writing formula, your organization has a better chance of weathering the storm.

"Federal proposals are very much like baking a cake," says Tammy Hopper, director of organizational advancement for SENetwork in Bonita Springs, Florida. "On the Betty Crocker box, it tells you what ingredients to use, what temperature to cook your cake, and it even tells you what type of pan to put the cake in."

One of the most critical mistakes grant writers make is getting a little overzealous with their proposals, she says. But clever techniques, graphics and numerous quotes won't ever trump a well-written proposal that answers the funder's questions. Hopper offered the following tips on crafting a good proposal:

Dos:

1. State the facts. State the problem that exists in your community and find current research to support your proposal.
2. Fill the gaps. In cases where you don't meet all the eligibility criteria, state what resources and partners you have access to that qualify your organization for funding.
3. Ask questions. Most funders have training and technical assistance centers as well as project officers who can answer questions.
4. Invest in a grant writer. Hiring or contracting a qualified grant writer can be worthwhile. Another option is including someone with these skills on your advisory board. Check out the American Association of Grant Professionals for help finding a certified professional.
5. Proofread, please! Although you won't lose points on paper, if the grant reviewer spots a typo, you won't make the best possible impression. Have a pair of fresh eyes review the final product.

Don'ts:

1. Don't recycle.  A common mistake is pulling out last year's winning proposal and starting from there. But unless you have the reviewer's comments, you don't know why that old proposal was funded. Get the reviewer's comments and start a brand new proposal from scratch.
2. Forego the old "team" approach. Because many staff members have information to contribute, proposals often come in without a cohesive voice. Hopper says a grant reviewer "shouldn't feel the proposal was written by six different people." Have one person tie it all together to present a uniform tone.
3. Don't rush. Too many grant writers are chasing the FedEx truck at the end of the day because they didn't allow enough time to write a good proposal, Hopper says. Give yourself enough time to polish your work.
4. Don't beg. Funders are aware of how difficult it is to find support, but that isn't license to use your proposal to overstate problems. Rather, explain to funders what techniques you've already established to ensure stability.

Grant writing is not a science. There are human beings on the other end reading your proposal. (NCFY covered the grant maker's perspective here.) Hopper says, "You've got to make the best case possible. It's not enough to say we have a problem in our community and we should be funded. Your job is to convince them to invest in your project and that the investment is well placed."

Right on the Money is a new NCFY column about how to keep the doors of nonprofit organizations open in good times and bad. If there's a topic you'd like us to address here, please e-mail us.

Funding Opportunities

Community Health Leaders
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Application Due Date:   October 15, 2009

Communities Putting Prevention to Work
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Application Due Date:  December 1, 2009

Recent Research

Resilience, Good Grades, Religiosity Keep Youth out of Trouble

The author of “Overlap Between Health Problems Among Adolescents: Log-linear and Discriminent Analyses” (PDF) [Adolescent & Family Health, 4(2):58-68] surveys youth of different ages who have problems with drinking, drug use, depression, and unprotected sex. The study included a statewide, stratified random sample of 3,335 public high school. The author found that resilience, social connectedness, religiosity and good grades insulate adolescents from the problems studied. In addition, family, gender, and youths’ levels of self-esteem were found to make a difference.

African American and White Adolescent Boys: Differences in Sexuality

For their study “Timing of Initial Sexual Intercourse as a Mediating Factor Between White and Black Adolescent’s Sexual Attitudes and Sense of Self” (PDF) [Adolescent & Family Health, 4(2):58-68], researchers surveyed 847 black and white adolescent boys from rural Alabama. The researchers’ aimed to evaluate the relationship between adolescent sexual attitudes and the age at which boys have sex for the first time. Both are factors that affect boys’ likelihood of getting into trouble, having suicidal thoughts and feeling or lacking a sense of security. The authors found that white and black adolescents dealt with early sexual expression differently, depending on when they first had intercourse. The researchers also noted that white and black adolescents went through a different process when deciding to have sex.

Go to the NCFY literature database for abstracts of these and other publications. Publications discussed here do not necessarily reflect the views of NCFY, the Family and Youth Services Bureau, or the Administration for Children and Families.

Call for Studies

Mathematica Policy Research seeks studies for a comprehensive review of the evidence base for programs to prevent adolescent pregnancy. The review is being conducted for the Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, by Mathematica Policy Research. The results of the review will help inform policy and new federal initiatives and program directions. Submissions are due by October 31, 2009.

Click here for submission instructions.

Know Your CBAE Contractors

Many of you have expressed confusion about the organizations that work with the Family and Youth Services Bureau to deliver CBAE training, technical assistance, and other resources. Over the past several weeks, we’ve used this space to present descriptive summaries of those organizations, how they serve grantees, and how to contact them. Here are the links to their descriptions in past issues in case you missed them.

Quote of the Day

“We need to start thinking in depth about what it means to start a family. Sit down and have that conversation with a teen close to you.”

(Sarah Brown, CEO, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, in “Let’s Stop the New Teenage Mom Craze,” Glamour magazine, October 2009)

Address Change

Do you want us to send Abstinence Education E-Update to a new e-mail address? Have additional staff who should be getting this newsletter? Drop us a line at ncfy@acf.hhs.gov.