Budget, Budget Narrative, and Sustainability Plan

Final Project Guidelines

The Final Project for this course is a written grant proposal comprised of Assignments from Modules 2 and 3. The completed Final Project—the Grant Proposal Submission, is due by the end of Module 6.

The Grant Proposal Submission

The Grant Proposal Submission consists of three parts:

Part 1: Need Statement, Goals, and Objectives
Part 2: Methodology and Evaluation Plans
Part 3: Budget, Budget Narrative, and Sustainability Plan

The Final Project consists of the following components:

• Title Page
• Part 1: Need Statement, Goals, and Objectives
• Part 2: Methodology and Evaluation Plans
• Part 3: Budget, Budget Narrative, Sustainability Plan
• Reference Page

Part 1: Need Statement, Goals, and Objectives (3–4 pages excluding APA references)

• Need Statement
• Establishes the specific problem the proposal will address
• Substantiates the need for addressing this problem by presenting proof of need
• If proof of need requires information that would still need to be accomplished, such as a survey or focus group, the need statement provides a full explanation how this proof would be gathered and what it would address
• Reflects current literature
• Reflects funder interests
• Reflects best practices for grant writing
• Goals
• Align to the need statement
• Clarify what will be accomplished at the completion of the project or at a specific point
• Objectives
• Align to the project goals
• Are specific
• Are measureable

Part 2: Methodology and Evaluation Plans (3–4 pages excluding APA references)

The Methodology clarifies how objectives will be achieved and what activities will lead to that achievement. The Evaluation Plan provides a specific plan for determining how results will be appraised.

• The Methodology
  Includes:
  • Program description
  • Research design
  • Human subjects (sample)
  • Study validity and reliability
  • Assumptions and limitations
  • Time line
  • Analysis (and/or see Evaluation below)
  • Non-personnel resources
  • Facilities, supplies, technology, etc.
  • Any non-personnel resources that will appear in the proposal budget should be described
  • Personnel resources
  • Who will be assigned or hired?
  • Management plan (Work plan)
  • Who will be responsible for which activities
  • What is the timeline associated with activities (first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter, ongoing)?
  • How will the project be managed?

• The Evaluation Plan
  Includes:
• Description of the specific criteria that will measure the success of the project
• Explanation of data that will be collected
  • Verify if your grant application will require an institutional review board (IRB) approval.
• Explanation of the data collection plans at the beginning, mid-program, and final evaluation
• Evaluation instruments that will be used and an explanation of why these instruments were selected
• Plans for writing the periodic reports to keep the funder updated

Part 3: Budget, Budget Narrative, and Sustainability Plan (3–5 pages)

The project Budget delineates all expected costs associated with a project. The Budget Narrative expands upon the line items, offering further explanation of costs and needs as appropriate. A Sustainability Plan explains to funders how you will continue a project after funding has been exhausted.

Part I: Budget

• Use the budget template provided in the Learning Resources.

• Fill in the budget template for your project

Note: Rationale for costs will be provided in the budget narrative.

Note 2: Budget line items should consider the non-personnel and personnel resources listed in the methodology section.

Part II: Budget Narrative and Sustainability Plan

• The Budget Narrative expands on the line items of the budget, providing a reviewer detail and justification for how you arrived at the projected dollar amounts. For example: If hiring a consultant for $2,000 is a line item, the narrative might explain that this is based on 40 hours @ $50/hour.
• The Sustainability Plan explains how your agency plans to continue operating this program once the funding has run out.
• It also indicates where future funding and other resources might be obtained.

Note: All relevant cost issues from the budget are addressed in the sustainability plan.

References Page (1–2 pages)