Resources

GPC Study Group

The Heart of America GPA chapter organized a nine-week Grant Professional Certification (GPC) Study Group that began in January 2019. This group met weekly online to prepare for the GPC Exam. Watch this space for future GPC study group offerings. Study group participation is a benefit of chapter membership. 

For more information on the GPC, visit https://www.grantcredential.org/.

Grants in Kansas City

“How do I write a grant?” is a question frequently asked of grant professionals. It’s also a common question for Mr. Google and his fellow search engines. Searches for “grant writing” or “grant writing training” yield millions of hits. While there is a lot of good information available there is also a lot of misinformation and scamming. As of late 2009, the home page of the GPA warns about scams; see “Beware of grant scams” and “GPA in the news: Government giving away money? Don’t count on it.”

This page will guide novices to reputable, quality grant writing resources and training in Greater Kansas City. There are many options:

  • Free vs. fee
  • Online vs. live
  • Academic credit vs. non-credit

Our suggestions are only an introduction to the world of grants. These websites, books, classes and tutorials will not make you an expert. After an introductory course you are still a novice. With grant proposals, as with most endeavors, there is no substitute for experience.

I. Free Grant Writing Resources

Some of the most reliable education about grants is available through public libraries – and it’s free! To see summaries of resources at each of four Greater Kansas City public library systems, click on these links:

II. Grant Writing Training – (FREE, ONLINE)

The Foundation Center was established in 1956. Their website has an overwhelming amount of information that is mainstream, reliable and respected. Most of the basic stuff is free. Visit The Foundation Center and click on “Get Started” to find free, basic resources. Here are examples:

  • Training Courses:
    Getting Ready for Foundation Fundraising; Proposal Writing Basics; Proposal Budgeting Basics; How to Approach a Foundation
  • Guides and Tutorials:
     Proposal Writing Short Course; Proposal Budgeting Basics
  • Webinars:
    Grantseeking Basics; Introduction to Finding Funders; Guide to Online Grantseeker Resources; Proposal Writing Basics.

III. Grant Writing Training – FEE; ONLINE; NON-CREDIT

Education To Go provides online, non-credit courses. You can sign up directly with ed2go or with one of its partners: “more than 1,500 of the biggest colleges, universities, and other schools across the United States, Canada, and Australia.” A dozen of the partners are in Greater Kansas City (the KC Art Institute, several community colleges, and several public school districts).

Ed2go has nine courses classified as “Grant Writing & Nonprofit Management.” In late 2009, each class cost $139 and lasted 12 sessions. The classes include detailed curricula and teachers who correspond with students. Classes include “A to Z Grantwriting” and “Writing Effective Grant Proposals” and seven more.

The colleges and schools in Greater Kansas City that list these classes in their catalogs don’t identify ed2go as the provider. However, the ed2go website allows you to see what local entities offer a particular ed2go class. By signing up through a local college or school district, you may save money. For example, Johnson County Community College offered “A to Z Grantwriting” for $85 rather than ed2go’s direct price of $139 – and it’s the same class.

IV. Grant writing training – FEE; ONLINE; CREDIT

In the fall of 2009, Kansas State University in Manhattan, KS, offered two classes for credit: “Fundamentals of Nonprofit Organization Fund Raising” and “Grant Writing: Finding the Elusive Dollar.” Each class could be taken for three undergraduate credit hours for $912. The grant writing class could also be taken for three graduate credit hours for $1,179.

These are “distance learning” classes. Students participate electronically by home computer. In addition, the grant writing class is also available via TELENET 2 at the KU Edwards campus in Overland Park, KS. The course descriptions, textbooks, homework and mandatory student participation sound like normal college classes; the main difference is the distance-learning component.

V. Grant Writing Training – FEE; LIVE; NON-CREDIT

There are companies that send consultants around the country to teach grant writing. Two large companies are Grant Writing USA and The Grantsmanship Center. Check their websites to see when they schedule classes in Greater Kansas City. As of late 2009, here is basic information:

Grant Writing USA: Grant Writing USA and Grant Management USA delivers more than 150 training events across North America each year. The companies’ grant writing and grant administration training programs are endorsed by the GPA and are also approved for Continuing Education for holders of the Grants Professional Certified designation. Post-baccalaureate academic credit and CEU’s for other professionals are available, too. Learn more at http://grantwritingusa.com or by calling 1.800.814.8191.
The Grantsmanship Center: Their five-day training is $895. Since 1972, they say “we’ve trained more than 115,000 nonprofit leaders.” Their guide “Program Planning and Proposal Writing” is, according to TGCI, “the most widely read publication in nonprofit history. There are more than a million copies . . . in print – and scores of government, foundation, and corporate grantmakers have adopted it as their preferred application format.” They are teaching in Olathe KS in January 2010.

Much less expensive is the UMKC Communiversity Class, “A Practical Guide to Grantsmanship” taught by Anna Kraxner, GPC, a member of the AAGP Heart of America Chapter and an experienced grant professional. Her class has three evening sessions and costs $15. Since this is an AAGP website, we feel free to offer an endorsement: by any standard, Anna’s class is a bargain.

VI. Grant writing training – FEE; LIVE; CREDIT

If you want training from real, live teachers in Greater Kansas City, the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership is housed at the UMKC Bloch School of Business. Each year they offer a menu of seven fund raising classes, including “Prospect Research and Proposal Writing.” You have credit/non-credit options if you enroll in this class. For $250 you will get no university credit, but an extra $50 gets you one hour of graduate school credit, if you qualify.
Conclusion
In addition to our suggestions above, there are innumerable other sources to help grant novices. We don’t pretend this webpage is comprehensive. We just want to highlight some established, respectable sources that we know are not scams and that are available in Greater Kansas City. If you would like to suggest additions or corrections to this web page, please contact us.