y Douglas Brooks Monday, 03 November 2008 05:51 Grant applications often require that the narrative section include

a vision statement, and in some cases a mission statement. Vision statements and mission statements are often confused with each other. They are not the same thing, but they are related. Both can be important impression making parts of grant applications because they are usually expressed early in the grant narrative. I want to show you how I create these two important statements from well-constructed goals. Good Vision Statements Vision statements are best expressed in one sentence: The vision of the New Frontier School District is to be highest academically performing school district in southwest Ohio. A vision statement should fit on a business card. It should be a constant reminder of your organizations purpose. It should be easy to remember. It should be easy to say and share with others. I can often get novice grant writers to express a rough vision statement by asking them one question: What difference do you see the funding making in your classroom or school? Good Mission Statements Mission statements provide the organization with direction for achieving an organizations vision statement. Districts and schools often have school board approved mission statements. In Ohio, every district is required to have a mission statement. Grant narratives often call for them in the form of a question. Describe the mission of your project. This question often comes before the section on goals and objectives. I usually wait to build a grant narrative mission statement until I have determined a clear set of beliefs or goals that best advance the vision statement. Mission statements are usually longer than vision statements. The mission of the New Frontier School District is the continuous improvement of student learning through parental engagement, collaborative strategic planning and a commitment to individual differences. The district will maximize the effective integration of advanced technologies to insure excellence in district communications, access to curriculum goals, web-based professional development, and shared best practice. A district or building mission statement should guide the review of funding opportunities, and the final decision to pursue, or not pursue, a particular funding opportunity. The goals of the foundation or grant RFP should be reflected in mission language. The Quality Management people would call this alignment. If the goals of a grant opportunity does not align with the vision and mission of the organization, then the grant is not worth pursuing. This is why GrantSuccess encourages building the Action Summary Page first. Building this document first, lets you see if the goals of the grant are aligned with building and district goals. If the goals dont align, then your team doesnt waste any more time on the application. I have saved busy school administrators many hours by simply reviewing a grants goals and seeing if the goals align with the districts mission. Project MusicTech Goals: Project MusicTech has four (4) sequential goals. 1. Introduce and purchase Yamaha MIE (Music In Education) technology. 2. Develop and train K-5 music classroom faculty in Yamaha MIE systems and processes. 3. Design and integrate Yamaha MIE music technology-based lessons into K-5 music classrooms. 4. Assess and verify the impact of MIE intervention of the acquisition of K-5 music literacy skills. Project MusicTech Vision Statement: Improve K-5 student music literacy skills through technology integrated music education. Project MusicTech Mission Statement: Assess and verify the impact of the Music In Education program on K-5 music literacy skills through the introduction and purchase of Yamaha Music In Education technology. Participating teachers will develop and train in Yamaha MIE systems and processes with the goal of designing and integrating Yamaha MIE music technology-based lessons into K-5 music classrooms. Structure Lesson: I reversed the goal statements to emphasize that the mission was to assess the effectiveness of the program, not just purchase it. I created two sentences out of the four goals. The

alignment of the vision, mission and goals adds clarity to the grant. One grant writing skill warrants repeating, since we have seen how goals help write mission and vision statements. Time spent articulating and organizing project goals and objectives will help you organize every other section of the grant narrative. I copy and paste the finalized goals and objectives into the Personnel, Action Plan (time line), Budget, and Evaluation sections of the narrative. I use them to guide the language of each section. I add dates and names to the sections for the action plan. I add people, materials and costs to the objectives for the budget and use this section to write the budget narrative. I add assessment strategies and evaluation instruments to the project evaluation section. When I have these sections written. I use the most important sentences from each narrative section to write the abstract, project description and summary. Language Lesson: Music literacy (see boldface) emerges as the thread that runs through all three sections of the narrative. The grant application is not about Yamaha. It is not about Music In Education. It is not about teacher professional development. It is not about lesson building. They are components but not the spinal column of the grant. The grant evaluator is left with a clear impression of the grant as Music Literacy grant application, and a good one! I hope that seeing how this is done is more help than just being told what to do.

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