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Wavelengths
Grabbing fed cash
requires smarts, realism
By Glenn Bischoff
March 28, 2008
I learn a lot from attending trade shows and conferences. While at last
month’s International Wireless Communications Exposition (IWCE) in Las
Vegas, I learned that an enormous amount of federal grant money is
available to public-safety agencies—and that most agencies make
absolutely no effort to get their hands on some.
So said Chris Gilmore, a grant-writing specialist who conducted a
session on the topic during IWCE. I sat in on the session and then
followed up with a phone interview. When I asked Gilmore why agencies
don’t at least go through the application process, he immediately
blurted out, “Lord knows.” Then he added that some agencies
“simply don’t want to be bothered.”
I didn’t really understand that one. As credos go, “Nothing
ventured, nothing gained,” is pretty solid. But then I spoke with Paul
Maplethorpe, chief of the Greater Round Lake (Ill.) Fire Protection
District, who told me there’s something to Gilmore’s assertion. Many
smaller agencies, particularly volunteer fire departments, simply
don’t possess the acumen needed for the task and/or the manpower, he
said.
“The irony is that these agencies are the ones that need the money the
most, but the process is too difficult for them,” Maplethorpe said.
Gilmore told me that he would be more than happy to lend a hand and that
he’d charge a small agency in the neighborhood of $1500 to write a
grant proposal. On the day we spoke, Gilmore—who can be reached at chris.gilmore@gilmoretragus.com—told
me he was writing a grant application for a small agency that was
seeking $320,000 in funding.
“For some reason, it’s a struggle for [many agencies] to spend $1500
to get $320,000,” Gilmore said. “Maybe I’m a little jaded, but
$1500 doesn’t sound like a lot of money. They make that much on a
hot-dog sale.”
I agree with Gilmore that $1500 doesn’t sound like a very big
investment, even for a small agency—though I’d like to see the
hot-dog sale that generates a $1500 profit. Nevertheless, turning a
$1500 investment into a $320,000 return would be a pretty neat trick,
and I think I’d be inclined to roll the dice, especially considering
that a single Project 25-compliant digital radio costs in the
neighborhood of $5000.
Of course there’s no guarantee that any grant application will result
in funding. Even though the majority of agencies nationwide don’t
participate in the process, enough do so that going for the cash is a
highly competitive endeavor. So, there is an element of risk to hiring a
consultant. But hiring one is a good way to avoid the common pitfalls
that trip up many an applicant, said Gilmore, who shared some of the
“dos and don’ts” of navigating the application process. Chief
among them is a failure to understand that the process is designed to
ferret out and eliminate right away the applications that either are
unrealistic or simply don’t make sense.
“I’ve seen fire departments apply for funds to purchase 80 radios
when they only have 20 seats total on their trucks. They’re only going
to give you one radio per seat,” Gilmore said, adding that volunteer
departments are the primary culprits in this regard. “You can’t ask
for radios for everyone who might respond to an incident,” he said.
“You have to apply for those that will respond.”
It’s also not enough to demonstrate that the equipment is needed.
Applicants also have to adequately establish financial need, according
to Gilmore. “You have to be able to demonstrate why you need the money
and why you can’t pay for the items yourself—they’re going to ask
you what you’ve done to raise that money,” he said.
When answering such questions, doing so in a straightforward manner is
the best approach, Gilmore said. But all too often, applicants are vague
or evasive in their answers. Worse yet, they don’t always follow the
rules set by the funding entity. These are fatal errors, according to
Gilmore.
“Most agencies have their own ways of doing things, but when you’re
applying for a grant, you have to do what the grant agency wants,” he
said. “If you don’t answer their questions—in the way they want
them answered—you don’t get the money.”
It’s an all-too-common mistake that is easily avoidable, according to
Paula Rohrs, public education coordinator for the Greater Round Lake
Fire Protection District, who has served as a peer reviewer for FEMA’s
Assistance to Firefighters grant program for the past six years. Rohrs
said that grant guidance routinely is established by the funding agency,
information that is readily available online.
“If they only would read and follow the guidance, they would immensely
increase their chances of getting funded,” Rohrs said.
Doing so lets applicants do their own ferreting, according to
Maplethorpe.
“Your project might not fit what they want to fund, so you have to
decide whether to take a pass or modify your application to fit their
needs,” he said. “Sometimes you have to be flexible. You might only
get 80% of what you need—but it’s free money.”
I don’t know about you, but if I had to navigate such a minefield, I
think I’d want someone to tell me where the mines were located, even
if it cost me a few bucks—especially if I might find a pot of gold on
the other side.
E-mail me at gbischoff@mrtmag.com.
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Use of geolocation technology could help ensure that
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Motorola
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