Volunteers Assisting Nonprofits With Their Grant Writing

Questions & Answers

How do finances work for online chapters?
Our new online chapters will pay an annual fee of 3% of all receipts annually to cover the upgrade and maintenance of our class offerings. As regards fees, online chapters will share all net class fees related to their specified zip codes within their territory or with their specific organization on a 50/50 basis. Grants To You National will remit each chapter's share of the prior month fees by the 10th of the next month.

How is Grants To You's Grants Classes Different from all others offered?
To the best of our knowledge, GTU is the only organization who offers classes the way we do as follows: 1. All students are volunteers for a local non-profit agency of their choosing. 2. On registration, students must indicate the name and contact information of the local non-profit they will be assisting on completion of our class. 3. The designated nonprofit will receive 2 e-mails...one announcing the new volunteer and one indicating completion of the training. 4. All graduates will be contacted to determine how many grants they helped to research, write and won and how many dollars were won. 5. The information received will be posted on to the GTU web site and is visible in the "View our Success" report on our home page. Our bottom line is accountability and results.

Explain how the 501c3 works
A 501c3 refers to an IRS statute that when designated to an agency, enables their donors to tax deduct their contributions and also allows nonprofits to so state when applying for grants. Grants To You is a designated nonprofit under 501c3 using the name The Lifespan Foundation.

Where can I obtain Training materials for my classes?
The GTU website has 2 sections, one called How to Operate a Chapter and the other called Chapter Tools. In addition, the online class contains a list of handouts that can be downloaded. Finally, all new chapters will receive a greeting letter along with a detailed instruction on how to form and operate a chapter and run classes.

Do GTU chapters pay the Chapter Coordinator and Teacher?
Yes. These folks VOLUNTEER to help their community by assisting GTU in delivering their program. We recommend that the chapter, AS A THANK YOU ONLY, pay the Chapter Coordinator $100 for each class(15 hours of effort) and the Teacher $200 for each 9 hour class. Chapters will raise funds for these payments by charging students a very reasonable $25.

Must our classes ultilize computers for the training?
No. We have had great success both using and not using computers. What is most important is that our student volunteers know where to go on the internet and how best to utilize some key grant sites. That can be taught with overheads, with workbooks and/or by using a computer. Further, one computer that can transmit its image onto a large screen works quite well.

Time to hold the first class?
Once GTU receives your paperwork, we can establish your chapter home page almost instantly. The challenge for the chapter is to obtain a Program Coordinator, a teacher(s) and a place. The next step is to let the community know what you are doing and when and how to register and then you're in business.

Is Grants To You some sort of franchise arrangement?
No. Grants To You is a registered trademark. Anyone who uses that mark and its related processes and materials is asked to pay a small license fee as noted above. Chapters sign a Licensing Agreement which sets out the terms of the relationship between National GTU and its chapters. Chapters will also establish a local checking account that will utilize the national The Lifespan Foundation dba Grants To You FEIN number.

To fill our 9 hour class, we are thinking about each of our Advisory Council members recruiting one other person.
That may work for the first class, but to truly sustain the GTU program, we urge you to use a full scale, broad based marketing approach as noted above.

How much time works best between sending in the application to actually holding the first class?
That depends on when you obtain a Program Coordinator, a teacher and a place. Once done, the rest of the effort involves promoting the class using press releases, announcements in local media, PSAs?and E-mails to local non-profits.

Should our chapters charge for classes?
Yes. Effective September 14th 2009, the GTU Board of Directors has recommended a charge of $25 per student to cover the costs of a teacher, the chapter coordinator and for supplies. We anticipate that a class of no more than 20 would be appropriate for effective training

What is the financial arrangement between the chapter, teachers, volunteers and non-profits?
The chapter raises around $1,000 from student fees at $25 per each to fund no less than 3 classes annually. With that funding, the chapter, AS A THANK YOU ONLY, pays the VOLUNTEER Teacher $200 per 9 hours of training, pays $30 for supplies and pays the VOLUNTEER Chapter Coordinator $100 per class for 15 hours of administrative effort. Grants To You national receives no funding.

How do the finances work for Chapters offering live classes?
We ask that our new live chapters pay an annual fee of 3% of their gross receipts to Grants To You to enable it to maintain and build its WEB Site. Financially speaking, that is all that is required. We will work closely with Chapter Coordinators to establish a local checking account to be used to deposit and disburse all chapter funds. Annually a report of all receipts and expenses will be requested of each chapter to be consolidated and reported in accordance with IRS regs.

How many volunteers students are ideal for a class?
We have found that 15-20 works best. To achieve that level, we try to attract/register 20-25. Those who do not show up for the class are moved from the Class Roster screen to the Untrained Volunteers screen on the WEB Site and are contacted individually by phone and E-mail as regards to the next scheduled class.

Does the Founder and CEO of Grants To You visit each new chapter on or before their first class?
Not necessarily. In point of fact, the Grants To You WEB Site combined with our availability via E-mail and phone enables us to effectively support and indeed handhold new chapters. That being said, it can be important that we visit to kickoff a new program (chapter) by bringing community leaders and non-profits together to hear the Grants To You story right from the Founder. Should that be seen as important by the GTU leaders in that community, we would make every effort to visit, depending on funding availability.

Who are the teachers? How does one become eligible?
Teachers are generally professionals in grants writing who work or used to work in school systems, in government or for non-profits.