The Resilient Communities Webinar Series seeks to empower communities by sharing educational resources and showcasing strategies for equipping local leaders with the skills needed to secure state funding. Our May 6th webinar, “Unlocking Illinois Grant Funding: Building Capacity, Navigating Portals, & Writing Proposals,” brought together Susan Odum, a capacity-building expert; grant writing experts Connie Frey-Spurlock and Diane Cox; and grant portal expert Andraina Perez.
Susan Odum, a Community Economic Development Specialist from the University of Illinois Extension, shared best practices for developing a cohesive community vision and identifying actionable goals that lay the groundwork for an effective grant proposal. She emphasized the importance of gathering community support and project input to ensure success. She also shared the MAPPING the Future of Your Community program that helps support these efforts. Her presentation explored how resilient communities come together to identify their unique problems, establish priorities, understand what led to the current state of their community, and chart a path to a better tomorrow. Developing a cohesive community vision provides a starting point for your residents to set goals, establish a sense of shared purpose, and collaborate on strategies to become a resilient community. Susan explained the difference between a comprehensive plan, which is a long-term plan outlining vision, goals, and strategy, and a strategic plan, which is a short-term plan focused on specific actions and resources needed to achieve a goal, while highlighting the importance of including community members from diverse backgrounds, ages, and priorities.
Adriana Perez, the Program Delivery Manager for the Grants Accountability and Transparency Unit, shared her expertise navigating the GATA and Amplifund portals used to submit state grant applications. She reviewed the pre-qualification requirements, including registering your organization in the GATA Grantee Portal, identifying your entity’s Unique Entity Identification number (UEI), finding your GATA ID number, and accessing Amplifund. She shared tips and tricks as she walked the audience through where to find funding opportunities, how to determine eligibility using the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO), and shared resources to further training opportunities in the GATA Learning Management System (LMS).
We wrapped up the webinar with two grant-writing experts from the Southern Illinois University System. Connie Spurlock, the Director of the Office of Community Engagement, and Diane Cox, the Director of Grant Development, discussed how to create mutually beneficial relationships within communities to ensure grant proposals are inclusive, supportive, and successful. They spotlighted the importance of incorporating the communities into the grant proposals to ensure the values of inclusion, accessibility, ethics, transparency, collaboration, and participation are embedded into every project. They shared lessons from navigating the legacy of distrust in Illinois communities that were historically underrepresented or disinvested. Reminding us all that showing up to the community and building mutual lasting relationships are key to long-term success. The expert duo ended by sharing multiple FREE grant training workshops offered through the Southern Illinois University System.
This webinar was designed to share resources to inspire you to take the first steps in creating a community vision around your area’s specific needs and goals. Several invaluable resources were shared to help you along the way, including the MAPPING program offered through the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, the GATA Learning Management System (LMS), and FREE grant training workshops offered through the Southern Illinois University System. We encourage you to explore these resources and to reach out with any questions you may have, and we will be happy to connect you with the appropriate contact.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has” -Margaret Mead
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