Grant Cycle Process
Award Ceremony
In order to celebrate and show appreciation for grant awardees and their dedication to service, about two weeks after the grant decisions are made, a grant award ceremony should be held. (See the Award Ceremony and Review Session Committee section for specific steps that can be taken to plan this ceremony.) All members of the grant-winning projects are invited to attend, as are their families, project adult advisors, project sponsors, representatives from your sponsoring organization(s), and special guests.
The ceremony is typically held at an outdoor venue, weather permitting. This makes for a more natural-feeling environment and for better photos. If you hold your ceremony outside, though, be sure to identify an alternate location in case of surprise inclement weather.
The ceremony will begin with opening remarks from a youth board member. The remarks should welcome everyone to the ceremony, tell a little bit of background about the program and why you started it, state a few impacts of the program (or perhaps the expected collective impact of the newly-funded projects), and convey the excitement you have for the newly-funded projects.
The microphone then turns over to any special guests that you have invited to the ceremony to speak. These special guests can potentially be your mayor, a superintendent, a principal, a well-known teacher, a governor, or any other person whose presence at the ceremony would be exciting for the youth awarded with grants and would reflect well on your grant program. If your guest obliges, you can invite them up to the podium to speak. Make sure you communicate with your guest at least one week beforehand (and more for bigger public figures or busier individuals) about whether or not they will be speaking, what the topic of their remarks will be, and how much time they have allotted for their remarks.
The next part of the award ceremony is the presentation of the checks, during which board members take turns awarding big checks to the grant awardees. Board members should present checks to the project that they have been assigned to mentor. During the presentation of the checks, board members will introduce themselves and welcome all members of the mentee project up to the podium. The board member will then introduce a spokesperson from the group, inviting them to give a two-minute summary of the funded project and why the group chose to do it. While handing a big (11”x17”) check to the group, the board member will congratulate the group for its work and officially award the grant money. All people standing up at the podium (group members, adult advisors, special guest speakers, and the board member mentor) then pose for a photo together with the big check in hand. People are invited to be seated, and the process is repeated until all projects have received their big check.
After the grant presentations, the program manager takes the stage and thanks the board for their hard work. Members are invited up and introduced by name. Any exiting board members (those who will not be returning next year) are personally thanked and, if funds allow, given a small token of appreciation. This can be anything from a recycled-materials keychain to flowers.
While all other board members sit back down, the one who gave the opening remarks remains at the podium to give the closing remarks. These remarks include final thank-yous and project encouragement. Once the remarks have concluded, all members of all projects are invited up for one big group picture. All people are then released to mingle and eat refreshments. (These refreshments will hopefully be food and drink donated by local stores. Be sure to use environmentally-friendly materials – cutlery, napkins, cups, etc. – and provide recycling bins for proper disposal of materials, as well.)
Before project leaders leave, be sure to get from them their “Project Contract Form.” In return, give them a folder containing the “Project Report Form Cover Letter,” “Project Report Form,” and the actual check cut by your fiscal sponsor.
In order to celebrate and show appreciation for grant awardees and their dedication to service, about two weeks after the grant decisions are made, a grant award ceremony should be held. (See the Award Ceremony and Review Session Committee section for specific steps that can be taken to plan this ceremony.) All members of the grant-winning projects are invited to attend, as are their families, project adult advisors, project sponsors, representatives from your sponsoring organization(s), and special guests.
The ceremony is typically held at an outdoor venue, weather permitting. This makes for a more natural-feeling environment and for better photos. If you hold your ceremony outside, though, be sure to identify an alternate location in case of surprise inclement weather.
The ceremony will begin with opening remarks from a youth board member. The remarks should welcome everyone to the ceremony, tell a little bit of background about the program and why you started it, state a few impacts of the program (or perhaps the expected collective impact of the newly-funded projects), and convey the excitement you have for the newly-funded projects.
The microphone then turns over to any special guests that you have invited to the ceremony to speak. These special guests can potentially be your mayor, a superintendent, a principal, a well-known teacher, a governor, or any other person whose presence at the ceremony would be exciting for the youth awarded with grants and would reflect well on your grant program. If your guest obliges, you can invite them up to the podium to speak. Make sure you communicate with your guest at least one week beforehand (and more for bigger public figures or busier individuals) about whether or not they will be speaking, what the topic of their remarks will be, and how much time they have allotted for their remarks.
The next part of the award ceremony is the presentation of the checks, during which board members take turns awarding big checks to the grant awardees. Board members should present checks to the project that they have been assigned to mentor. During the presentation of the checks, board members will introduce themselves and welcome all members of the mentee project up to the podium. The board member will then introduce a spokesperson from the group, inviting them to give a two-minute summary of the funded project and why the group chose to do it. While handing a big (11”x17”) check to the group, the board member will congratulate the group for its work and officially award the grant money. All people standing up at the podium (group members, adult advisors, special guest speakers, and the board member mentor) then pose for a photo together with the big check in hand. People are invited to be seated, and the process is repeated until all projects have received their big check.
After the grant presentations, the program manager takes the stage and thanks the board for their hard work. Members are invited up and introduced by name. Any exiting board members (those who will not be returning next year) are personally thanked and, if funds allow, given a small token of appreciation. This can be anything from a recycled-materials keychain to flowers.
While all other board members sit back down, the one who gave the opening remarks remains at the podium to give the closing remarks. These remarks include final thank-yous and project encouragement. Once the remarks have concluded, all members of all projects are invited up for one big group picture. All people are then released to mingle and eat refreshments. (These refreshments will hopefully be food and drink donated by local stores. Be sure to use environmentally-friendly materials – cutlery, napkins, cups, etc. – and provide recycling bins for proper disposal of materials, as well.)
Before project leaders leave, be sure to get from them their “Project Contract Form.” In return, give them a folder containing the “Project Report Form Cover Letter,” “Project Report Form,” and the actual check cut by your fiscal sponsor.
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Project Report Form | |
File Size: | 502 kb |
File Type: | doc |