The old Yiddish adage, “We plan and god laughs,” is a humorous but pessimistic view on prevention. There is a bit of truth to it — rarely does anything we plan go precisely as we envision.
This optimist likes to think planning is an important tool for preventing catastrophes and natural disasters from spiraling into tragedies. Planning isn’t the full answer to all of life’s problems, but it is a way to approach today’s challenges from a proactive perspective instead of a reactionary one.
Full disclosure: I am a planner with a capital P. It is my profession. When I advocate for planning as a methodical, thoughtful, goal-oriented process, I speak from experience. Planning can reap amazing benefits — more than just positive outcomes — and when it comes to grant funding, a well-developed plan can be key to securing the funds your organization needs.
Preparing Plans for Successful Grant Applications
Plans are a pre-requisite for successful grant applications. Even if one is not specifically required by the application instructions, a plan can almost always help make a more successful proposal. For example, the Assistance to Firefighters Grants offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) not only help prevent forest fires but also provide funding for preparedness through planning. The projects included in applications for this program must have been identified in a plan to be eligible to be funded by the grant.
FEMA also funds planning for flood protection through its Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Program (HMGP). HMGP grants provide funding to state, local, tribal and territorial governments to develop hazard mitigation plans and rebuild in ways that reduce (or mitigate) future disaster losses in their communities. To be funded through these grants, projects and cost estimates must have been identified in a plan.
In other words, planning and planners have an important role in most things that can be funded through grants. If “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” planning is measured by the ounce and grant funds are measured by the pound.
Planning is also a profession unto itself. You’ll probably never hear a grade schooler say they want grow up to become an urban or regional planner, land use planner, environment planner, hazard mitigation planner or traffic planner, but all these are valid career paths. Planning is a field that sits at a crossroads for multiple government and private business interests. Planners work with developers and government agencies to set forth the goals and objectives of a wide variety of projects and policies. These plans are typically called comprehensive plans or master plans.
More detailed plans that identify policies and priorities for more specific government action can include capital improvement plans, recreation plans, economic development plans, flood warning and response plans, hazard mitigation plans and open space preservation plans. Regardless of the topic, all grant plans prescribe goals and objectives and make recommendations toward some end that needs funding to achieve.
If “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” planning is measured by the ounce and grant funds are measured by the pound.
Planning for Unlikely Events
Lexipol co-founder Gordon Graham is fond of saying, “Predictable is preventable.” To a planner, this means creating a detailed plan in advance of an unlikely yet foreseeable event is the best way to help ensure it doesn’t actually happen — or that you’re ready with a response to reduce its severity.
Plans for incident command and response are typically drafted by local emergency managers, public administrators, public works directors, civil engineers and city planners. These professionals work as a team to anticipate situations and events, inventory assets, identify resources and personnel and propose procedures for response to a variety of situations. Scenarios requiring this type of planning include floods, earthquakes, dam failures, wildfires, terrorist attacks, pandemics, social unrest, transportation failures and gun violence incidents. Intricate plans, clearly articulated in written documents, provide direction on command structure, staging of assets, equipment requirements and operating procedures to save time, energy and money when disaster strikes.
Scenario Planning Reveals Needs
A fairly new application of this discipline is exploratory scenario planning, or XSP. This type of planning pulls from the imaginations of a broad spectrum of professionals at the local and county level. Planner Robert Goodspeed discussed the process in a recent article in Planning Magazine: “The whole idea of scenario planning is that you should prepare plans through the creation of multiple alternative, future scenarios. It’s a family of related methods.” XSP helps decision-makers identify weaknesses and vulnerabilities. The practice is frequently incorporated into flood warning and response plans, among other applications.
Planning identifies the need for capital resources. While equipment, personnel, technology and consulting services are frequently important for government to function, they often require grant funding to make them accessible to the organizations that need them. The best way to secure this funding is to spell out the need in a formal plan.
Plans = Funding
When a government agency is seeking funding to complete a project, a grant writer will constantly refer to the project plan to justify the needs of the organization. This involves highlighting the goals, objectives and activities the agency identified to appropriately scope the project. Pointing to the plan gives the grant application a leg up against competitors who haven’t bothered with this crucial step.
Planning is a measure of consistency and forethought. It demonstrates the capacity to think ahead and anticipate future funding needs by identifying priorities, goals and objectives to solving problems or fulfilling public services. In short, planning is a strength grant funders like to see as they review applications.
Many times, grant requests for proposals solicit responses that are “shovel ready.” But what exactly does this mean? A “shovel ready” project has been identified through the planning process and has already received all the necessary prior approvals including permits from state and local authorities that regulate the required work. This is why it is so important to think ahead and be prepared for whatever funding opportunities may come along that align with your goals for your community.
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Planners + Grant Writers = Success
How do you prepare and plan? If you don’t have a city planner on staff, you can hire consultants who will work with a variety of staff and departments in your organization to identify problems and draft plans to solve them. In most cases, the solution to a problem will include the need for funding. But along the way, the process will also examine the capacity of your organization to carry out projects, define priorities, craft policies, envision goals and objectives, and develop strategies to complete projects that solve the problems your organization is facing.
Once you have a plan, a grant writer can develop a grant proposal using the ounce of prevention that will measure up against the competition and successfully win you funding with the pound of cure.
Not sure where to start on your grant journey? Lexipol’s team of expert grant professionals and project managers can position you for success to help fund your organization’s needs.
