Read Chapter 22 and Chapter 7 before completing this project. You may also wish to consult Chapter 23. Using the background information provided below, create the following documents in collaboration with your assigned group:
A two to three-page (single-spaced) grant proposal letter asking for a Grants for Arts Projects: Media Arts grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. You will format your proposal as a business letter. Your proposal must have the following six labeled sections: Introduction; Background/Problem/Purpose; Proposal/Plan/Schedule; Staffing; Budget; and Conclusion.
A visual media presentation of your proposal to be aimed at the board of directors of your organization, The Academy of American Poets, briefly and attractively presenting the concept of the event/activity you are proposing.
This proposal must include a research component, including in your proposal letter material from at least five (5) authoritative outside sources to support your argument. Sources should be documented using correct APA format for in-text citations and reference list. For additional information about research and citation, review Chapter 7 and Appendix A. (Your Works Cited will be an additional page appended to your grant proposal letter.)
While the actual grant proposal process for the Grants for Arts Projects: Media Arts grant is rather more involved, your proposal should be written in letter form. If you’re unsure about letter formatting, review Chapter 15. There are also some sample student proposals from previous semesters posted in the Sample Proposals folder in the Weekly Lessons folder for Week Nine in Blackboard Learn.
Your group’s visual presentation can be in the form of a PowerPoint presentation (saved in .pdf), a Prezi presentation, a slide show video, a short filmed video, or a well-designed, graphics-intensive brochure or short booklet (saved in pdf). Any video/slideshow should be no more 3-5 minutes in length. Note: Your group will present a 3-minute visual proposal to our class at our last class meeting.
Your group may divide the work of the project however you desire, to allow members to use their particular strengths as effectively as possible. If you have concerns about the resultant collaborative process and/or the performance of other group members, please let me know. Non-participating group members will not receive credit for the group’s work. Anyone who has not contacted the group by the date of our class meeting on research/citation, or who ceases communicating with the group, may be removed from the group and not allowed to complete Project 10. Please maintain regular contact with your fellow group members!
BACKGROUND:
After the situation with the YMCA, the Academy has decided to find another venue for National Poetry Month next year. The consensus of the planning committee is that the most cost-effective way to reach the largest audience is to somehow broadcast the reading instead of just holding the reading at the YMCA.
Your group, the grant-writing workgroup for the Academy, has decided to apply for a Grants for Arts Projects: Media Arts grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to fund the reading. Their request for proposal (RFP), is available at https://www.arts.gov/grants/grants-for-arts-projects/program-description after you select “Media Arts” from the dropdown. To get a clear sense of the NEA’s values and goals (so that you can appeal to them in your letter), I suggest reading the general grant program description at https://www.arts.gov/grants/grants-for-arts-projects. To avoid common pitfalls, I also suggest you look at the criteria for what kinds of proposal are not funded: https://www.arts.gov/grants/grants-for-arts-projects/what-we-do-not-fund.
How can your attract the audience the NEA is looking for
What are appropriate and cost-effective options
How can you attract new or underserved audiences
And where will you hold your new event
You’ll have to solve those problems in your project design.
Additionally, you’ll need to convince your own Board of Directors that it’s time for a change in the way things have always been done. Therefore, your group has decided to prepare a short, visually impactful presentation for the next Board meeting. This presentation will give an overview of your concept, explaining it in an accessible and appealing manner to “the old guard” to gain their support of your new, exciting concept.