Community leadership: roles, responsibilities, and effectiveness

Community leadership is very important, and one of the best ways to lead a community is through getting grants to develop and improve that community. Urban neighborhoods are coming back in many parts of the country, and they are doing that, in part, through grants (von Hoffman, 2003). In order to get a grant, though, an agency or organization has to know exactly who to apply to, what should be put into the application, and what type of criteria has to be met (Browning, 2009). Without strong knowledge of what is needed for a grant application, there is little likelihood that application will be approved. One also has to know where to find grants that are legitimate. Many of these can be found through official state and federal government websites, as those are the best places to start looking (Browning, 2009). They are also the best places to read requirements, so one can be sure the organization or agency fits with the requirements of a particular grant (Browning, 2009). If the agency or organization does not meet all the requirements, there is no point in moving forward with the creation of proposal for any type of grant (von Hoffman, 2003).

The first thing in the grant package will be the proposal summary, but it should be written last (Browning, 2009). That way the summary will encompass everything the granting organization needs to know about what is in the proposal. Sometimes, the summary is the only thing that gets read before a decision is made as to whether to move the proposal foreword or put it into the trash, so the proposal must be right (Browning, 2009). It should only be a couple of paragraphs, but should encompass all of the important points of the entire proposal (Browning, 2009). Next will come the introduction, and it should be used to show the credibility of the organization or agency that is applying for the grant (Browning, 2009). If the organization that is applying for a grant does not appear credible, the grant will not move forward (von Hoffman, 2003).

Purpose, objectives, method, and design all come next. The purpose for the grant is a vital part of the proposal (von Hoffman, 2003). Grants are not given out as easily as they used to be, and there are fewer of them handed out based on poignant stories and "hard luck" information (Browning, 2009). In other words, any grant has to have an actual point and purpose, not just be a sob story about a failing community center or people who do not have anywhere to live. That does not mean those things do not matter, but only that it is much more difficult to get grants than it used to be. There has to be a clear direction and purpose, objectives that the grant will meet, a method that will be followed, and a design that can be verified and checked up on by the granting organization in the future (Browning, 2009). Putting all of those things together makes an organization more likely to get a grant, but there is a lot of competition and no guarantees of success, even for very worthy causes.