SAMPLE GRANT PROPOSAL

SAMPLE GRANT PROPOSAL

Over the years the Ohio Office of Criminal Justice Services (OCJS) has received requests from grant applicants for copies of successful grants, to tailor future proposals off these “model” grants. OCJS has been reluctant to fulfill these requests simply because copying another organization’s proposal style or idea is no guarantee of funding.

As a new customer service to constituents, OCJS has created the following Sample Grant Proposal, complete with fictitious names and sources. While not all the components of this Sample Proposal are required from OCJS grants, it is a good example of a universal—and sound—funding proposal.

SUMMARY

The Summerville Police Department, having served the City of Summerville for 137 years, is experiencing a high incidence of cardiovascular and musculo-skeletal problems among its sworn officers, resulting in fewer officers on the street. This problem has reached a point where public safety may be in jeopardy. Research shows that regular exercise will help keep law enforcement officers fit for duty. Project objectives include reducing by 20 percent the use of sick leave due to these problems.

It is proposed that a fitness center be developed where Summerville officers can regularly exercise. This project involves the renovation of the basement of the Police Department as a workout room, the purchase of exercise equipment, and training of all participants. The proposed program will be conducted under the close supervision of medical and exercise professionals, with requested funds totaling $28,498. Future maintenance of the project will be possible through appropriations from the Summerville City Council and volunteer fund-raising efforts carried out by the Friends of the Summerville Police Department.

INTRODUCTION

The Summerville Police Department began serving the City of Summerville in 1865. It was in that year that Zeke Foster, on returning from military service in the War Between the States, was sworn in as the first Chief of Police. Chief Foster was the only police officer until 1882, when the City Council appropriated monies to hire three additional officers to help keep order in the expanding community.

Since the late 1880's, both Summerville and its Police Department have continued to grow. The 2000 U.S. Bureau of Census figures indicate that Summerville has a population of 19,481. This represents a population increase of 15 percent over the 1980 census. New businesses and industries, attracted by the ample labor force resulting from bankrupt farming, have provided an unexpected source of economic growth.

To serve this community, the Summerville Police Department now has 39 full-time sworn officers. The current police force is 65 percent male, 35 percent female. Exactly half are between the ages of 35 and 45. Of the remaining 50 percent, half are younger than 35 and half are older than 45. The average tenure for officers is 18 years.

All sworn personnel have completed the required basic law enforcement training. Eighty percent of these officers have at least 120 hours of advanced training in such subjects as homicide investigation, accident investigation, SWAT techniques, baton and other non-lethal force, crime prevention and missing children investigation.

The Summerville Police Department was one of only two Ohio law enforcement agencies that successfully underwent certification by the National Council of Law Enforcement Excellence. This designation denotes that the Department has achieved exceptionally high standards of performance in all six bureaus. In addition, fifteen officers have earned commendations for service beyond the call of duty, and three officers have been awarded the Mayor’s Medal of Merit for risking their lives to save others.

OBJECTIVES

Given the importance of making steady, incremental progress toward employee health, it is unlikely that demonstrable results will be possible in the first year. During the first year, emphasis will be placed on setting up the project, evaluating the pre-program health of the participants and training various participants.

To assess the extent to which the proposed project remedies the problems noted above, it will be necessary to quantify the results to measure the project’s effectiveness. The following are the project objectives:

A.                   To reduce the use of employee sick leave for cardio-vascular problems by 20% during the second full year of the project.

On the basis of organizational health studies by Grafmiller et al. (1986), there is reason to believe that a regular exercise program such as that proposed in this project will result in a 20-25% decrease in the amount of requested sick leave due to cardio-vascular illness.

B.                   To reduce the use of employee sick leave for musculo-skeletal problems by 40% during the second full year of the project.

Research undertaken at the University of Stockholm’s Institute for Adult Health Studies (Lindstrom et al, 1992) revealed that the effects of regular weight training are dramatic for even adults who have not been involved in any type of fitness regime. As compared to the control subjects, who were identical to the experimental subjects in all respects, Lindstrom’s subjects cut in half the amount of time off work due to illness and injury.

C.                   To lower the average resting pulse of unfit employees by five beats per minute.

Studies by Moritz, Delker, and Storer (1998) and Pratt (1990) suggest that eight months of regular fitness training, on average, lowers the pre-program resting pulse rate by 20%, or 16 beats per minute for the individual whose original resting pulse was 80. The subjects in this study, however, consisted of adult males between the ages of 18 and 35. Given the fact that the Summerville officers are older than Pratt’s subjects, a more conservative objective has been chosen.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The proposed project is comprised of several different, but related activities:

A.                   Physical Evaluation of the Officers

The first component of this project is the physical examination of all Summerville P.D. sworn employees. Of special interest for purposes of the project are resting pulse rate, target pulse rate, blood pressure and percentage of body fat of the program participants. Dr. Feinberg will perform the physical examinations of all participating officers. The measurement of body fat will be conducted at the University of Summerville’s Health Center under the direction of Dr. Farron Updike.

B.                   Renovation of Basement

Another phase of this project involves the renovation of the basement of police headquarters. The space is currently being used for storing Christmas decorations for City Hall.

The main storage room will be converted into a gym. This room will accommodate the Universe weight machine, the stationery bike, the treadmill and the rowing machine. Renovation will consist of first transferring all the Christmas decorations to the basement of the new City Hall. Once that is accomplished, it will be necessary to paint the walls, install indoor/outdoor carpeting and set up the equipment.

A second, smaller room will be converted into a locker room. Renovation will include painting the floors and the installation of lockers and benches.

To complete the fitness center, a third basement room will be equipped as a shower room. A local plumber will tap into existing plumbing to install several showerheads.

C.                   Purchase of Fitness Equipment

The Department of Public Safety has identified five vendors of exercise equipment in the greater Summerville area. Each of these vendors’ submitted bids for the following equipment:

§     Universe Weight Machine

§     Atlas Stationary Bike

§     Yale Rowing Machine

§     Speedster Treadmill

D.                   Training of Officers

Participating officers must be trained in the safe, responsible use of the exercise equipment. Dr. Updike of the University of Summerville will hold periodic training sessions at the Department’s facility.