Article by: Abby Wright
The CEDA Grant Department recently released the Community Grants Database (CGD), a live, proprietary database that provides each CEDA representative an annual list of anticipated grant deadlines, as well as the most pertinent grant research at-a-glance in one spot, customized to the county or counties that each CEDA individual serves through his or her Community Support contract. Three additional spreadsheets contain data for grants for which all Minnesota contracts are eligible (MN Statewide), all Iowa contracts are eligible (IA Statewide), and all CEDA communities are eligible (Federal or other).
Two components within each CGD Google Sheet are: 1.) the Calendar of Deadlines, a simple, chronological list of grant deadlines with titled hyperlinks to each grant program webpage; and 2.) the Prospects in Detail tab, a spreadsheet of detailed information organized alphabetically by funder and then alphabetically by grant program, also with corresponding links. The Prospects in Detail tab contains specific research and references, such as each program’s funding priorities, the award amount, and the application history or other notes—including, when possible, a path to webinar/training notes pertaining to a given grant program or other helpful resources in CEDA’s shared Document Library.
“Probably the best way to get the most out of the CGD,” said Abby Wright, CEDA Community Grant Specialist and creator of the CGD, “is to use the Calendar of Deadlines as a guide to see what’s coming up and then to use the Prospects in Detail to gain further insight into a particular grant that catches your eye.” Wright designed the CGD to optimize grant research for CEDA communities by saving CEDA staff the clicks and time it takes to find and navigate through each foundation website, as well as organize and compare results. She plans to collaborate with colleagues to keep the records as complete, relevant, and updated as possible.