To enhance the chances that your project will be funded, you must find funders that will support your proposal. After reading Step 2: Developing a relationship with Funders in the course text, search the internet to find three possible funders for your proposal. You may wish to access  GuideStar (Links to an external site.)  to see a list of recent grantees and to locate funders’ annual reports.

· Select three possible funders for your proposal and provide the following for each:

· Name of the organization

· Mission statement

· Justify the selection of each of the three possible funders. Namely, discuss how each organization is a good fit for the problem you have identified.

Note: Be sure to find agencies that provide funding (e.g., California Endowment, Alliance Health Foundation, and the Kellogg Foundation), not organizations that receive funding.

Write a Problem Statement

After reading Step 3: Writing a Compelling Problem Statement in the course text, use Worksheet 3.1A— Statement of Problem Questionnaire to gather information and organize your thoughts. Next, write a problem statement that reviews the community selected, the problem to be addressed and the need it generates. Keep in mind that you must clearly communicate the need to your prospective funder. Thus, further research the problem and related need, its causes, occurrences, and consequences, so that you can effectively communicate them to your prospective funder.

Your statement of the problem must:

· Describe the problem clearly, including its frequency and severity, and the community that is experiencing it. Advice: The statement of the problem is the most important part of your request. It represents the reason behind your proposal. It should be clearly related to the purposes and goals of your organization. Your statement must be supported by evidence, including statistics from reputable sources and/or testimonies of authoritative sources (i.e., statements made by experts).

· Identify the need that the problem embodies and explain when the need is evident. Review pages 32 to 35 of the course text and the contents of your Root Cause of Community Problem discussion this week for suitable examples of how to identify and describe the need in a way that will impact your prospective funder. Advice: In your discussion of when the need is evident, be sure to include statistical evidence and to adopt the beneficiaries’ perspective.

· Analyze the roots of the problem and provide evidence to support your choices. Please ensure that you clearly identify the root of the problem in your analysis. Advice: When analyzing the roots of the problem, be sure to add scientific evidence to support your claims. Namely, you may have an opinion, but is your opinion supported by facts?

· Describe the consequences of meeting this need. Advice: In this section, describe how solutions to the identified problem may be beneficial to the community that experiences it. When describing the consequences of meeting the need, convey the importance of a timely intervention in order to effectively respond to that need.

· Explain how the identified need is linked to your organization and to the prospective funding organization. Advice: When explaining how this need is linked to your organization, be sure to address how the need is also in alignment with the funders’ mission and goals.

Before you finalize your statement of the problem, consult your textbook to ensure that your work meets all criteria. The following is a list of all the content items to be included:

· Compelling description of the problem being addressed

· Target population (e.g., people, animals, plants) with the need

· Location of the target population

· When the problem/need occurs

· Why the problem/need occurs

· Evidence to support your claim regarding the problem/need

· Expected results of meeting the need

· How your organization is qualified to meet this need

· The need’s alignment with the funders’ mission and goals

The Write a Problem Statement paper:

· Must be approximately three double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the  UAGC Writing Center (Links to an external site.) .

· Must include a separate title page with the following:

· Title of paper

· Student’s name

· Course name and number

· Instructor’s name

· Date submitted

· Must use at least five scholarly or peer-reviewed sources in addition to the course text.

· The  Scholarly, Peer Reviewed, and Other Credible Sources (Links to an external site.)  table offers additional guidance on appropriate source types. If you have questions about whether a specific source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the appropriateness of a specific source for a particular assignment.

· Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the UAGC Writing Center.

· Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the UAGC Writing Center.

Carefully review the  Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.)  for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Texts 

Hall, P. D. (2005).  Chapter One: Historical perspectives on nonprofit organizations in the United States   Download Chapter One: Historical perspectives on nonprofit organizations in the United States. In R. D. Herman (Ed.), The Jossey-Bass handbook of non-profit leadership and management (2nd ed.) (pp. 3-38). Retrieved from http://www.hks.harvard.edu/fs/phall/Herman-CH1.pdf

O’Neal-McElrath, T. (2013).  Winning grants step by step: The complete workbook for planning, developing, and writing successful proposals  (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

· This text available through the UAGC Library