When asked “are good grant writers born or made?,” Newtown resident Anne L. Rothstein, EdD does not hesitate for a moment before firing back her reply: “Made.”

It is an ultimate credit to this local educator and grant writer that as of 2019, Dr Rothstein has continually produced proposals and qualified for funds from the very first grantor she ever applied to — back in 1985.

“I was the Associate Dean of Education at Lehman College [City University of New York], and we had a grant available from New York State, and the guy who was supposed to be writing it went off to a conference in California and left us one paragraph,” Dr Rothstein recalled as though it was yesterday. “So the dean looked at me and said ‘you have to write it.’ So I wrote it and the project liaison in Albany gave me tons of feedback on how to make it better.”

She got the grant and found a mentor in Michael Stevens, who not only helped her tweak every subsequent grant application to perfection, he was also able to warn Dr Rothstein when new grants related to her work were about to drop.

“I took advantage of his input and developed my own structure for putting successful grants together using tables and charts to ensure continuity throughout the proposal, while showing the relationship between the need, objective, activity, and how you’ll measure the outcomes if the grant is awarded,” she said.

More recently, Dr Rothstein has diverted from her life’s work writing grants, to share her experience and knowledge in a brand new step-by-step guide for anyone who hopes to help select causes, nonprofits, educational organizations, and community program developers qualify for supplemental grant funds.

Her new book, Creating Winning Grant Proposals is available now in hard cover, paperback, and ebook editions.

She will be greeting aspiring and experienced grant writers and signing copies of her book beginning at 7 pm on Thursday, June 20, in the meeting room of C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street.

Ms Rothstein is currently a Professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Childhood Education at Lehman College. During her more than 50 years at Lehman, she has served as department chair, associate dean of professional studies, and associate provost for sponsored program research.

Hundreds Of Grants

Since 1985, when she was “recruited” to script her first proposal, Dr Rothstein has written more than 400 grants and received more than 300 grant awards. She has also directed many grant-funded programs for K-12 students, teachers, and college students.

Her current research interests focus on college access and readiness, the impact of college readiness program dosage on student success, high school graduation and college enrollment, and the role of college student support in increasing four-year graduation rates.

In a recent conversation with The Newtown Bee, Dr Rothstein said it was her goal to provide a guidebook of sorts, providing clear cut steps for producing each section of a competitive grant proposal.

As such, readers of her Creating Winning Grant Proposals will discover a hands-on book filled with examples from actual Request For Proposals (RFPs) and proposals she has participated in, as well as many practical tools, and writing tips.

In crafting the book’s contents, Dr Rothstein said she intended to share her systematic but unique process she has created over decades of experience in the field.

Interested readers will learn how to achieve group consensus around a project; identify likely funding sources; establish need; develop objectives; assemble a Master Project Table and other needed tables, figures, and charts; create an effective logic model; prepare an evaluation; put together a budget; tailor the proposal to meet the requirements of funders; and avoid common errors.

Detailed Process, Resources

All this information is practically and logically showcased in chapters that begin with a list of learning objectives and ends with a summary. The book is organized into three parts, Preparing for the Proposal, Elements of the Proposal, and Additional Considerations, along with practice exercises, a glossary of key terms, multiple appendices, including an exhaustive list of effective action verbs, web resources, selection criteria samples, tips for successful proposal writing and an example memorandum of understanding.

Purchasers will also get access to a web page where they can download and print the book’s 14 reproducible templates in a convenient 8½-by 11-inch size.

Dr Rothstein said one of the most challenging but successful proposals she ever tackled was during a New York State fiscal crisis when she decided to write a grant to the newly established Liberty Partnerships Program. Successful grantees would exhibit ways to support students from undeserved and low income households through high school so they could successfully transition to and complete college.

“Unlike any other grant that was written, we decided to apply to work with a single school, which was highly discouraged by the way,” she recalled. “So we picked one school, designed a program for that school, raised the second highest grant available, and we sustained that program for 15 years. That’s 15 years at $500,000 a year, whatever that comes to. But we changed the culture of that school, and raised the graduation rate from something like 40 percent to 90 percent over the life of the grant.”

Dr Rothstein said one big reason she decided to make her grant writing system public via her book is because she saw a need to help the large number of people who apply and do not get them.

“My hope is this book will be an effective manual for people who will write the grants of the future,” Dr Rothstein said, “maybe even writing grants to help these underserved kids make it in the world, and be the best they can be.”

Dr Rothstein is available to speak to community groups and nonprofit organizations by appointment. Contact her via e-mail at arothstein@aol.com

Learn more about Dr Rothstein and order her book by clicking HERE.