« Develop a City-wide Grant Specialist

The City of Takoma Park is a relatively small community in one of the largest metropolitan areas of the world. Our limited tax base does not reduce our funding needs for public safety. It is important for the City to receive funds from outside sources. This is typically accomplished by applying for grants from other government or private entities.

Like so many tasks that require skill, the quality of grant requests is highly dependent on the writer's skill. The probability of receiving a grant award is, likewise, at least partially dependent on the quality of the grant requests.

For this reason, the City should assign one person responsibility for writing all grant requests. Certainly, that individual will not write everything that goes into each grant. This individual would, for example:

• Collect, organize and maintain a file of boilerplate for use in grant requests;
• Maintain a file of potential sources of grants;
• Identify, contact and develop relationships with the appropriate individuals in potential granting organizations, such as the Department of Justice offices that directly fund local law enforcement agencies;
• Build relations with Takoma Park's congressional delegation to build support for making Takoma Park a model jurisdiction
• Inform City Departments of grant opportunities;
• Give guidance to City employees who wish to request a grant; and
• Review and edit all grant requests before they are submitted.