| Ways GIS can facilitate a grant project | | | | results. |
| Successful grant writing requires a clear and focused | | | | GIS applied to outreach, education, and advocacy |
| description of the project, needs, budget, and | | | | GIS can assist in outreach, education, and advocacy |
| resources. GIS (Geographic Information Systems) | | | | efforts by providing a visual means of communicating |
| mapping can greatly assist grant writing in the following | | | | problems, projects, solutions, and potential impacts. By |
| ways: | | | | enabling both the publication of printed maps and |
| · Describing your project's impact | | | | interactive Internet map displays, information can be |
| · Doing research and analysis | | | | readily shared with local officials, professionals, decision |
| · Conducting outreach, education, and | | | | makers, and the public at large in a format that is easy |
| advocacy | | | | to understand. |
| · Engaging public participation | | | | GIS be used to engage the public for participatory |
| · Evaluating your project's results | | | | research |
| Grants may request information on how the project | | | | Grants often encourage public participation in research, |
| will have an impact on communities and natural | | | | either by incorporating public opinion and/or knowledge |
| resources. What geographic area will be served by | | | | or by engaging the public in the project work plan. |
| your project? Will your project serve certain | | | | Grant directives sometimes call for promoting local job |
| populations: low-income, those with primary languages | | | | training, employment, and economic opportunities as |
| other than English, disadvantaged minority groups? | | | | well. GIS can facilitate public participation by offering |
| Does your project need to target a certain age group | | | | Web-based interactive maps, complete with the |
| such as parents with young children or the elderly? GIS | | | | capacity for the public to report information. A grant |
| can be used to locate these populations, describe | | | | project can also involve the public by training and |
| them with maps (including intersections of multiple | | | | employing local people in GIS data collection and |
| socioeconomic and geographic variables), and illustrate | | | | management. |
| how your project will be accomplished in the | | | | GIS help with evaluation of my project's results |
| community. With GIS, you can demonstrate your | | | | A key grant directive that is of increasing importance |
| project's impact on targeted areas or populations. | | | | across all funding agencies' programs is the necessity |
| GIS applied to research and analysis | | | | of having a clear outcome of your work and a plan for |
| In general, GIS can be applied to many phases of a | | | | evaluating your project's results. Different funding |
| research project. Many people use GIS to perform | | | | programs describe this crucial aspect to your project |
| · Data collection | | | | differently, but all programs require that you delineate |
| · Data management and storage | | | | the results you expect to achieve and a plan for |
| · Data analysis | | | | evaluating whether or not your project was a success. |
| GIS can be used to collect data in the field using mobile | | | | GIS can assist in the process of evaluation, turning |
| applications. Many different industries and academic | | | | your data into reports and maps that illustrate the |
| disciplines can streamline field data collection efforts | | | | work you accomplished. |
| and ensure greater accuracy by using mobile GIS. | | | | Ensure that your project has the best GIS solution |
| Mobile field data collection can be easily integrated with | | | | possible |
| desktop- or server-based GIS to manage, edit, and | | | | When applying for a grant, you must generate a |
| store data. Using a variety of tools in desktop- or | | | | specific vision for how GIS relates to your particular |
| server-based GIS and extensions, data can be | | | | goals. To obtain help with integrating GIS into your |
| analyzed to find significant patterns and illustrate | | | | specific project, please contact Erichsen Group GIS. |