How to get a grant

Grants were the focus of this month's Wasco Coalition presentations.

The director of community relations for the Wonderful Company, Manuel Cantu, offered an update on the company's grant process. Wonderful provides hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions to the communitie in which it operates each year.

"We offer grants from $50 to $50,000 to nonprofits and organizations within our area, including Avenal, Wasco, Shafter, Del Rey, McFarland and Sanger," Cantu said.

He provided a Powerpoint presentation to give the details on what makes to make a grant application successful.

He stated that a winning proposal will effectively demonstrate:

--A community need,

--A viable program/project to address that need,

--The capacity and competency to carry out the proposed program/project, and

--Financial sustainability (grant should be less than 25% of the total organization's budget).

Additionally, he said that a winning proposal will:

--Answer all the questions,

--Be clearly and concisely written, and

--Have SMART goals.

Cantu provided a timeline for grant proposal applications:

--August 1, 2019 – Application open

--August 31, 2019 – Application deadline

--October/November 2019 – Finalist interviewed

--December 2019 – Awards announced

He also provided the web address where people can request an e applications: communitygrants@wonderful.com.

Following the presentation, each group gave a brief description of its latest projects. Groups included the City of Wasco, Wasco High School, the Downtown Business Association, the county, social services and religious organizations..