Literary Walkabout Grant Writing Page

Literary Walkabouts Pathfinder
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Final Project Overview
Resources

For your final project you will work in groups of four to create your own adventure for which you will write a grant to Outside Magazine to receive funding.

For this project the sky is the limit with where you can go and what you want to do, however, you need a valid reason for why Outside should fund your trip over the thousands of other people who want their trip funded. Therefore, you’ll have to search for a deeper reason other than “to have fun.” This is an excellent opportunity to build awareness about a particular cause with which you already work, such as AIDS prevention, or any cause you are interested in. Or, you could focus your adventure on environmental conservation or awareness. As a group, the first step is to decide why you want to go, then focus on the where.

This project will require research using the internet, the library, and community connections. How you put all your information together is entirely up to you. You could create a Web site where Outside could view your entire proposal. You could make a PowerPoint presentation to present to a “panel” who will decide the grant award. However you decide to package your final proposal your group will still need to present your proposal to the class and to the “panel”.

There are several pieces to this project, most of which will be completed in class, although you should be prepared to work with your group outside of class - so choose your group members wisely. The final product will be due the week of June 4 so as to allow time for presentations.

Outside Magazine Grant Proposal

Your proposal will include the following elements:

1. Team Biographies

You should tell Outside a little about each of you, how old you are, where you are from, what your experiences with adventure travel have been, what interests you most about travel, and anything else interesting about yourself that a panel might want to know. You can include photos or video clips to put up on the Web site or computer presentation. For an example of adventure team biographies, click British Columbia (1997) or Baffin Island (1998) or Guadalupe Ridge, NM (1999).

Resources

2. Team Structure

As a group you will need to decide who is going to be the Team Leader on your expedition. You will also need to decide on another person to be the Project Manager, that is grantspeak for the liaison with Outside who will focus on the budget and adventure expenditures. You might also want to think about whether or not you will also have a camp manager? A person in charge of publicity?

Resources

3. Itinerary

How long will your trip take? Will it be a walk around the world in a year? A summer bike trip for awareness? You should outline exactly how long the trip will take, when you will arrive and depart each country, how long you will stay in each town, etc. For an example of an adventure team itinerary, click here (1997).

Resources

4. Equipment List

Outline exactly the equipment you will need for this trip. For instance, if you are climbing Everest you will want to make sure you request the necessary clothing, tents, etc. You will need to research the cost for these items to include your budget. For an example of an adventure team equipment list, click here (1997).

Resources

5. Budget

The bottom line that Outside is going to want to know is: How much money do you need? As a group, you will create a budget for your adventure. You will need to research the cost of flights (you will need to think about which air carrier you will use) Will you fly to different countries? Sail? Take the Eurail? Bus?

You will need to factor in all the travel related costs. You will also need to think about how much you will need for food and supplies once on the road. Will you need money ahead of time for training?

When writing a grant it never hurts to ask, but you need to be reasonable. I doubt that Outside will fund gourmet meals at each stop. Your budget will also need to include justification for each expenditure. Indicate any money in the budget that you will receive from sponsorship.

Resources

6. Proposal (3-5 pages, typed, double-spaced)*

The proposal will include the following key elements:

a. Describe the exact nature of your proposal. (This is a phrase you will see frequently when writing grants) Describe in detail what you will be doing, the country and exact location where the expedition will travel, and for how long. You will want to outline other activities that you plan to do to build awareness for your cause, such as visiting clinics, meeting with students at other schools, or holding fundraisers.

b. Whom would this expedition benefit? Describe the exact group or cause that will benefit from your hard work on an expedition.

c. Why do you want to go? Do some soul searching here and ask yourselves why? Think about the expeditions we have read about so far. Each time we have asked “why would a person want to do that?” You will need to answer this question for yourselves.

d. What kind of training have you done or will you do to prepare for this expedition? Be specific.

For an example of an adventure team proposal, click (1997) or (1998) or (1999).
* I encourage you to be creative here. Think about creating a video of the above information â la “Survivor” video tryouts. This video could be put on the Web site or shown during the presentation. If you create a video, you will still need to turn in written materials.
Resources

7. Logo and Slogan

As a group, create your own visual logo and slogan that could be printed onto t-shirts, made into posters, flyers, stickers, and distributed to build awareness about your cause and expedition and promote awareness. (Think about the ones we have learned about in class, such as Final Sweep 2001, Walk for the Cure, etc.).

Resources

8. Map

Finally, include a detailed map which outlines your expedition’s journey from start to finish. For an example of an adventure team route map, click here (1998).; Resources
Outside Magazine Adventure Grants - http://www.outsidemag.com/adventure/grants/: This is where it all starts--the adventure magazine, Outside. For several summers, the Outside Adventure Grant funded the dream adventure of a team of young aspiring explorers. The only requirements were that the group of no more than six had to be between the ages of 12 and 17, the expedition had to take place in North America during the summer, and it had to involve non-motorized travel through a wilderness area.
Generous Adventures - http://www.generousadventures.com/index.html: This unique Web site conducts auctions for (mostly) exotic trips to all parts of the world. A good place to get ideas for adventure travel trips. All proceeds from the auction go to environmental groups.
EPA Grant-Writing Tutorial - http://www.epa.gov/seahome/grants/src/title.htm: Although this site is sponsored and maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for its own purposes, the information contained is useful for grant writers in general. Sections include: Enhancing a Proposal--This section helps you to enhance the process of writing a proposal. Tips are provided within each topic; Program Specifics--This section contains information on three topics: Environmental Justice, Environmental Education programs, and Environmental Justice Through Pollution Prevention Grants; Completing Forms--This section exposes you to the different forms an applicant might be involved during the grant application process. A help window describing what is needed for each form item is provided for the most common forms; Mock Grant Writing Activity--In this section, you get the chance of practicing writing a grant proposal; Examples--This section contains a real grant proposal sample for each of the 3 granting areas (EJ, EJP2, and EE); Reference--This section provides links to EPA grant application forms and to EPA's strategy on environmental justice; Resources/Contacts--This section lists federal and state sources of grants; and Glossary--This section contains definitions for technical terms used throughout this program.

Foreign Entry Requirements - http://travel.state.gov/foreignentryreqs.html: This listing, from the U.S. State Department, is for U.S. citizens traveling on tourism/business and does not apply to persons planning to emigrate to foreign countries. It gives information on each country of the world with specific passport, visa, AIDS/HIV testing and "additional fees" requirements for each location.
Cybrary Geographical Resources Page- http://rhsweb.org/library/countries.htm
Outside Magazine Gear - http://www.outsidemag.com/gear/index.html

Outside Magazine Grant Proposal

1. Team Biographies

2. Team Structure

3. Itinerary

4. Equipment List

5. Budget

6. Proposal (3-5 pages, typed, double-spaced)*

7. Logo and Slogan

8. Map

Books in the Bessie Chin Library

Online Resources