RTOT Grant Application Training Series Session 2-Data Collection_02252026 - Feb 25, 2026

meeting

Loudoun County Administrator 49 min 8 agenda items transcribed 2 days ago official recording ↗

▲ 0

Transcript

jump: agenda · find in transcript

Transcript

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

What is the purpose and agenda of Session 2 in the RTOT Grant Application Training?

Unknown 0:06

All right, good morning. We're going to go ahead and get started. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Loudoun County Grant Application Training Series. This is session two of three. Session two is on data collection. Session one focused more on the narrative piece of a grant application. The link in the chat will bring you to our web page. If you missed the first session, the PowerPoint and the recording of that can be found there. So feel free to access that. Session two, the agenda for today, we're going to cover the purpose, the importance of using data in a grant application, using effective data. We're going to talk about a need statement and how data can influence that need statement. using stats, developing a logic model and how that rolls into the application piece, and then preparation, collection, and reporting, all using data for that.

Unknown 1:14

The purpose of the training, particularly this session, is to gain understanding of the importance of data and utilizing data effectively to support a successful grant application. And with that, I just want to say that these are general best practices and guidelines that are not specific to any grant at the federal, state, or local level. With that, I'm going to introduce my two colleagues with me today. I have Christine Powers, who is our ARPA coordinator. and Andrea Pineda, who is our ARPA nonprofit grant specialist. They will be providing majority of the presentation. If you have any questions along the way, feel free to raise your hand. We can call on you as we go along. There will be time at the end of the session for questions and answers.

Unknown 2:15

But if you have a question that's relevant to what we're speaking to, feel free to raise your hand. or put your question in the chat and we'll answer it as we go along. Again, if you're just signing on, please put your name and organization in the chat and we'll go from there. I'll turn it over to Christine.

Christine Powers 2:37

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to session two on the importance of data. Today we're going to talk about kind of some thick subject matter when it comes to data and how to use that in your grant applications. Data is crucial in crafting a grant narrative, a need statement, and an evaluation because it provides you concrete evidence to support your claims, and it demonstrates the scale and urgency of a problem that you're addressing. It will build credibility for your funders, and it will convince your funders that your proposed project will have a significant and measurable impact, making your proposal more persuasive and more likely to be funded. So data is not just for evaluation. So it can be utilized to strengthen your grant requests during the pre-award phase of the grant process, but it can be used for planning.

Christine Powers 3:38

So it can be used to identify a problem that can potentially be mitigated using grant funds. It can define the problem and data can help to illuminate the population that you intend to serve and the efficacy of the approach you intend to use. It informs your proposed goals and objectives. Data provides concrete support for identifying clear and concise goals and objectives. So why do your funders need data? So the data can provide evidence that the programmatic outcomes are in alignment between your organization and the funder.

Why is data essential for building a strong grant need statement?

Christine Powers 4:24

It can serve as evidence that the services your organization provides are needed. The data can illustrate the depth and breadth of the work that your organization does. And it provides evidence that the program is effective and that it works. Data can also provide justification for the cost associated with the program implementation, which ultimately helps you increase the likelihood that you will secure funding. During reporting, it validates the funder's decision to award those funds. So, when you have that data, how do you use this data effectively? You use this data for effective storytelling. So why is data most effective for telling your story? Whether you're proposing work or reporting on work that you've already accomplished, the data will hold the audience attention better than just simple words and statistics.