American Grant Writers association
Certified Grant Writer® Series
The Certified Grant Writer ® Series includes the following:
- Annual Membership in AGWA
- Program Development and Proposal Writing Online course
- CGW Exam Review online course
- CGW Online Exam
The Series can be purchased online at the bottom of this page. Once we receive your purchase on the next business day the student will receive a Welcome e-mail from their online instructor that will include:
- Annual AGWA Membership Certificate (electronic)
- Section 1 of PDPW Course Materials
- Section 1 Assignment
Program Development and Proposal Writing Online Course
This course teaches students the finer points of grant writing enabling proposals and applications to be more competitive. Students will design a program/project, practice pre-writing exercises, learn how to research grant opportunities, gather statistics and write the Problem Statement, Project Narrative, Letter of Inquiry, and prepare budgets for Foundation Grants and Non-Construction Government Grants. The emphasis is on program / project support and general operating grants. Construction grants, research grants, scholarships and fellowships are outside the scope of this course.
This online course is individual study and work is self-paced. Students who learn by reading are well-suited for this online course.
Students receive Course Materials and Assignments as an e-mail attachment from the online instructor. If a student has any questions about the section's reading material, or the section assignment, then he/she may e-mail the instructor with questions. Instructors are not available for phone support.
Most students spend at least 50 hours over 4-6 weeks to complete the 6 course assignments. Students are strongly encouraged to thoroughly read the section material before beginning to work on a section assignment. The writing assignments may need to be rewritten one or more times in order to meet the "competency-based standard". Budget assignments may need to be resubmitted until the budget is correct. If a student needs to resubmit writing assignments and budget assignments multiple times, then the student will spend more than 6 weeks to complete the assignments. Therefore, we strongly recommend students begin working on assignments shortly after purchasing the CGW® Series.
Students have 90 days to complete all of the online assignments. The 90 days begins on the date of purchase. A 90-day extension is available by online purchase only when students need additional time (for any and all reasons). An extension may be purchased up to one year after the original purchase. A student may purchase two extensions, if needed.
Students receive course materials and assignments one section at a time. One section must be completed before the student will receive the next section's course materials and assignments.
For the online course, the student will need the following:
- A computer (with any operating system) that has internet access. Software needed is MS Word, Excel, and Adobe Reader. Students must use a computer, not a phone, when submitting assignments.
- Student's E-mail Account: Students may use any e-mail provider. Note that the student's e-mail account must be capable of accepting 8mg attachments
PDPW Course Syllabus
- Section 1: Grantseeking and Exempt Organizations
- Section 2: Program Development, Researching Grant Opportunities from U.S. Grantmakers, and Online Resources for Grantseekers
- Section 3: Proposal Writing for Foundation and Corporate Grants (2 assignments)
- Section 4: Preparing Government Grant Applications for Non-Construction Projects
- Section 5: Professional Standards and Code of EthicS
- Section 6: Part I: Preparing the Budget for a Foundation Grant and Budget Narrati
- Section 6: Part II: Preparing the Federal Non-Construction Budget for a Project Grant and Budget Narrative
Prerequisites:
- No prior grant writing experience is needed.
- No prior budgeting experience is needed.
- The student who learns from reading is well suited for this course.
Students may ask the instructor questions by e-mail throughout the course.
A Certificate of Completion documenting contact hours is awarded after the successful completion of all assignments.
CGW Exam Review online
Once the student has completed the PDPW online course, the online instructor will send the student the Course Materials and Assignments for the Exam Review.
Most students spend 1 to 2 weeks on the Review assignments.
Certified Grant Writer® Exam
Important features of the CGW Exam:
- Exams can be scheduled on any day and are taken online.
- The online CGW Exam takes about 5 hours to complete. All 5 sections of the exam must be taken on the same date.
- Students may retest in the Sections that did not receive a passing score. The maximum attempts to pass the each Exam Section is 3 attempts.
- If a student does not complete all of the 5 sections, then the sections not attempted on that day will receive a grade of "0" and this will count toward the three maximum attempts to pass the exam.
- If a student does not take the exam on the scheduled date, then this "no show" will count as one of the three maximum attempts to pass the CGW Exam.
- Passing the exam: All sections must earn 80% to pass, except the Ethics section must earn 90% to pass.
- The minimum age to take the CGW Exam is 21 by the date of the exam.
- Only current members of AGWA my sit for the Certified Grant Writer exam.
- The Certified Grant Writer® credential is valid for a period of 5 years and is renewable.
- CGWs are expected to maitain an active Membership in American Grant Writers Association througout the validity of the CGW credential.
When taking the exam you will need the following:
- Laptop computer with Word Softword and internet capability
- Calculator
5 Sections of the Certified Grant Writer® Exam
- Program Development and Proposal Writing
- Researching
- Professional Ethics
- Budgets
- Writing Sample
Recommendations:
- A Bachelor's Degree is strongly recommended.
- A strong command of written and verbal English is strongly recommended.
- A working knowledge of (APA Style) grammar, punctuation, and references are recommended.
- A working knowledge of Word, Excel, and Adobe Reader are recommended
Once the student has completed taking the CGW Exam, the online instructor will send grades within 5 business days. If needed, retesting in a section can be scheduled. Purchase Retesting on the Marketplace page.
Once all sections of the Certified Grant Writer exam have been passed, the student will be mailed by U.S. mail the Certified Grant Writer® certificate.
Celebrate!!! You have officially earned the Certified Grant Writer® professional credential which is valid for five (5) years. Many students frame the certificate to hang in his/her office. The student may then add Certified Grant Writer® and logo to any of the elecronic and paper communications. Clothing with the logo may also be purchased from Lands End.
Remember to renew your membership in American Grant Writers Association through the 5 year period. At the end 5 years you may renew your CGW credential; details will be posted in the Members Only area of our website.
