November 26, 2008
ALPHARETTA – Cogburn Park is Amanda Day's proudest accomplishment as grants administrator for Alpharetta.
Day helped the city obtain a $200,000 Land and Water Conservation Fund grant through the Department of Natural Resources. Like most grants, it required the city to put up half the money, with the rest coming from the federal government.
"It is one of my son's favorite parks in the city, and it always seems packed when we go. It seems to be very well used," she said.
With a 4-year-old son, Day said the community park is the perfect size.
"I can sit and see him wherever he is," she said.
In her five years with the city, she's helped Alpharetta collect more than $5.1 million in grant money. The city had to put up $1.6 million to match the grants.
Straight out of college Day started working for the city of Morrow as administrative assistant to the city manager. A year later, Morrow's grant writer left.
Her boss said, "Guess what? You are our grant writer."
She worked for Morrow for two years before the Alpharetta job came up.
"It was actually my husband who saw that the Alpharetta position was open, and literally forced me to apply. I'm very glad that he did that," Day said.
She is Alpharetta's first grants administrator. Up to that point, the individual departments managed their own grants. The city's success in obtaining grants created the need for her position to keep track of all the grants.
"In Alpharetta, that means that I am a one-man show. I research, find the applications and programs that fit the things the city wants to do. I work with each department to write the grant applications," Day said.
After the City Council approves a grant application and it is approved, she manages the grant. That involves overseeing the projects, making sure they get finished on time and getting reimbursed when the city spends money.
When she started the job with Alpharetta, most of her time was spent writing grant applications. But now that the city is in the middle of 25 grant projects, much more of her time is spent in managing the grants.
In-kind contributions allow a city to provide matching funds without laying out cash. Not every grant allows in-kind contributions, but those that do allow Day to figure out the time employees would work on a grant project. The amount of funds used to pay salaries and benefits for those employees while working on the project is counted toward the city's matching portion of the grant.
"It's a good thing for the city to use that because we are paying the salaries and benefits of those employees anyway," Day said.
Day finds leads for grants at the Grants.gov Web site. She's also in contact with several other grant writers. She said it might be surprising, but grant writers from local cities help each other out on grants, even if they are competing for the money.
"And we try and partner with them if it makes sense, too. A project that would help both of us, we'd put an application in together," she said.
The best way for local residents to help the city obtain grants is through support letters, particularly from organizations.
A Preserve American Grant recently submitted included support letters from the Rotary Club, DATA, the Alpharetta Historical Society and the Old Milton History and Genealogy group.
The city also partners with local organizations when possible. A Safe House for Kids application includes participation by local schools.
Day is the president of local chapter of the American Association of Grant Professionals (AAGP). The parent organization created a professional certification exam, and Day was among the first group to pass it.
"Now I have 11 letters behind my name," she said.
The certification should help in future job searches for grant professionals, and hopefully for grant work when the AAGP gains the same recognition other professional groups have, she said.
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