Sample Grant Proposal for Hope and Healing Distribution

PROJECT TITLE: Hope and Healing Distribution Project

AMOUNT REQUESTED: [Insert from budget here]

CONTACT PERSON: [Name here]

501(c)3 CORPORATION: [Name here]

PROJECT SUMMARY:

Hope and Healing is a 12-page tabloid-sized newspaper insert designed for low-cost, mass distribution to the general public. It is the centerpiece of a major new outreach effort to help women and men involved in past abortions to be reconciled with God and their families. It is designed to:

Increase awareness of the terrible effects of abortion on both women and men and thereby reduce the desire for or pressure toward abortion;

Demonstrate how individuals can help their loved ones — or themselves — begin the process of post-abortion healing and reconciliation;

Build up a sense of hope in those who are struggling with a past abortion that they are not alone and that the joy they will find on the other side of healing is worth the risk of reaching out for help; and

Promote a more positive image of pro-life Christians by showing that we have compassion and concern for those who have been involved in abortion.

It is our goal to increase public awareness of post-abortion issues by distributing XXXX copies of Hope and Healing as a paid advertising inserts in [name(s) of city, community, or college newspaper(s)].

The total estimated cost for distributing XXXXX copies of Hope and Healing in the above named newspaper(s) is around $XXXX. A portion of this will be covered by a matching grant from the Elliot Institute. The balance, $XXXXX to $XXXXX must be raised by [Name of Your Organization].

“Abortion helps women in trouble. Everyone knows it is safe. After an abortion, you just forget about it, focus on the future, and life will go on the way it was before.”

Paragraph one is a myth. One-hundred percent fable. A complete divorce from reality.

But this myth dominates our culture. It shapes our politics, our counseling services, and the attitudes and advice of our friends and family. It has even infected our churches and seminaries.

In part, this myth has been cleverly reinforced and spread by abortion proponents who care less about women than they do about advancing their agenda for population control or for filling the coffers of the abortion industry. But even more important, this myth has been protected by shame and perpetuated by silence.

Millions of women and men have experienced the life-shattering effects of abortion. They are plagued with unresolved grief and shame. For many, abortion trauma has caused them to engage in elaborate or even bizarre patterns of denial, avoidance behavior, and self-destructiveness. Abortion is linked to low self-esteem, broken and abusive relationships, substance abuse, chronic depression, nightmares, increased anger and violence, child abuse, suicide and a host of other psychological problems.

But these problems are veiled by the prevailing myth: “Everyone” knows abortion is “nothing,” so those who cannot repress their emotional pain feel like “odd balls” — weak, pathetic fools whom no one can understand or respect. If they try to share their grief with a “pro-choice” friend, they will be told to just “forget about it” or to simply “forgive yourself and get on with life.” But forgiving oneself can seem impossible when one’s victim is also one’s own child. The prevailing myth denies their pain, denies the need for or reality of forgiveness, and reinforces their shame and silence.

Will post-aborted women and men turn to the myth-deniers, pro-life Christians, for help? Yes. But not spontaneously. They will not automatically look to us for help because the prevailing myth of our culture also tells them that pro-life Christians will revile and condemn them as “baby killers.”

This obstacle is in fact an opportunity. It is our opportunity to expose the myth and draw our culture back onto the Way to Truth. We cannot expect post-aborted women and men to seek out our post-abortion ministries on their own initiative. But we can and must reach out to them, consistently and repeatedly. We must wear our compassion on our sleeves.

We must demonstrate that we understand what they have experienced. We must show that we truly want to help free them from their guilt and shame, by demonstrating in word and in deed our Christian love for them.

So how do we reach out to people — both young and old, male and female — who are struggling with a past abortion? How do we let them know that they are not alone and that they can find healing from their pain?

We believe that we can start the healing process by distributing Hope and Healing, a new 12-page, tabloid-size newspaper insert.. This medium gives us a low-cost, highly-effective means to reach out to the millions of women and men who are hurting from abortion. At the same time, it will help raise public awareness of the devastating effects of abortion.

Hope and Healing has been developed by the Elliot Institute, one of the oldest, most established, and most widely-recognized organizations dealing with post-abortion research and education. In short, Hope and Healing does four things:

• It teaches people how to respond appropriately to family members, friends, coworkers, and other people in their lives who have had abortions, and shows readers how to help them find the help they need;
• It reaches out to those who have been involved in an abortion decision and are now struggling with emotional or psychological pain, and inspires a sense of hope that they can find understanding and healing through post-abortion healing programs;
• It raises public awareness of post-abortion issues and discourages people from choosing abortion as a solution to a crisis pregnancy, by pointing out the physical, emotional, and psychological risks of abortion; and
• It conveys a positive, compassionate image of the pro-life movement and the Church, by demonstrating our love and understanding toward those who have been involved in abortion.

Hope and Healing also helps to reinforce pro-life beliefs. This is especially important on college campuses. Polls of incoming college freshman show that more and more of them are entering college with pro-life beliefs. However, they often leave college more pro-choice in their philosophies. By showing that abortion harms women both physically and emotionally, Hope and Healing reinforces anti-abortion beliefs, while at the same time demonstrating that compassion for those who have had abortions can and should be an integral part of the pro-life philosophy.

Distribution on college campuses is important, and may be the most effective distribution point for deterring abortion. Distribution in community newspapers, however, may be more effective in stimulating an immediate influx of clients for post-abortion ministries, since the Elliot Institute’s research shows that on average, most women do not begin to seek post-abortion help until about eight years after their abortion.

To assist other organizations in distributing Hope and Healing the Elliot Institute has established a matching grant fund to subsidize the costs of inserting Hope and Healing in city, community, and college newspapers.

Through this fund, the Elliot Institute is prepared to pay for 50 to 100 percent of the printing costs involved for inserting Hope and Healing into [name of your target newspaper(s)]. To qualify for this matching grant, it is [name of your organization]’s responsibility to raise the funds necessary to cover the newspapers’ insertion charges and the shipping costs.

To conserve the matching grant pool of funds, the Elliot Institute requests that participating organizations should also seek to raise half of the printing costs, around $20 per thousand. While this additional amount is not a precondition to participation in this matching grant, preference in allocating these funds will be given to organizations who accomplish this goal or can demonstrate a sincere effort to do so.

The allocation of matching funds will be made according to the following considerations, ranked in order of priority: (1) availability of funds, (2) ability of the participating organization to pay for a portion (up to half) of the printing costs, (3) earliest date for distribution, (4) earliest date of application.

[Name of your organization] has received a preliminary approval of its request for a matching grant from the Elliot Institute for insertion of Hope and Healing on [target date or month] in [name of target newspapers]. This allocation will be reserved until [insert reservation date, usually 60 days after approval] at which time [Name of your organization] will need to be able to guarantee that an amount between $XXXX and $XXXX has been raised or committed from general operating funds to this project.

The Hope and Healing Distribution Project will benefit students, the general public, and the organizations participating in our distribution project in a variety of ways:

• It will deter abortion;
• It will increase public awareness of and support for post-abortion ministries, and attract women and men to post-abortion ministries;
• It will inspire friends and family members to encourage their loved ones to participate in post-abortion healing programs; and
• It will provide women and men troubled by a past abortion with materials they can give to their loved ones who do not understand their pain. This will help them to prepare their loved ones to better understand their experience even before it is revealed so they will be better prepared to be supportive. It will also help them to breaking through the denial and avoidance behavior of family and friends who encouraged the abortion and do not want to believe they gave the wrong advice.

Post-abortion trauma is associated with many psychological problems that have important social consequences. These include substance abuse, eating disorders, depression, promiscuity, suicide attempts, domestic violence and child abuse. Hope and Healing may help to mitigate these problems by helping those who are caught in these destructive cycles to more quickly find and receive emotional and spiritual healing. These problems may also be reduced by the effect of deterring abortions which will be brought about by increasing public awareness of abortion’s dangers.

In order to evaluate the success of this project, we will track the response of the students and the community to this publication. We will collect letters to the editor, news articles, and letters directed to our organization or to the local sponsor. Crisis pregnancy centers and post-abortion ministries will be asked to report on any increased calls and requests. This report will be shared with the Elliot Institute to help improve future editions of Hope and Healing.

It is our hope that this project will stimulate community interest in expanding post-abortion ministry programs in our local churches and through our pregnancy centers. If additional funds are raised, may offer Hope and Healing at a reduced rate to local churches, schools, or organizations in a position to distribute them to the local population. Space ads and radio advertisements may also be employed in future efforts to sustain and expand this education and outreach effort.

EXPENSES

REVENUE & INCOME

The Elliot Institute, a 501(c)3 tax-exempt organization, was established in 1988 to promote research and education regarding the negative impact of abortion on women, men, families and society, and to encourage post-abortion healing and the defense of the rights of women who have been injured by abortion. Since 1993 the Elliot Institute has published a quarterly newsletter, The Post-Abortion Review, which covers current post-abortion research and other related issues.

The Elliot Institute is governed by three trustees: David W. Mack, M.D.; Richard Judd, Ph.D.; and David C. Reardon, Ph.D. Dr. Reardon is the director of the Elliot Institute, and is a biomedical ethicist who has been personally involved in post-abortion research and education since 1983. The results of his initial studies were published in Aborted Women, Silent No More (1987), which in pro-life circles became the most widely read and recommended book on the aftereffects of abortion. He is widely recognized among post-abortion ministries and pro-life groups as one of the leading authorities on post-abortion issues.

In his book Making Abortion Rare: A Healing Strategy for A Divided Nation (1996), Dr. Reardon outlined a comprehensive pastoral, legislative, and educational strategy for making abortion truly rare. His proposals have been enthusiastically embraced by many pro-life activists, but most especially by women and men who have experienced abortion and who are now joining the pro-life movement or are active in post-abortion ministries. Pro-life lobbyists in several states are currently working on legislation based on his proposals.

Amy Sobie, the Project Assistant, is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville, Ohio, where she studied communications and human life studies (a program studying the moral, legal, and social aspects of abortion, euthanasia, medical ethics, and family life.) She has a background in journalism, including writing, editing, and layout.