Skill list connecting team members to win Grant funding

We are connecting members to build successful teams as a part of our Community Management as a Service, CMaaS. Please use the following as a guide to help you complete our member matching survey.

To effectively collaborate on a grant proposal to assist a community in owning its internet network, team members should possess a diverse set of skills. These skills ensure comprehensive coverage of technical, financial, and strategic aspects of the proposal. Here are the key skills and roles that would be valuable:

Grant Writing and Proposal Development:
- Skillset: Proficiency in writing grant proposals, understanding of grant requirements, ability to articulate the community’s needs and how the project meets those needs.
- Role: Grant Writer/Proposal Developer
- Responsibilities: Crafting a compelling narrative, ensuring all proposal elements are cohesive, aligning the proposal with the grant guidelines, and presenting data effectively.
Technical Expertise in Telecommunications and Networking:
- Skillset: Knowledge of fiber optics, broadband infrastructure, and network design.
- Role: Network Engineer/Technical Consultant
- Responsibilities: Providing technical details about the project, designing the network infrastructure, ensuring technical feasibility, and estimating costs for equipment and deployment.
Project Management:
- Skillset: Project planning, timeline creation, resource allocation, risk management.
- Role: Project Manager
- Responsibilities: Overseeing the project from inception to completion, coordinating between different teams, managing timelines, and ensuring milestones are met.
Financial Planning and Budgeting:
- Skillset: Creating and managing budgets, financial forecasting, understanding funding mechanisms.
- Role: Financial Analyst/Budget Manager
- Responsibilities: Developing a detailed budget, managing project funds, ensuring financial accountability, and preparing financial reports.
Legal and Regulatory Expertise:
- Skillset: Knowledge of local, state, and federal regulations related to telecommunications, understanding of legal contracts and compliance issues.
- Role: Legal Advisor/Regulatory Specialist
- Responsibilities: Ensuring the project complies with all legal requirements, navigating regulatory hurdles, and drafting necessary legal documents.
Community Engagement and Stakeholder Management:
- Skillset: Strong communication skills, experience in community outreach, stakeholder analysis.
- Role: Community Engagement Specialist
- Responsibilities: Engaging with the community to gather support, managing relationships with stakeholders, and ensuring community needs and feedback are incorporated into the project.
Marketing and Communications:
- Skillset: Developing marketing strategies, public relations, social media management.
- Role: Communications Specialist/Marketing Manager
- Responsibilities: Promoting the project, creating awareness, managing public relations, and ensuring transparent communication with all parties involved.
Sustainability and Impact Analysis:
- Skillset: Evaluating social and economic impacts, sustainability planning, data analysis.
- Role: Impact Analyst/Sustainability Expert
- Responsibilities: Assessing the long-term benefits of the project, ensuring the project contributes to sustainable community development, and measuring project outcomes.

By combining these skills, the team can effectively create a robust grant proposal that addresses technical, financial, legal, and community aspects of building and owning a community internet network.

For further reading and specific examples, refer to documents like “The Community Network Manual: How to Build the Internet Yourself” and the “Public Broadband Handbook,” which provide detailed insights into community network projects and the necessary skills involved.