Building grant readiness without a grants office
Project Summary
Northeastern Technical College (NETC) is a rural community college serving Chesterfield, Marlboro, and Dillon counties in South Carolina, a region facing persistent economic and educational challenges.
When New Growth engaged with NETC, the college did not have a formal grants department or established internal processes to assess, plan for, or pursue competitive funding opportunities.
Through its Strategy and Research grant service, New Growth partnered with NETC to build foundational grant readiness before application development. This included staff trainings to demystify the grant lifecycle, the creation of a comprehensive Grants Manual with a go/no-go decision matrix, and ongoing opportunity forecasting aligned to institutional priorities. New Growth facilitated strategic planning conversations, logic model development, organizational readiness assessments, and pre-writing strategy to ensure the college was positioned to pursue the right opportunities at the right time. The engagement is supported through consistent 30-minute weekly working sessions with NETC leadership and staff.
New Growth worked closely with NETC executive leadership and cross-departmental staff to embed sustainable grant planning practices across the institution.
Outcome
NETC now operates with clear grant decision-making processes, shared internal language around funding strategy, and staff equipped to participate meaningfully in pre-award planning. The college has transitioned from reactive grant pursuit to proactive opportunity forecasting and strategic readiness, laying the groundwork for long-term, sustainable grant capacity and institutional growth.
