Grant Writer’s Toolkit
for Workforce & Economic Developers
Pursue reliable grant funding with the right labor market data to tell your story and demonstrate your organization's workforce impact.
Lightcast and the National Association of Workforce Boards are Vision Partners committed to empowering workforce development. This Grant Writer's Toolkit is a valuable new resource for advancing that shared goal.
Designed to help workforce development professionals use data to pursue grant funding, this toolkit offers step-by-step guidance to help you find and share the most relevant labor market data and visualizations within Lightcast's Developer tool so you can:
Highlight workforce demands in your region
Demonstrate how your organization is putting data to work for your community
Pursue the funds that keep your workforce initiatives thriving.
NOTE: All the data shown here can be found in Lightcast’s Developer Software. These are the most common data reports that a workforce development grant writer will need in order to respond to a typical Request for Proposal (RFP).
Don't Forget:
Follow all the submission guidelines, making sure you address the exact questions listed in the RFP.
Keep your presentation clear, concise, and visually compelling. Don't let your most important information get lost in excess text or graphics.
If you need additional help finding or accessing data in our tools, contact your Lightcast rep, or use the live chat within the tool, for expert guidance.
Ready to hit "send"? Before you do, check and double check the RFP requirements before submitting your grant proposal.
Economy Overview
This report provides valuable, high-level perspective on your region’s economic data and contains downloadable tables and graphics that will help you illustrate your story for greater impact.
Overall economic factors
Labor force breakdown of the population
Population characteristics such as age, veteran status, diversity, and crime data
In-demand skills for your selected region, allowing you to highlight the importance of local workforce programs that align with what employers need.
From the "Region" menu, select "Economy Overview"
This report covers a wide variety of data points for your selected region.
Employ Prince George's
is putting Lightcast data to work.
Learn how Lightcast's Developer tool empowered Employ Prince George's with the right data to:
Secure $6M annually in local workforce funding
Double the number of residents served
Quadruple business engagement across the region
Community Indicators Map
This report presents the American Community Survey (ACS) data in an easy-to-understand format. The map graphic allows you to tell the story of your county, MSA, or state with greater visual impact.
From the home screen, select "Region" then "Community Indicator Map."
Once you have selected the map, select the region you are interested in. You can also select Economic, Social, or Housing characteristics to look from. If you are unsure, select "Custom Data Selection" and run the report.
Legacy Industry Snapshot
When external factors—like policy changes, health crises, natural disasters, and more—cause major disruptions, this report helps you assess impacted industries in your region, as well as the staffing patterns, supply chains, and other factors affecting these industries.
From the "Industry" tab in the left menu, select “Legacy Industry Snapshot.”
Add the industry and location selections to your search. In this example, we are looking at “Aerospace Product and Parts Manufacturing” in the Greensboro, NC, metro area. Once you have added your search metrics, hit “Run.” (Note: "Industry Snapshot" is a separate report and includes slightly different visuals and links from the ones we've highlighted here.)
Occupation Map
The Occupation Map gives detailed, sortable data points in a table format but also allows you to visualize each data point on a regional map that you can easily customize. For grant writing, the map visual can be beneficial for showing important factors like job numbers, job growth, commuter data, and jobs location.
Select "Occupation" from the menu on the left, then choose the Occupation Map.
From there, you can select your metrics. The "Browse" function will allow you to look at data for multiple occupations in the same category, such as the "Blue Collar" group shown in this example. You can also enter your region manually, browse regions, or select one based on Drive Time, Radius from Address, or another preset group.
Skills Transferability Report
The Skills Transferability report is fully compatible with the Department of Labor's guidelines and provides:
• High-level occupational data, such as wages and job growth in your region,
• Data on the skills, occupations, and abilities associated with a selected occupation
• Additional occupations that align with the skills in the selected occupation, so you can help your workforce move into high-demand jobs that use—or build on—the skills they already have.
Select "Occupation" from the menu on the left, then choose the "Skills Transferability."
From there, you can select your region and the occupation you wish to explore.
Second Chance
Occupations
The Second Chance Act authorizes federal grants to programs that aid in taking steps toward reentry into the labor force from the justice system. Developer can help you identify and research occupations with high second-chance opportunities.
In Developer, use the Occupation Group called “Second Chance (SOC 2021)” to quickly identify occupations that tend to be re-entry friendly.
Using this occupation group in reports like the Occupation Table can help identify high-demand jobs that are more likely to offer jobseekers a fresh start in the workforce.
Impact Scenario Report
This report reveals deep insights into the regional economic impact of job creation, as well as the cost of an unfilled job—not only in a selected industry but also on the supply chain and the greater community. With this report, you can explore the direct, indirect, and multiplied impact on jobs, earnings, and taxes in the region, as well as the occupations that are most likely to be affected.
Select the Input-Output tab from the menu on the left.
Choose "Impact Scenario" from the list of reports. Then add your region and a 6-digit industry (or group of industries). You can then model the impact to jobs, earnings, or sales using the drop down by the industry name. Then, input the change to the “Change” box by either adding or subtracting the unit you wish to model. Then hit run. In this example we are using the Seattle-Tacoma, WA, MSA and job change in four tech-related industries.
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