I am putting out a general call to all our loyal friends. As you well know the barn has continued to deteriorate severely in the last couple of years. More and more of the roof slates are gone every winter and the water damage has now forced us to close the third floor.

So I am making this appeal to everyone. Help us find a source of grants or funding to place a new roof on the building. If we can get even a cheap metal roof for now it would prevent further damage and allow us to fix the floors without worrying that the repairs would themselves deteriorate quickly. I would estimate between $15000 and $20000 is needed to have a contractor do the job. The scope of the project would preclude us doing this ourselves unless we could get a good number of people with roofing/carpentry experience to help out.

If you know of any organizations that help with historic barn restoration or repair let us know. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,

George

I used to do grant research. Send me an email: thomasb1@hotmail.com (I don't think my emails make it into your inbox or I'd send you one).

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	is300lex wrote:
	I used to do grant research. Send me an email: thomasb1@hotmail.com (I don't think my emails make it into your inbox or I'd send you one).

That's great! Maybe you can give me tips. I bought two grant writing books with the intent on trying to get help for both the barn and the house.

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Lead investigator
Ohio Valley Ghost Hunters

I'd be happy to give you tips. I did this for a while at a non-profit that obtained a large portion of their operating money from the Ohio Department of Development and the Third Frontier program. After working on those ridiculously complex grant proposals everything else seems easy.

I think what's more important than how you write the proposal is who you know within the organization you're applying for funding from. The best funded organizations have networking guru's getting to know as many people as they can. The bigger your network of contacts the better your chances of getting funding.

Some of the important parts of a proposal: The Budget (by far #1 at most grant giving organizations). If it doesn't make sense they stick your proposal in the cylindrical file. The Executive or Project Summary...some organizations only read this part of the proposal from start to finish and skim everything else so it's important to get your point across clearly in it (but you can't over do it with technical jargon or minor details).

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I bought two books to help me get a basic understanding of the whole process. Grant Writing for Dummies and Getting Grants by Alexis Carter-Black.
Hopefully if I can get a handle on the whole process I can bounce the paperwork off you for fine tuning.

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Lead investigator
Ohio Valley Ghost Hunters

What has been done so far in regards to fundraising (aside from the ghost hunts).

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We REALLY want to save the Barn here... it's one of the most beautifully built carriage house/barns I've ever seen. Does anyone have any ideas as to what we can do to raise funds for some of this preservation to be done?? I'm not good at thinking BIG and need some help trying to get ideas for major fund raising events.

I have tons of great ideas. And if we could just get the supplies, maybe we could find (like George said) some of us who know how to roof. My husband knows lots of people who do (roofing). We rehab houses for a living also. I'll have to talk to him to see what he thinks it would cost for supplies and how long it would take. But back to the ideas of raising funds...I think it would be great to hold some kind of festival with vendors donating. Maybe some kindof dance on the front lawn with a bbq or old fashioned picnic. I even have a bounce castle and cotton candy machine for kids. We could sell rides, and cotton candy, maybe a picnic lunch. Maybe see if there are any entertainers along that line that could join in. Country bands? Maybe I could get my husband to MC it (that's what he does) I'll have to ask him if he has any ideas. He just organized a fund raising event for a sick friend and helped raise thirty thousand. I believe it can be done. Also, I wonder if the place is safe enough that George could have schools take field trips in the spring to Prospect and have maybe the local PTO (this is what our school district does anyways) sponser it, or for a nominal fee they could come learn the history of the Underground Railroad and have tour guides dress up in period clothing. We could also still have a great car show with an MC and just advertise the heck out of it. Do 50/50 raffles and so on at the car show. My husband MC's car shows on a regular basis, and knows all the extra money making things they do. Maybe I should (and maybe I could bring him) come to a board meeting sometime and throw around some ideas. I'll check into the roof thing and let you know what he says. He's probably not real big on this kind of stuff, but he knows it's important to me .

Denise

Please let me know if I can help in any way.

What about hosting a viewing party the night that Prospect is on Taps?

I like the ideas of schools coming out. It could be a nice history lesson. Of course no mentioning of the paranormal Only thing, that may not bring in tons of money. Still nice for the kids to learn though. Any advertising, we can do on our myspace and our website. So, just let us know what you need! We are more than willing to do what is in our power. One idea, what about a flea market/antique show in the front yard? Not sure how big they are in that area, but that could bring in some I'm sure

I'm thinking we should plan a meeting so we can get notes and direction!! All the ideas sound great; we need to try to see what all we need to find in the way of funding for any of the events and try to get something going!! Let's think real hard about a serious event, get with George and as many of the board members as possible, and get some teams/committees researching!! KEEP THIS UP GUYS!!!

how far does everyone live from the home? We are more than willing to help, but the distance can be a problem for us t travel it often..... It stinks.

I'm in St Clairsville...a little over an hour away.... Give us an idea of days we may be able to work in a travel meeting, if possible......it'd be nice if we could meet to plan once, then we can sort out duties/favors in other ways.....Think?

I'm about 30 min's away. Since I'm self-employed it doesn't really matter when. My husband said it should be way cheaper than George was quoted by contractors if it's done ourselves. But I'm guessing raising the money is the first thing at hand. Yeah....Let me know when we can get together.

Denise

first and formost i will do anything to help.. my newphew is also a contractor i will ask him about the roof also.. i also think the fleamarket thing sounds great. actually everyones ideas are great.what about something like a spring ball.. in the ballroom formal attire dance and a dinner humm ...or like a festival like someone mentioned a bounce house and such for kids..hummm off i go to look up some stuff... like i said i am willing to do whatever and help out whenever...i love pp place.... what about like a small carnival. that would bring in the money look what we get at the homecoming.. humm not as big of coarse but something in that line .. look up jcj amusment..i am sure they share the profit probally plan it for you humm...what yall think? i am sure there are smaller amusment companies around too like the ones who set up shop in the parking lots.. .

http://www.preservationnation.org/resources/find-funding/

anyone checked this out..

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