Grant Writing & Public Relations

Grant Writing

Choice Words LLC’s grant writing team has a stellar track record, delivering significant grants from private, corporate, and government funders, with awards ranging from $1,000 to $10 million. Here’s a sample of grants Choice Words has won since 2010:

  • Empire State Development Corp. (39)
  • NYS Downtown Revitalization Initiative
  • SUNY2020 Grant
  • US Commerce Department (2)
  • NYS Environmental Protection Fund (7)
  • Transportation Enhancement
  • NYS Housing and Urban Development (2)
  • NYS DOS Local Waterfront Revitalization
  • Save America’s Treasures
  • Jeanette F. Schlobach Charitable Trust (2)
  • Jane W. Nuhn Charitable Trust
  • M&T Bank
  • NYS Main Street Revitalization
  • New York State Electric and Gas
 $ 30.1 million
$ 10 million
$ 10 million
$ 3.7 million
$ 2.6 million
$ 2.4 million
$ 1.1 million
$ 500,000
$ 350,000
$ 110,000
$ 70,000
$ 65,000
$ 60,000
$ 50,000
3D printing at SUNY New Paltz – Photo: Robin Weinstein

Additionally, we can provide clients with focused funding research to identify the most suitable sources of funding from private and public resources.

We also specialize in the New York State Consolidated Funding Application process.

Choice Words has become an expert in highly specialized grants and other incentives from the government. Find out more about how we can assist with:

Grants.gov and Grantsgateway.ny.gov Registration

Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Tax Exemptions

Firefighters’ Grants

Bids and RFPs

Public Relations

Choice Words LLC will work with your organization’s leadership to develop a media strategy that accomplishes the desired mission. Whether it’s a press release, a social networking solution, or a full fledged, multi-media campaign, Choice Words’ professional team will craft an affordable and effective approach to meet your needs. Here are just some of the things Choice Words can do:

  • Media Planning
  • Press Releases
  • Photo ops
  • Press Conferences
  • E-Blasts
  • Newsletters
  • Op/Ed submissions
  • Local, regional and national print coverage & broadcast
  • Local television coverage
  • Radio talk shows
  • Social media
  • Website updates

Choice Words constantly updates a comprehensive media list to which we pitch our press releases. Some of the outlets that have picked up our “stories” include:

  • New York Times
  • Daily News
  • Wall Street Journal
  • YNN
  • Cablevision
  • Times Herald Record
  • Poughkeepsie Journal
  • Kingston Freeman
  • New York Post
  • Times Union [Albany]
  • AP & UPI
  • NBC News NY
  • CBS News Radio

Consolidated Funding Application


Each summer, New York State’s streamlined Consolidated Funding Application (“CFA”) provides access to dozens of state funding sources.

Choice Words specializes in the CFA application process: since 2013, we’ve won 39 CFA awards for our clients, totaling $27.5 million in funding.

Contact us to find out how we can help your project get the funding it deserves!

Since 2011, New York State’s streamlined Consolidated Funding Application (“CFA”) has provided access to dozens of state funding sources via a single application, abolishing bureaucratic delays and expediting funding.

Applying for a CFA is a complicated process, however, involving lengthy online registration, participation in meetings, and a highly detailed application incorporating sometimes dozens of documents.

Choice Words has been filing CFAs since its inception, and its associates have become experts at navigating the system. They’ve come to specialize in the CFA process, and are known as the grant writers for the job. Choice Words can provide a team of professional grant writers to expedite the labor-intensive CFA application process, and deliver results.

Our success rate speaks for itself:
2013 – 3 CFA wins: $1.4 million
2014 – 7 CFA wins: $4 million
2015 – 8 CFA wins: $6.5 million
2016 – 12 CFA wins: $8.3 million
2017 – 9 CFA wins: $7.3 million

Contact Us for a free consultation!

Municipal Grants

Choice Words helps municipalities throughout the Hudson Valley identify and seek funding in support of their priorities, whether for infrastructure needs, economic development initiatives, park development, or programmatic funding. Choice Words can help a village, town, or city develop a long-term, ongoing grants program; or we can help you apply to fund a specific project. Let us know how we can help your community.

State funding wins for municipal clients include:
  • Town of Hyde Park:
  • Town of New Windsor:
  • City of New Rochelle:
  • City of Poughkeepsie:
  • Town of Wawarsing:
 $ 1.5 million
$ 1.0 million
$ 804,000
$ 500,000
$ 20,000
Hyde Park Downtown Initiative
City of New Rochelle (c) AKRF, Inc.

Resources for municipal clients:

Empire State Development https://esd.ny.gov/
Water Quality Improvement Program http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/4774.html
NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation: https://parks.ny.gov/grants/
Department of Environmental Conservation: http://www.dec.ny.gov/pubs/grants.html
Regional Economic Development Councils: https://regionalcouncils.ny.gov/
Consolidated Funding Application: https://regionalcouncils.ny.gov/cfa

Communications Consulting

Choice Words LLC helps organizations inject new life into anemic outreach efforts. We can help hone your message and deliver it with clarity. Whether it’s through traditional media or social media, Choice Words can develop and implement new approaches to solve nagging communications problems.

Poughkeepsie Farm Project

Communications consulting begins with a meeting between Choice Words’ team members and organizational leadership to decide what approach will align best with your organization’s purpose. Depending on your organization’s needs, the following services may be integrated into a comprehensive communications plan.

1. Web Site Assessment
Choice Words will do a full assessment of your organization’s web site and return with a detailed report on how to improve accessibility, effectiveness, clarity of message, aesthetics, and quality of information in order to increase traffic and time spent on each page. Depending on the organization’s needs, the client may then use this information internally and make changes with IT personnel, or Choice Words can connect the organization to a web designer. Choice Words also provides web copy writing services, helping to make the site’s messages clear and concise, and can assist with the setup and usage of web analytics tools such as Google Analytics.

2. Social Media Assessment
Choice Words will conduct an assessment of the organization’s social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Vimeo, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr, etc. and provide a full report back to leadership on the accessibility and clarity of message conveyed by these platforms. Choice Words will provide suggestions on how to increase followers/friends and increase productivity by properly utilizing social media to complement other ongoing efforts.

3. Outreach Assessment – E-blasts & Newsletters
Is your organization targeting potential funders through email blasts and newsletters? Are you trying to reach a broader audience through scheduled, labor-intensive outreach efforts that are resulting in less than satisfactory ROI? Choice Words is experienced in assessing both your digital and “paper” outreach efforts, providing a comprehensive and detailed report as to how to improve them, and working alongside your staff to develop new content and formats for your outreach efforts that will bring your ROI up to speed in no time.

4. Ongoing Communications Management
It is up to you to decide how much help you want from Choice Words. Your organization may need no more than an assessment of the current web site, social media and outreach efforts. Many organizations have in-house staff that update these communication venues. However, smaller organizations may decide that it is better for Choice Words to take over ongoing communications and we can do just that. After research and assessment we can not only help you develop new tools, but we can take those new tools to the public by posting on Facebook and Twitter, and cultivating and mailing out digital newsletters. It’s up to you how little or how much your organization needs.u9

Fundraising & Development

kickphoto
Walkway Over the Hudson kick line

Choice Words can assist in or lead a fundraising campaign, developing a layered and effective plan that will guide the marketing needed to support any nonprofits capital campaigns, event promotions, annual appeals and membership drives. We recognize the crucial relationship between public relations and fundraising; the two support each other, and that’s why we offer both services. Choice Words uses press releases and press conferences, among other things, to build name recognition. This, in turn, increases turn-out to events, donations, and increased public interest, which leads to increases in broader support, such as by local and regional government. Choice Words uses this support to strengthen grant applications and letters of inquiry to private charitable foundations.

President and founder Steve Densmore helped devise and implement attempts at breaking Guinness’ world records at the Walkway Over the Hudson Historic State Park. In 2012, over 2,500 people gathered on the Walkway and broke the world record for the longest dance line. In 2013, crowds once again gathered in an attempt to break the world record for the longest chorus line. Both events were hugely successful fundraisers for the Park.