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How to Write a Winning Grant Proposal Keep in mind, Grantor’s need to fund projects. That’s what foundations do they give away money. However, they want to make a worthy investment. When contacting any foundation, government agency, or corporation, make sure you ask for a “Request for Proposal” (RFP) form. When you receive it look it over very carefully, remember, each grantor has his or her own way of doing business. Seven steps in writing a winning proposal. 1. Always link your grant proposal to your organization's Needs Assessment (NA) and Case Statement (CS). Your NA & CS combined together should provide you with all the required information requested by most grantors. If you did your homework correctly these two documents should contain all the necessary information required. Make sure you always quote your NA & CS. Attach a copy of the page this information is on when you want to make a point of reference describing key statistics. If you have any questions concerning grant requirements, contact the grantor by phone and ask for clarification. Your request has the potential to improve the quality of your proposals. It may even make the grantor’s task easier as well. They WANT you to call, or at least they don’t mind because it can revel several critical things: It shows that you are not just chasing money because it is out there. 2. Always stick to the “Request For Proposals” (RFP) and, when the RFP says not to do something, don’t do it! When the RFP says to DO something, make sure you do it, and do it well. In the military you learn to check it, check it again, and then you give it a final check. 3. Volunteer to be a grant reader and then do it. Visit your prospective Donors (Foundation, Government, or Corporations web site, or call their office:
Ask how you can apply to be a grant reader, then, follow their advice. When you are being trained to read grant proposals, you’ll look for:
4. Ask for the grantor’s criteria for judging their grant proposals if it is not provided in their RFP. This is especially important, if you have not been a grant reader before. 5. Look at your NA & CS, to see if it lines up with their criteria. Look for hot buttons. These are the words that are clearly the labels that reflect key ideas or needs that the grantor wants to be the focus. If the RFP states that the money is to promote the use of technology that is integrated into instruction this is a hot button. Use these words throughout your proposal but do not overuse them. Be sure you clearly show that your proposal will do that. 6. Write the grant in a specific sequence. You must provide the proposal in the order that they specify, Usually grants include sections such as:
7. Keep those same sections and their numbers. Its recommended to write these sections in the following order:
Some additional advice about writing each section: 1. Abstract: Be very careful to summarize the main ideas from each section only and to emphasize the logical links from the data that defines the need, to the goals, to 2. Needs: This is where using and referring to the data in your NA $ CS is valuable, Also, be very careful what you say here. Be sure that your needs address most of the needs that the grant RFP has targeted. Remember, if your needs do not significantly overlap the needs targeted in the grantor’s RFP, do not waste your time applying. 3. Project Goals: Be sure that your goals are measurable. This means that you are using the data from your NA & CS. What are the patterns, what is the baseline or actual current conditions now? 4. Has the pattern improved from the original, pre-project condition? Make sure you include your goals, and when you expect to attain these goals. Pay close attention to what verbs you use in your goals. Use action-oriented words in the goal section. DO NOT use words like improve or enhance without defining what these improvements will be, and what they’ll look like. This advice is critical to the grantor if you want to be placed on the list of grants to receive an award. If project objectives are required, you must have a Goal section. Think of your objectives as of major benchmarks. Describe your process of doing each activity. Objectives are the key points at which in which you expect to complete things at a certain time. Example, will start and finish each month or each year. If the proposal is a multi-year project define the start and finish dates. Be very careful to align with the time lines. It’s recommended that after you write any proposal that you write your objectives, and then write your activities, and then write your time lines. 5. Project Activities: These are the steps you will take during your project to create the system that will change the data pattern to what your goals state is the desired data pattern. Stating it this way is an important way of separating your proposal from the rest of the hundreds or thousands they will receive. Be careful not to use lots of jargon or to get too detailed or wordy in this section. If necessary, have several people edit this section and reduce the redundancies and hyperbole. Be clear, concise, and direct. 6. Time Lines: These are the dates for each of the major steps just defined. DO NOT say on-going or continuous. That can be perceived as poor management. Define the points at which you will check for progress and adjust what you are doing to maximize effectiveness while the process is still underway. You want to have defined clearly how you will monitor that the work is helping you get where you want to go. Do not let your project be seen as ìgive us the money and we hope it works. Also, doing a good job of monitoring and adjusting will really help you attain your goals. 7. Persons Responsible: This is pretty straight forward, but be specific about the names AND the jobs/roles they have. Try not to just say staff even if that is true. Also include a specific person to lead the group so accountability is clear. 8. Budget: Be sure that you understand and follow these distinctions carefully. If the maximum amount for which you can apply is (for example) $30,000, do not apply for that exact amount. Apply for an amount that is a few dollars below that amount, such as $29,820. If you ask for the exact amount your proposal is more likely to be seen as contrived just to get the money. Asking for a bit less is more likely to give the impression that you have only asked for an amount that you really need. Most grantors clearly explain what will and will not be approved. 9. Evaluation: To many proposals die right here. It true too many grant writers fail to check to see if they clearly described their proposal properly. Forget that… and you’ll surely receive a poor evaluation. Money is much more "tight" now days, and grantors don't just want to get a lot of programs out there. They want to support effective programs. That means that program evaluation and using data from evaluation to improve the program are crucial. If you want the money you must show that you wiling to demonstrate good stewardship, and looking after their money. You must prove that your project is worth investing into. Here’s how to create a conclusion to influence the grant reader and to convince them you have a worthy project.
God bless, may your award equal your diligences, and hard work. Other websites to visit for ideas and help: http://www.onlinesitereviews.com/GRANT
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