Grant Writing Basics

In Grant Writing, the selling of ideas in order to secure funding for a proposed program or project is the basic difference between this type of Business Writing and the writing of general Business Proposals.

Of course, as with any type of proposal, the task of moving an idea from the conceptual stage to the implementation stage can be a protracted and frustrating process. Implicit in this is the fact that even the best and most noble ideas have to be fully developed and "sold" to decision-makers.

In the Private Sector, one usually initiates the approval process by submitting a formal proposal to Company Management. Conversely, in Non-Profit Organizations, proposals are generally submitted to a myriad of entities.

That said, the funding of Non-Profit projects is normally accomplished through the awarding of Grants. Simply stated, Grants are monies allocated to bankroll a program that is intended to assess a situation or affect some positive change for a particular group or community.

Grants can be obtained from many public and private entities. Federal, State and Local Governments are obvious sources of funding, but Grants can also be be secured from universities, foundations, small businesses and corporations.

With these various funding sources available, the first step in putting together a Grant Proposal is to determine which source is the most appropriate for your particular project or organization.

Research is critical in this initial step. Leaders and "prime movers" in the community or one's local network can be excellent resources, but the Internet has also become an important research tool in the area of securing Grants.

Concurrently, you will also need to formulate specific questions as to what you want to do. In other words, what is the Grant for?

Here are some typical questions to ask yourself at this stage of your Grant Writing Project:

* What problem or situation are you addressing?
* How are you proposing to address the above?
* What do you want to accomplish?
* What resources are needed to address the situation?
* What are the anticipated problems or pitfalls?
* What expertise or skills do you (and others) bring to bear on this situation?

Be sure to answer these questions in clear and precise terms as your responses will serve as the rationale and starting point for putting together your Grant Proposal.

From here, your next step is to outline you Grant Proposal. In most cases your proposal should include all or most of the following elements:

* Cover Letter
* Proposal Summary
* Introduction of you or your organization
* Purpose of the proposal
* Objectives of the proposal
* Time frames
* Measurements
* Budgeting

Once you have fleshed out the above details, you can begin the task of finalizing your Proposal. As with all Business Writing, write clearly, succinctly and persuasively. In this regard, keep in mind that funding organizations review Grant Requests all the time, so filling up a proposal with extraneous verbiage and boilerplate will not impress anyone.

It is important to note that most funding sources will publish guidelines for completing and submitting Grant Proposals. Be sure to review these and follow them to the letter.

As a final note, be aware that your initial proposal may very well be rejected for any number of reasons. Should this be case, revise and resubmit your proposal -- if not with the same funding source, then with another. If your honestly believe in the value of your idea, you will want to exhaust every effort to get your proposal approved and funded.

For more information on this subject, as well as a look at various examples of templates you can follow when organizing your Grant Proposal, check out the Business Section of your local library or the Internet.


Related Links:

http://www.seanet.com/~sylvie/grants.htm

http://www.managementhelp.org/fndrsng/np_raise/np_raise.htm

http://www.npguides.org/


Jack