Grant Writing Fundamentals
There are literally billions of grant dollars up for grabs year after year …
To win grants, you must know exactly who you are, what you are, and what you would like to accomplish before you can raise money. What this means is, you must know your mission, and who you serve in your community. You must identify a problem and pinpoint how you are the best organization to solve it.
And beyond that, you must determine how much money you need, how you will use it, how you will manage the program after the grant money is spent, and how you will measure the effectiveness of your program.
Then you must do the research to find someone who is willing to give you money to make your project happen.
Grantmakers, or funders, want to give money to organizations that are a good fit with their mission. A funder may be a family foundation, private foundation, community foundation, corporate foundation, or government entity. In order to win grants, your project must meet the funder’s criteria.
Every grant proposal is different, so it is important to understand what the funder wants to see. Some of the more common sections that a funder may include in the proposal include:
-- Cover letter-- Table of Contents/Reviewers’ Index-- Executive Summary-- Need Statement-- Plan of Operation-- Timeline -- Evaluation Plan-- Budget and Budget Narrative-- Sustainability Statement-- Collaboration Statement (if applicable)-- AppendicesTo make part of the process a little easier, there are some boilerplate forms that you want to keep up-to-date, handy, and available. I have compiled a checklist so you can see the types of information that you may need to provide in your grant application. I also have a tip sheet to help you with marketing your nonprofit!
There is a lot of work that goes into preparing a grant proposal. Oftentimes, a nonprofit organization doesn’t have the time or the requisite skills to complete every application that it should.
Grant writing — from research — to writing — to sending in the final report if the grant is funded — should be done on a proactive basis, so that as projects evolve, the funding can be sought from as many sources as possible, as quickly as possible.
I am ready to get to know you and your organization, and the needs you fill for your community. Let’s figure out how to increase your annual revenue by tapping into those billions of dollars and get your projects funded!
Joanne
Readable Writer
208-760-7372
