Grant Proposal
Nine Tips for a Successful Grant Proposal Letter
Submitting a Grant Proposal Letter is like shooting an arrow off into the air. Once released, you cannot adjust your aim. This is why the letter must be very carefully prepared. These are the tips that I learned when chatting with the Vice-President of a major Granting Foundation:
1. Research a Grant opportunity very thoroughly before taking it forward. Walking into a hamburger joint and ordering deep fried chicken will do you about as much good as would applying for the wrong grant. Make sure that your requirement fits the Grantor’s intentions perfectly, or you could waste your time.
2. Study the Grant Guidelines equally carefully. These will tell you exactly what the Grantor wants, and the format of the Grant Letter required. Grantors never do this without a reason. Often these are two-fold. They are testing for structured thinking, and want the information provided in a particular way for their own administrative purposes. Do things the Grantor’s way, and smooth the path for your application.
3. Be precise and concise. A Grant Evaluator does not start by being interested in your proposal, and you have to earn their attention. Put yourself in their position and understand what it must be like reading hundreds of long-winded letters. The quicker that they get the point you want to make, the more positive they will be about it.
4. Most people know exactly what they want, however far fewer are able to express themselves clearly in the written word. Spell and grammar check your writing and proof read and edit it several times. Then ask friends to read what you wrote, and independently tell you what they think you said. Remember, you never get to meet the evaluator during the evaluation stage. Write to them as if they know nothing about your subject.
5. When you are perfectly satisfied about what you have written, and several friends have confirmed that it says exactly what you want to say, ask a professional writer to proofread your Grant Proposal Letter. Their job will be to check for bad grammar and semantics, and typing and spelling errors too. Avoid mistakes like these at all costs, because a Grant Evaluator may interpret their presence as an indication that you do not care.
6. Ensure that you submit a realistic budget. Do not ask for more (or less than you need. Your budget must be activity and time-based, because this is more likely to convince than a bland globular thumb-suck.
7. Remember to describe the evaluation process. This lists the criteria and time scales to monitor its success. A plan without success criteria is little more than a wish list, and Grant Evaluators know this too.
8. Try to work in tandem with other community players, and ask them to endorse your Grant Proposal Letter. Grantors prefer to fund projects that impact on the wider neighborhood, and often reject narrowly selfish ideas
9. Round off your Grant Proposal Letter with a description of how your project will self-sustain itself in the longer run. Will it generate an income to cover running costs, or have the community agreed to pick up the tab?
This information is provided by schoolgrants.net, a website that provides free information on School and other Grants. You will find useful assistance here, including how to write a successful Grant Proposal Letter.
