SchoolGrants

Grant Writing Tips As published previously in SchoolGrants Newsletter

A variety of grant-writing hints are offered in each edition of the SchoolGrants Biweekly Newsletter. A few of those tips are compiled here for your use.

10 Grant Writing Hints	Miscellaneous Tips
Components of a Proposal	Writing Letters of Inquiry
Grant and Program Planning	Nine Secrets of Successful Proposals
Plain Writing Skills	Managing Your Grant

Components of a Proposal
Most grantors expect to see the following eight components in grant proposals: *Summary: Very briefly summarize the project for which you are requesting funding. You should be able to describe your project in just 3-4 sentences. Introduction: Use this section to tell a little about your organization - what qualifications do you have to administer the program/funds for which you are asking? Statement of Need: Use facts to describe the needs your organization has that the proposed project will address. Objectives: Describe the major ways the project is expected to impact your goals and the organization's needs. Objectives should be stated in measurable terms. Methods: How are you going to accomplish the objectives of the program? Evaluation: What quantifiable methods will you have in place to monitor the success of your program? [On-going monitoring of the program is required to determine that objectives are being achieved. Frequent self-evaluations enable timely corrections and adjustments if parts of the program are proving to be ineffective.] Future Funding: How will your organization continue this program when the grant ends? Budget*: Clearly delineate costs borne by the grant. Be as accurate as possible.
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Grant and Program Planning © Sylvie McGee/All For A Good Cause - 1995 Program planning and grant planning are intimately linked. Ideally, grant planning should be only one phase in the whole program development, program implementation, and evaluation cycle. Too often, it is treated as something separate and foreign. The best results in fund development will come when your grant and solicitation strategies are closely intertwined with your goals and program strategies. Build partners - not donors! Having said that, if you can answer the following questions, you will be well on your way to both solid program development and successful fund development. What's the problem we are addressing? Remember - the problem is not your need - it's the community's need! Who else is addressing, and what are the gaps in how it is being addressed? Gaps can be programmatic, population, time/seasonal, or material. Gaps are the reason that you have a need! How are we proposing to address the problem? Paint a clear and specific picture of your program! Can your prospect see it in action in their mind? How will things be different/will the problem be solved or improved, when you are done? How will you know that you are succeeding? What will you measure in order to understand how you are doing and what needs to change or be adjusted? What do you need in order to try to solve the problem? This must tie to the approach you have described above. It's an opportunity to once again paint a picture of what you will be doing! What resources do you already have? From whom? Don't forget volunteers, donations and in kind services. Show the community participation in your project. Project the image that the funder is joining a winning team, not boarding a sinking boat! What are the qualifications and experience that make your program the right one to take on this work? History, key accomplishments, qualifications of staff and volunteers, relationships in the community....as they relate to this project. Are there problems or barriers that you can foresee? How will you overcome them? We all run into roadblocks when we try something new. Think through what you are going to do carefully. What's likely to trip you up? How can you anticipate these problems? Who will you turn to for help? Recognizing the possibility of problems is the sign of a sophisticated and professional program. © Sylvie McGee/All For A Good Cause - 1995 Sylvie works from her home as a grant-writer, program planner and community assessment consultant. Her practice is focused on human services that are trying to build healthy and caring communities for all people. Most of her work has focused on homelessness, HIV/AIDS services, youth and family services, and substance abuse prevention. Please visit Sylvie's site at http://www.seanet.com/~sylvie/grants.htm We thank her for her generosity in allowing the use of information posted on her Web site!
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Plain Writing Skills When applying for funds, it is important to remember that the readers of your proposal may not be educators. This is especially true for applications sent to corporations and many foundations. What does this mean? It means you must use clear, precise language that does not rely on "edu-talk". Acronyms should not be used unless they have defined. Terms specific to education must be explained. Specific programs with which those in education may be very familiar may, and probably will, mean nothing to those outside the education arena. Using terms that are unfamiliar to those offering funds will likely get your proposal tossed out because they will not understand your need for funds. PlainTrain offers a free Plain Language Online Training Program that provides helpful tips and techniques for improving your communication skills with the use of plain language. In short, "Plain language matches the needs of the reader with your needs as a writer, resulting in effective and efficient communication. It is effective because the reader can understand the message. It is efficient because the reader can read and understand the message the first time." It is not difficult to see how effective and efficient proposals are more likely to be successful. Before submitting your application to any grantor, have a colleague read it. The less knowledgeable the reader is about your subject, the better. There are several advantages to this approach. First, if, after having read your proposal, your reader understands what your project entails, the grantor is likely to also comprehend the value of your proposed program. A second advantage is that spelling and grammar errors are more likely to be caught by an independent reader. You know what you've written so when you proofread, you may read what you think you wrote rather than what you actually wrote!
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