GRANTS INTRODUCTION  LESSON #6 
  

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Lesson 6: Grant Writing

As we said under Lesson 5: Resource Investigation, finding the right source of money is essential. The science of grant writing is matching the need with the source of grant funds. If it’s a perfect fit, the grant will virtually write itself. The art of grant writing is in moving a project from almost funded to being awarded funding.

The well written grant has three qualities: it’s clear, it’s precise and it’s persuasive. We’ll look at each attribute.

Clarity: The person reviewing your application must understand two things: the need in your community and how you propose to address that need. You may want to review the section on Needs Documentation (Lesson 4). The plan you propose must also be clear.

Keep it simple. The proposal should be able to be summed up in a title of just a few words. If you have difficulty preparing a one sentence summary, your plan may be too complicated for some sources of funding.

Eschew Obfuscation     Or in the vernacular,    Keep It Simple

Also remember the reviewer does not know you, your community, your needs population, or possibly even anything about your field. Use simple language and sentence structure. Avoid jargon and acronyms. Utilize an outline format with bullets for important information. For longer applications prepare a table of contents and index to make it easier to navigate your proposal.

Precision: Triple check your numbers. An error on your budget detracts from the credibility of your entire proposal. There are a multitude of ways for mistakes to creep in. Its common, for example, for your budget to be prepared in one format only to have the application require it in another format (see adjoining story). When the figures are translated from one format to the other, errors occur. Also, many grant funded agencies run on a fiscal year that is not the same as the calendar year. If you administer multiple grants, with multiple fiscal years, it can become quite confusing to track all of the fiscal data. Sometimes it’s just a simple typo. Whatever the cause, numerical mistakes can be deadly.

Stories from the Field: I put together an application to restore a historic bridge. The budget form in the application was designed for buildings. It had two sections, indoor and outdoor. Figuring that all parts of a bridge are outdoor, I put the entire budget under that section. I received a telephone call from a reviewer at the funding agency requesting that I put all of the structural items under indoor and everything else under outdoor. I’m not an engineer, but as far as I know everything on a bridge is structural. If it wasn’t, it wouldn’t be there. I put everything that went up-and-down under interior (structural) and everything that went across the water under exterior. This was actually quite a lot of work. The budget was several pages long and prepared by a structural engineer (did I mention that I’m not an engineer). We got the grant.

There is another type of precision important to grants: precise language. If you like to get out the thesaurus when you write, be aware of the exact definition of the words you chose. Solving a problem is different from ameliorating, relieving, or improving. When you solve the problem, it’s over, done, finished. You can’t reapply for money to ameliorate a problem if last year’s grant solved the problem. Persuasion: Now for the real art: Talking someone you don’t know into giving you thousands of dollars. The most powerful persuasive tool you have are statistics.  Selectively chosen for maximum impact, statistics are an essential part of any successful application. You have to measure your need against that of your competition. After you’ve made the numerical argument, paint a picture for the funding representative. Put a human face on your proposal with case studies and letters of support. Letters of support can be especially effective because they speak in the voices of your needs population. Form letters and petitions don’t have nearly the same impact because they don’t make a connection between your clients and the funding representative. There are numerous little things you can do. Take "before" pictures in black and white on overcast days, "after" pictures on sunny days with color film. Answer every question as positively as possible. Remember, however, your grant application will be used as the basis of a contract between your organization and the funding agency. If funded, you will be held to accomplishing any goals you outlined. There is a fine line be advocacy and exaggeration.

As we saw when we discussed the difference between private and public sector funds, the private sector often doesn’t have a specific application form. It’s common for a private foundation to simply state, "Send us a proposal" in their application material. When that’s the case, follow this outline to include all of the necessary components:

Cover Letter: The cover letter is a concise summary of your proposal. It says why you chose this funding agency, your organization’s capability to complete the project, and the amount you are requesting. It should be signed by your CEO, not the grant writer, but should include a contact name and telephone number.

Title Page: Not a necessity, but a title page gives your proposal a professional look. Keep it simple with the title of your proposal, your organization’s name and address, the date you submitted it, and the agency and program you are applying to.

Summary: For a longer application, a summary is a good idea. The summary can also be sent to the media and elected officials to keep them informed.

Introduction: Give the funding agency a brief overview of your service area and client population. Tell them who you will be serving and explain the significance of the project.

Problem Definition and Need: In quantitative and qualitative terms define the problem. This is where you paint the picture of need in your client population. For every problem you define, you will need to develop a corresponding goal and objective.

Goals and Objectives: Now that the funding agency has read about your need, outline the goals of your proposal.

Program Activities: What will you do and how will you do it? This is the time for specific actions, with exact numbers of persons served, units rehabilitated, etc.

Future Plans: How will the project continue on after the grant funds are expended? Will you generate revenues to be self-sustaining or will the project solve the problem avoiding the need for future grant dollars.

Facilities and Equipment: For every element you list in your program activities, you need to show that you have the facilities and equipment, or that you’ve requested funding for them.

Staffing and Administration: Like the previous item, for every program activity, you need to identify a staff person, currently on-board or to be hired with grant funds, to complete the task.

Timetable: A schedule with milestones should be provided. For more sophisticated projects, a chart showing the critical path may be necessary.

Evaluation Method: How will you know if your project has been a success? Tell the funding agency what measures you will use, in quantifiable terms, to determine if you accomplished your goals. The evaluation method may be used to fine-tune an ongoing program. Meeting or exceeding these goals may be the basis for refunding from the same source down the road.

Budget: Every item in your staffing plan and facilities and equipment list must show up on your budget. Be sure to include any revenues generated by the project.

Corporate Resume: Tell the funding agency about the accomplishments of your firm. Your mission, experience, total budget, staff qualifications, etc. should be included. You want to establish a confidence level with the funding agency that you can complete the project if funded. This section can be standardized and used for different applications.

This lesson outlines the process of grant writing. For a more detailed look, try these two popular books:

GrantSeeker's Tool Kit by Elizabeth H. Rich (Editor) Margaret Mary Fezko (Editor) Our Price: $31.96

Learn More About These Books

Grants for Nonprofit Organizations by Eleanor Gilpatrick Our Price: $55.00

What you should do next is discussed in Lesson 7: After the Application has been Submitted.