Writing Grant Proposals- Important Tips
If you are planning to apply for a grant, then you must know about the right method of writing grant proposals. Grant proposals play a very important role in the acceptance or rejection of the grant application. Irrespective of the source from which grant is coming, the applicant is required to prepare a grant proposal to qualify for the grant. While most of the grant-offering organizations have their own proposal forms, there are few that give you some basic guidelines.
Understanding the importance of grants proposals, writing effective grant proposals becomes very crucial. Here are some tips that will help you understand the right way of writing grant proposals.
1. Your grant proposal must have a proposal summary at the beginning of the proposal. In this summary you must specify in brief the objectives of your project.
2. Most proposals require a description of the organization including its past, present, and projected operations. Be concise and specific. Use this description to build credibility for your organization as well as to reinforce the connection between you and the grantor.
3. Next include a ‘statement of need’ or ‘problem statement’. This is an important part of your proposal. The main objective of writing grant proposals is to convince the grant making organization. This portion should include a well-supported statement of the problem that you aim to overcome using the grant funding. Make sure you represent your problem properly and honestly. It would be better if you could explain why the issue is important, and the possible solutions that you derived after intensive research work
4. Clearly specify what your organization plans to do about the problem. Here you need to include the project objectives. Explain the expected results or benefits of each objective. Make sure your objectives are attainable.
5. After making the grantor aware of your projects objectives, inform him about the methods or strategies that you aim to adopt. While writing grant proposals you must describe in detail the activities that you plan to undertake to achieve desired results. Also justify the approaches that you have decided to take up.
6. An important part that you need to include in your final stages of grant proposal is the project evaluation. Here you must specify about the evaluation criteria that you have developed to evaluate the progress of the project goals. Include what records you will keep and also how you will use the recorded data for evaluation. If the data collection costs money, then include that cost amount in your budget.
7. While writing grant proposals the candidates must also state the other sources, (if any) from where they are drawing financial aid. A mention of in-kind contributions that you expect, such as meeting space or equipment is also required.
8. Finally present the budget or cost of your project. Attach a short budget displaying the expected expenses and income. The expenses section must include personnel expenses, direct project expenses, and overhead expenses. Income must include earned income and contributed income.
Follow these tips when writing grant proposals in order to receive a positive response from the respective grantor.