Jul 12, 2010

How to Write a Winning Grant Proposal

 


4. Get to Know the Funder

Don't write the proposal first and then go looking for funders, cautions Browning. "Your grant proposal has to be prescriptive to what that funder is seeking." Get to know potential grant-makers better by obtaining copies of their annual reports. Scrutinize their website. What buzz words do they use. You can even incorporate that funder's colors into the fonts and graphics that you use in your grant proposal, advises Browning. "We made our table of contents in our proposal look a whole lot like that scoring criteria listed in the grant application," says Fishback.

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5. Do Whatever the RFP Says

Most importantly, request a copy of the grant guidelines. Follow the requirements of the funding notice or application to the letter, advises Porter. Your guide for what to include or not to include in your document is the request for proposal (RFP) or grant application. "Give the funder exactly what they ask for, no more and no less," adds Porter. "If it says give a brief statement, you write a paragraph. If is says give us two to four pages that is what you will provide"—not one page or four and a half pages, he explains.

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6. State Measurable Not Fluffy Objectives

In general, your proposal will start with an introduction, which includes the amount requested, followed by a description and brief history of your company and its products, services or programs. Your proposal should describe anticipated and immediate short-term and long-term results, proposed implementation, staff or key personnel, budget, methodology, benchmarks, and timetable. A common mistake in writing a proposal is failing to distinguish between a goal and objective. To provide energy efficient appliances to homeowners helping to cut costs is a goal not an objective. Says Browning, your objective must be S.M.A.R.T, that is specific, measurable, obtainable, realistic, and time bound. A measurable objective will have a subject, an action, a location, a timeframe and a percentage, Porter adds. For example, at the end of 2010, you intend to increase the number of homeowners in X county using Y energy efficient product or service by Z percent.

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7. Spell Out How You Intend to Spend the Money
The person giving you the money has to make sure you know how to spend it Fishback was explicit about how PlotWatt's anticipated budget broke down and how he would spend the grant money—line item by line item. Some reviewers look at the budget first to gauge applicants. People often are disqualified for providing an improper budget, says Porter. They usually get tripped up by either over estimating or underestimating their costs, he explains.

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8. Consult a Professional Grant Writer

Don't be fooled by advertisements and promotions for granting writing. There are a lot of scammers, especially on the internet. The Better Business Bureau is a good resource for checking the references of a grant writer. The American Association of Grant Professionals has a list of grant consultants on its site. Grant writers charge anywhere from $40 to $150 an hour, depending on the location (i.e., it's likely to cost more if you are located New York or San Francisco), Porter says. Expect to pay from $1,000 to $3,000 for a grant proposal for private or foundation funding and $4,000 to $15,000 for a grant proposal for government funding, since such grant applications tend to be more intricate.  Even if you don't hire someone to write it, you should consider hiring someone to review it, Porter suggests.

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