Write a Winning Grant Proposal and Still Make It Home On Time!

That's right we are going to explore how to write a grant proposal and still only work eight hours a day. I can hear the chuckles of the worlds grant writers as they shake their heads and say to them selves, "Oh, sure you are."

Well not only are we going to show you how to do that but we are going to also say it can be a winning proposal as well. It does take 3 qualities though and they are focus, organization and pre-planning.

Lets start with focus. Nothing will hurt your time management system more then losing focus and chasing non-productive issues. When a proposal is at hand and deadlines are looming everything else that day has to be a lower priority because grants' provide much needed funding for all nonprofit organizations and are typically 20-30% of the cash flow for the year.

Next lets talk about organization because nothing gets done or finished if you are disorganized. Hopefully you have a Blue Ribbon Grant proposal that has all your boilerplate info together and up to date so that it can be tweaked or changed to meet the requirements of the funder. An example would be the needs statement, which summarizes the service gap in your community that your organization serves. This changes some over time especially statistics and some changes in programs offered. The idea is to have the bulk stuff done and the tweaking can take place at the time the grant proposal is being assembled.

Also what about supplies such as paper, folders, ink, printers, etc. All of this comes into play and if you are organized you don't spend countless hours searching for materials or making a supply run across town to the only Kinko's within a 100 miles.

Lets not forget pre-planning, which will help you focus and be organized. Pre-planning is the action that helps to prepare the way to understanding the method and concept that you are realistically trying to portray in the form of a proposal. It is this understanding that leads to focus and organization.

Now that we have that out of the way I have a list of 8 things that we need to do to get the information out of your head and into a proposal. Pay close attention here because these are important factors in making this a grant winning proposal.

1. Read the application guidelines carefully as this information will list all the do's and don'ts as well as eligibility requirements and geographical preferences. Lots of good stuff here and make sure you follow them exactly. A lot of grant proposals wind up on the floor because they are not written to the funders specifications.
2. Read carefully any content on websites about the funder's initiatives looking closely for buzzwords that can be used in your proposal to describe your programs. This will align your program with theirs and help to show how your program is working on having an impact on the community that the funder is interested in learning more about.
3. Make sure you have a current up to date IRS Determination Letter that is at least no older then two years.
4. The needs statement as we mentioned earlier shows the service gap in your community. Search the web for up to date statistics that support your program and give it that needed boast to make your organization different then all your competitors the funder is reviewing. The boilerplate should be brought up to date and use some creativity to show a compelling need. For instance I had a customer that told quick stories of success their program had on the children in it and the effects on the parents. They won their grant by the way!
5. Budgets are an integral part of the proposal and you should have up to date and accurate budgets. They should cover all facets of the program. More then one person should edit these figures and make double sure they are correct and that the Executive Director knows all about them and is prepared to field questions at a moments notice.
6. Also a method of measurement and evaluation will be needed to correctly show what the results were of the program the grant was provided. Important here to understand that success or failure are not exactly the criteria. What did we learn? What do we need to change and why? These are the things a grant maker likes to see and hear. This is factual stuff that moves organizations closer to actual solutions to problems, which in turn impact positively the community.
7. Buzzwords have a place in writing a proposal but don't overdue it. Try to express emotion were needed and revert back to factual as the proposal flows. This is were the writer part comes in and it's important to remember who your audience is and the goal you are trying to achieve so you can remain focused.
8. Make sure you have a couple of writers around that can do some editing after the rough draft is prepared. This will help the creative juices flow and at the same time help to correct technical mistakes.

If you follow these easy to follow suggestions and get yourself prepared and ready anyone can write a grant proposal in a short amount of time. It doesn't have to be a marathon energy-draining affair just is prepared and stay focused and you will be awarded more grant funding.

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