How to Write a Grant for a Daycare Business
Millions of dollars in grant funds are awarded each year in the United States. If you own a non-profit daycare business, you are eligible to submit a grant request to the federal government, foundations and faith-based organizations for financial aid. A non-profit daycare business must show how it is helping the community in order to qualify for funds.
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Instructions
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Writing the Daycare Business Grant
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Get a competitive edge by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of your daycare business. Perhaps you have good drivers to pick up children at their homes and schools, but lack an extra van. Do you have employees trained in child care, or do you need more money to offer salaries that will attract highly trained staff? You might need a safer rental space for the business. Looking realistically at your strengths and weaknesses will help you clearly assess where you need assistance.
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Find the grants that fit with your organization. Visit the federal government's grant site, the Foundation Center and browse through the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance for comprehensive lists of all federal, state and privately funded grants. Look to city and county government and local foundations first. Many municipalities have special funding to help with child care. Service organizations in your community that have a special interest in childcare are likely candidates. Large corporations frequently have a foundation, so appeal to those who have some connection to childcare. Your local library is a good source of information on grants close to home.
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Request application instructions for each grant. Most have extremely specific guidelines, and you must follow them exactly to be considered for dollars. Pay attention to the strict dates for submitting proposals.
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Write your grant proposal. Following the guidelines, craft a well-organized and concise appeal for funds for your daycare business. Have realistic objectives, and specify a time frame to reach those objectives. Make sure your proposal is for specific programs. Few grants are given for the day-to-day running of an organization.
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Include a line-item budget, and make sure it accurately reflects the needs of your program. If you have items or amounts in the budget that seems unusual, write a paragraph to explains their purpose.
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Proofread your proposal, and have at least two other people proofread it, also. Use correct grammar, punctuation and spelling. Statistics and other data will add credibility to your proposal. Be sure to include the method you will use to measure the results of the program for which you're requesting funding.
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Say thank you when you receive funding. And offer thanks to the organizations that turned you down, also. It's good marketing and good manners, and it will help people remember your daycare business when you apply for future grants.
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Tips & Warnings
If you're not a good writer and can't find one in your organization, hire a freelancer who has experience in grant writing. The fee you pay will be well worth it if your daycare business gets a grant. Offer tours of your daycare business to committee members if you're applying for a local grant. Seeing the children who are served may be just what your proposal needs to get a yes.
Don't give up. Both the government and foundations receive hundreds of grant proposals. Do multiple proposals.
