How to Write a Grant Paper for a Home Daycare
Obtaining a grant for a profit-making home daycare is not an easy proposition. It takes diligence, patience and excellent writing skills. Many foundations furnish grants to non-profit organizations and relatively few provide grants to a profit-making company. For-profit home daycares might be able to obtain help from a local or state agency or program.
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Instructions
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Organize the proposal in a logical order that reflects your organization, your time line, your exact need, other statistics and a closing page.
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Prepare a budget that truthfully reflects the expected cost. Generally, this is prepared as a spreadsheet or table (one page) giving cost of the project. If you are asking for equipment, include a separate line item for each piece of equipment. You can also include a picture of the item along with the company name from which you plan to purchase the equipment.
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State your exact need, such as "start-up costs," "equipment purchase" or "capital expense." Be thorough, yet brief and concise, in your proposal. This portion may be as short as one page or as long as five pages, depending on the foundation's guidelines.
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Include a time line that gives a realistic date of expected completion. This is generally one or two paragraphs long or may be submitted as a graphic with supporting documentation.
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Include statistics or other data that will add creditability to your proposal. Be accurate and do not fluff up the proposal. Be specific in stating how this grant will help the community, such as "providing daycare at below market rates to low-income families" or "providing morning (or afternoon) care for kindergartners during non-school hours."
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Include a closing page that reflects your final report, based on the foundation's guidelines. If the guidelines do not include final report information, offer to provide the foundation with a letter explaining the effect of their donation. The last paragraph should include a thank-you to the foundation for reading and considering your proposal. Offer to follow up at a certain date and then do so.
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Write the cover letter last, which allows you to gather all your information and then scan the proposal to obtain a brief (one or two paragraph) explanation of your request. Include complete contact information. Follow any guidelines that the foundation has provided.
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Proofread your proposal carefully. Correct all misspellings, double check your math, and have someone else read the proposal.
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Tips & Warnings
A freelance grantwriter will have the expertise to put the proposal together in the order usually required by foundations. If you decide to hire someone, do so after you have gathered all your information, financials and time lines. Opening your daycare as a nonprofit agency will still allows you to earn a salary. Foundations may be more agreeable to reading a proposal from a nonprofit agency. Check with an attorney if this seems a viable option.
