How to Apply for Grant Funding
After researching dozens of grant options and narrowing them down to a few for which you are eligible, it is time to apply for them. The application process requires detailed planning, research and proofreading. Plan each step of the application process slowly and carefully. Leave no detail to chance. Ask for help from other grant writers or from the grantor's representative when you need it.
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Instructions
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Get a copy of the grant application from the grantor. It might be available on the grantor's website, or it might only be available directly from the grantor.
Contact previous grant recipients, assuming they are not eligible to reapply in the same year you're applying. Ask for tips on completing the grant application successfully.The grantor's website might publish a yearly list of grant recipients. Visit the websites of these organizations to see how your organization's work matches up with that of past recipients. Read backgrounds of organizations and their projects as well as backgrounds of individual grant recipients to get an idea of where you should place the emphasis of your organization's work or mission.
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State clearly the problem your are trying to solve. Connect this project to other work your organization has done as well as its mission if you are writing a grant for an organization. Also connect the project to the funder's specific mission. Show that your idea to solve the problem has some merit by citing reasons to believe your solution will work. Demonstrate knowledge of others' work/research on the problem. Provide evidence of having a good track record by including any publications you have written in your proposal (especially if you are writing a research grant.) Identify who will benefit from your grant.
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Lay out your solution for the problem, step by step. Include broader goals and measurable outcomes that will demonstrate progress toward those goals. State how outcomes will be measured.
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Write your budget considering if your project can adequately be completed with the budget you are proposing, whether the costs you project are in line with current market prices and whether your budget is in line with the project. Include as much detail as possible in your budget, and list support from matching funds and in-kind donations as well.
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Fill out the application carefully, leaving no lines blank, if possible. You will fill in blanks with information about your organization such as its mission, name, address, key staff and a project description, for example.
Prepare any essays, financial statements, budgets, project descriptions, cover letters or other necessary supporting documentation. Give yourself enough time to get required signatures and to prepare organizational and personnel charts, support letters from partnering organizations, staff biographies or other documents you might need to add to your grant's appendix.
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Use action-oriented verbs in your writing. Write persuasively and with vision. Lay out the problem you hope to solve or alleviate, using supporting facts and statistics, if you are writing a grant for a nonprofit organization. Explain how your project will solve the problem.
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Go over the entire application or request for proposal letter piece by piece to check for completion. Ask a trusted colleague to go over the application, request for proposal and any essays or statements you have to write. Proofread not only for spelling, typos, grammar and structure, but also for content. It is important to adequately address any questions or essay topics given in the application.
Call the grant's representative and request a time to go over questions you have. The representative is there to help you through the application process, so use this resource to your advantage.
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Tips & Warnings
Stick to an internal schedule to get draft applications done. Leave enough time to revise the application.
References
- Non-Profit Guides: "Guidelines"
- U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: "Grant Application Tips"
- U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services: "Writing Your Application"
- Microsoft: "Writing a Good Grant Proposal"; Simon Peyton Jones, Alan Bundy
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting: "Grant Proposal Writing Tips"
