How To Write Grant Proposals

For some people the prospect of writing a grant proposal is akin to the prospect of having all your teeth pulled!

Writing a grant proposal can be a daunting task so you may want to consider hiring a freelance grantwriter or you may want to consider becoming a freelance grantwriter!

Depending on the grant organization, you may simply need to fill out a pile of forms or you may need to develop a fully fledged grant proposal that includes some or all of the following elements:

• Summary
• Organization Information
• Description of Need
• Work Plan/Specific Activities
• Target audience
• What are you going to do
• Who is going to do the work
• What are their credentials
• When
• Where
• Outline of the Project Plan
• Outcomes/Impact of Activities
• Other Funding
• Future Funding
• Evaluation
• Budget
• Supplementary Materials

Once you know where you are headed … work on one section at a time. If you plan on applying for more than one grant, take the time to develop a MASTER document that has everything a grant organization may ever ask for. For specifc grant applications copy and paste the relevant material from your master document and customize that information for the foundation or government organization you are applying to.

Here is a list of the best resources I could find on writing grants. Print one or more of them out and follow the outlines to develop your grant proposal package. I have also included a list of places to find examples of successful grant applications.

How to Write a Grant Proposal

The Minnesota Council on Foundations has an EXCELLENT roadmap to Writing a Successful Grant Proposal. It is one of the best  grant outlines I’ve seen and is a great starting point (and it’s free!).

The Foundation Center has a nicely laid out short course on writing a grant proposal.

The bioscience.org website has a useful guide to writing research grant proposals.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting reviews hundreds of grant proposals every year. Here is a list of their tips for writing a good grant proposal.

You may additionally want to pick up some of the following books for your reference shelf!

Highly recommended!  The Only Grant-Writing Book You’ll Ever Need: Top Grant Writers and Grant Givers Share Their Secrets

My Grant Writing Secrets

If you are interested in writing grant proposals as part of your business read this article on  Grant Proposal Writing Services