Over the years, I’ve written several million dollars worth of successful grant proposals as a Consultant, Executive Director and Board Member.  Based on my experience, here are 10 tips for crafting strong grant proposals. 

Before you write any grant proposal, answer the following five questions:

1) What’s the problem? What’s the need in the community you are addressing?

2) What’s your goal? Make sure your goals are concrete and measurable. 

3) What methods will you use to accomplish your goal? What actions will you take? Who will be responsible? When will they happen?

4) How will you know you are successful? What benchmarks and indicators will you use to track your work?

5) What’s it going to cost? You need to develop a basic budget with projected income and expenses.  Be realistic.

In addition, here are some other tips:

6) Read up on your foundation before you apply. Make sure your proposal is a good fit for the funder you approach before you apply.

7) Pitch your idea before you apply. After you’ve researched the funder, call them and ask to take five minutes to run your proposal by them (unless they say don’t call). 

8) Have someone proofread your proposal who isn’t familiar with your work. Having an extra set of eyes can not only correct typos, but it can also let you know if you are clear in what you are proposing.

9) Give yourself time. Don’t wait until the last minute to finish up the proposal because there will likely be mistakes if you rush.

10) Make grant writing one part of a larger fundraising strategy. It’s a super competitive environment right now for raising funds from foundations. Consider also developing a major donor program.

For anyone interested, I’m leading an “Advanced Grantwriting” Workshop at the Center for Nonprofit Mangement on May 27^th from 9:30am to 12:30pm.   Good luck with your fundraising efforts!