Grant Proposal Writing Outline
The outline below is presented to assist you in writing a grant proposal to receive grant funding, as well as the implementation plan that you will use as a guideline for utilization of the funding once received. There are many ways to write a grant proposal for grant funding requests; this is just one of them.
Abstract:
You want the abstract portion of your grant proposal to be short and give the summation of your proposal and the implementation plan. Make this portion of your proposal 500 words or less. Understand that if the reviewer can wrap their minds around what it is that you are trying to achieve, as well as how you will achieve it, from reading the abstract, you’ve got a better chance of getting approval for funding. If you confuse or bore the reader you put yourself in line for refusal. The abstract is the sometimes viewed as the most important part of your entire grant; it’s sort of like the “first impressions are everything” rule.
It’s safe to assume that the grant reviewer has reviewed so many horrible and poorly put together grant proposals that they already assume that your proposal falls into the same category. Make sure that you absolve that line of thinking as quickly as possible. The grant reviewers want to fund proposals; it’s what they are reviewing the proposals for in the first place. Get them to understand your proposal and implementation plan via your abstract so that they continue reading and want to see it work. Reviewers read so many poorly written proposals that if you deliver a well written fund that’s easy to understand you will catch their attention that can hold them through the entire review process. Remember a good grant proposal for a good project is hard to find, make sure yours stands out as one of the better ones.
Remember the following when writing your abstract:
· Who is proposing the project and asking for the receipt of funds?
· What’s the goal of your project?
· What is the timeline?
· Who will be the beneficiaries of your project? How many people? What regions? What distinctions of people(s)? And, of course, how will these people benefit? (You may not be able to provide accurate data for these answers so try and include estimations and how you came up with them)
· Are their any partners in this project? What are their contributions?
· Measurement of success: How will you measure your projects accomplishments?
Need:
This is the portion of the grant proposal where you’ll provide the details on the problem/situation that you are aspiring to address and solve. You will want to include statistics and data that will show you’ve properly researched the “need” for your project. You will want to include your knowledge of similar programs (past and/or present) and convince the reviewer that you are not simply copying an existing program and that you are trying something new. If you are recreating a previously failed project, you will need to show the reviewer how your project is different and why/how it will succeed when the other project(s) failed to become successful. You want to give a brief summation of the solution that you are going to be delivering. You will need to include who is going to receive the money or the results of the funding.
REMEMBER, approximately 99% of the time this will have to a non-profit organization with a 501c3 tax filing. Grants are not usually made to individuals or organizations that are not established non-profit entities.
So, what is your implementation plan? What is the breakdown of your timeline?
What will you be doing for how many and how (specifically)? You need to show the reviewer that people WILL be benefiting from this. Although you may not be able to produce 100% accurate figures, your proposal needs to sound like it will benefit. And remember that if it will only benefit a few you won’t get funded, but if you show how many people can and will benefit, then you have a much better chance of getting funding. Your goal is to make sure that as many people as possible can receive the benefits of your project and your proposal needs to show this. You must tenaciously think and prepare your implementation plan.
Seasoned individuals in the grant writing and grant funding world know that the most common mistake is a proposal that shows that the individual/organization making the proposal hasn’t thoroughly thought through and properly planned the implementation process and plans.
REMEMBER, you must include a formal timeline for your implementation process or phases.
Below is a list of resources that you can use to learn how to produce a proper and understandable timeline for your proposal.
· SMARTDRAW offers a free download with multiple timeline formats that appear to be user-friendly. http://www.smartdraw.com/specials/ppc/timelines.htm?id=205793&gclid=CKaL0N289JsCFRxNagodhFnD_A
· EDHELPER has a timeline helper tool that you can use. You’ll have to register, but it’s free to use. http://www.edhelperblog.com/cgi-bin/graphs.cgi
· MICROSOFT WORD has a timeline creator tool. Here is Microsoft’s website that offers a free tutorial to build timelines. http://www.microsoft.com/education/timelinesword.mspx
· VERTEX42 offers some examples for using Microsoft’s Excel program to create timelines. http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/timeline.html
· TEACHNOLOGY has a step by step timeline instructor that you can use. Very user-friendly. http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/materials/timelines/
· LOAZ offers a great solution for an experienced Timeline creator. The programs that the tutorial uses are open source and are very good. This would probably be more advanced than necessary for your timeline needs, but check it out, you might find it useful. http://www.loaz.com/learning-objects-authoring-templates/time-line-creators.html
· READ-WRITE-THINK has a step by step Timeline tool for you to use. http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/timeline/
· TIMEGLIDER has another free timeline tool for you to check out. http://timeglider.com/
Partners:
Who have you included in your project? Are you flying solo on this or do you have a team of people that can help you achieve your goals? It’s typically better (in the eyes of a reviewer) for a project to have several partners involved. It’s very often that a project that is headed by only one individual director to fail. Typically when there are multiple people who are invested into the project, it is more likely to become a successful one. If you want your project to be a successful one (and one that gets its necessary funding), you will want to consider brining in the right partners if you haven’t already. You’ll want to include in this section, who your partners are and what they will be bringing to the table to make the project as successful as possible. Partner’s can be financial or they can donate services such as advertising and marketing, consultation, web assistance, office space, labor, etc.
Remember the following when writing your “Partners” section:
· Who are your partners?
· What will they be contributing? Will they be contributing finances or in-kind type contributions?
· Why did you choose these partners OR why did they choose to help YOU and your project?
Media:
REMEMBER that grant-funders love to be recognized for their giving and being the “good guys” that helped make a good project happen. You’ll need to show how you will capitalize on the media to get viral marketing going about your project.
A fear that a reviewer has is that you’ll disappear once you’ve received the funding. Show that you will be heard from after you’ve received the funds. You must make sure that you express to the grant reviewer how you will promote and expand your project. You need to ensure that you show them in the proposal how you will get them their kudos for their assistance in getting your project off the ground.
TIP!! Show a Media Timeline for better and clearer explanation of your goals on this subject.
Budget:
How will you proceed with your project once the funding has been granted? Do you have realistic expenses for each phase and goal of the project? You’ll need to show all the resources that will be used for each component, in order to facilitate it properly. Although you want to be frugal with your proposed expenses, you want to ensure that you’ve requested enough funds to get your project through any and all humps that may come into play. Not very many reviewers will want to award funds for a project that is going to be “just eking by”.
REMEMBER to adequately plan your implementation for your project. A small project with proper planning will get funded faster than a huge project with inadequate planning. You have to ensure that you’ve proven to be”sure thing” in the reviewers’ eyes.
Remember the following when writing your “Budget” section:
· Facility
· Equipment
· Office supplies: Printing, pens, computers, etc.
· Website design and hosting
· Media & Promotion
· Project Staff (Who gets paid what, and for how many hours per week?)
· All other costs
Evaluation:
This is the portion of your grant proposal that will wrap everything up in a nice bow, so to speak. This is where you will show how you plan to measure your projects achievements and successes. You’ll need a concise agenda as to how you’re going to measure the impact that your project makes. You’ll need to focus on what you’re going to measure and how. This is where you are to prove that you aren’t wasting the money you are about to receive. Measurable success is an extremely important facet of any project up for a grant review. This should be one of the most influential portions of your proposal. It should not only influence the reviewer, but also the project itself.
Additional resources for preparing to write your grant request proposal. Please review the web addresses below before beginning to write your grant request proposal. There is useful information at each of these web addresses.
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/grants/default.htm
http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/extra/extdocs/apprep.htm
http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/extra/extdocs/gntapp.htm
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