Most people/organizations running non-profit or for-profit projects usually require financial assistance to see their projects through. To do this, they have to send out grant requests to various entities with the capability to help or have a proven record of supporting such initiatives/projects.
However, with most people sending in proposals today, it is not usually easy to get someone to give you a grant. The grantee has to first understand who you are, what you do and why you are seeking their help. To do this, one has to understand the ins and outs of a grant proposal. Knowing how to craft one will significantly increase your chances of getting a grant for your project.
In this article, we’ll help you understand; what a grant proposal is, what to include in it, how to craft one professionally, and the different types of grants that there are. We will also provide you with samples and templates that you can use to craft one like a pro.
What is a Grant Proposal?
A grant proposal is a request for an investment in a project that is non-profit or for-profit. Grant ideas, at first glance, only favor the organization or the individual who needs the money, but it also favors the grantee (an organization or individual giving the grant) as it is an investment in social change.
A grant proposal is a very straightforward, direct text written to a specific institution or funding agency to persuade the recipients to provide you with money, since you have an important and carefully evaluated project to advance a worthy cause, and you are responsible and prepared to carry out the plan. Before you start writing your proposal, you need to decide what type of research you’re going to present and why. You may have a subject or project in mind, but having the time to establish your ultimate goal may be necessary to persuade others to support the project.
Grant Proposal and Grant Letter
A grant proposal (also referred to as a full grant proposal) is a typical grant proposal that includes all the following sections: project description, cover letter, issue statement, etc. You should follow the structure and have all the relevant material in detail. That’s why this sort of proposal is very long and can be up to 25 pages in total. However, certain businesses or private investors find this proposal too lengthy and prefer a shorter grant letter to a full grant proposal. The length of this letter should not surpass 3-4 pages and has a similar format.
The grant letter has to get your prospective donor through every point swiftly to convince the grantee that the proposal is worth financing in just a few words.
Types of a Grant Proposal
Grant proposals come in different types with different intentions. There are up to five types of grant proposals. They are:
Full Proposal
A full proposal is what we generally think about when we learn about grant applications. It follows a reasonably normal format that contains a cover letter, a breakdown of your idea, and the amount of money you need from the funder. The length of the proposals will range from five to 25 pages. Make sure to follow all the donor’s instructions on how they expect the plan to be set in motion and pay special attention to the cover letter.
Many donors, particularly larger ones, now require grant applicants to use online applications to apply their proposals. There are special considerations for online submissions, so make sure you understand how online offers work. Take your time and then triple check your work before you submit it.
Letter Proposal
You may be writing to a charitable organization requesting a cash donation or requesting a sponsorship. A letter of three or four pages is normally reasonable. The letter should contain a description of your idea, an explanation of your organization, a clear financial bid, or a funding application. While it may seem easy to create a proposal letter, it is always a struggle to state the case briefly in a more brief structure. Don’t mistake a proposal letter with a letter of inquiry. You are applying for funds in the letter proposal. However, in your letter of inquiry, you suggest the request to the donor to see if there is any interest.
Letter of Inquiry
Usually, a letter of inquiry goes to a foundation. It’s a way to acquire the donor’s curiosity towards your project. You may want to send a few letters of inquiry to a variety of foundations to see how your proposal suits any of them. The letter of inquiry runs is normally two to three pages, summarizing your project. It offers a preview of what you’re going to do. With the letter of inquiry, you and the donors investigate whether your proposal is of interest. If that is the case, you can move on to the final proposal.
Most foundations now choose to accept a letter of inquiry as the first step towards financing. They will easily determine if the proposal is well suited to them. If this isn’t the case, they can move on.
Foundations usually include their preferences for a letter or a proposal in their instructions. These instructions are normally posted on the donor’s website. They will also be part of the Request for Proposals that you might be answering. In any letter of inquiry, you should define the need and specify how the proposal fits with the donor’s goals.
Online Applications
There is an increasing number of foundations and companies that need online applications to be filled. These are closely linked to the request form. Ensure that you study the online proposal before filling it out so that you can finish it in one sitting. Most online apps may not save your details, although some need you to create a username and password. They may or may not save your grant when you are filling it. Each online application is different, so make sure you read all the instructions before starting the procedure.
Form Proposal
Few organizations or companies (as well as some state and federal grant donors) provide a fill-in form for grant applications. If this is the case, clearly fill in what is requested in the spaces given and nothing more. Many of the forms include a page to fill in the proposed budget, while others may ask you to attach the budget proposal.
Proposal Plus Presentation
Most donors need a proposal to be reviewed by a panel, asking the prospective grant recipient to submit the proposal to the board of directors. They may want to interview your administrator, certain staff, or even individuals in the neighborhood who have used your programs or services. Make sure the presentation is brief, detailed, and above all, prepared to answer any questions.
Format of Writing a Grant Proposal
Grant proposals are often grouped in various parts. These sections have different contents but mostly serve the same purpose. In what follows, some of the elements of a grant proposal are explained:
Present the most critical elements of your work proposal in a few words. For longer proposals, you might be able to use a whole page for this summary, but you might have to summarise it to only one paragraph for other ideas. Most granting organizations may also need you to explain the form and amount of funding or other services you are looking for in this overview. You might also want to add keywords and principles from the organization’s mission statement into the description.
You need to review your project’s worth to explain the need that your project is referring to. Ensure you establish the background of this issue early on in your proposal. If this issue involves a certain community, identify the category of people. Include details, if possible.
After you have defined a need for your project, you need to explain your proposal. Key Performance Indicators need to be defined and clarified in detail with clear measures as to how they will be assessed. Effective project management techniques, including thorough guidelines and defined tasks, can emphasize outcomes.
Since you are applying for grants or other forms of aid, you need to clarify what you’re looking for and why you’re asking for specific amounts. Budgets are often presented in figures and tables. Each sum should be clearly listed. You may need to follow the budget with a justifying statement describing why each expense, resource, and equipment is relevant to the project.
Grant proposals are often preceded by a cover letter. They also serve to introduce you personally as a grant –searching person/organization.
When you represent a non-profit agency, sometimes you need to dedicate a whole section to explain your organization’s nature and purpose. This often comes close to the part where you explain the issue.
Tips for Writing a Grant Proposal
If you run a non-profit, financing might be necessary for several reasons. Whether you need funds to pay maintenance expenses or plan to relocate to a new house, the grant money will provide you with the support you need to meet your goals. Therefore, the grant proposal you are writing must be effective. Such tips will help you to write a perfect grant proposal that will attract donors; if there are keywords in your application for proposals, be sure to use any of those keywords in the proposal. You want to help your readers recognize the connections that exist between your project and its purpose. Grant funding is competitive. Therefore, you may probably apply for several different grants from several donors. But if you do this, ensure that each proposal is specifically tailored to respond to each source’s various interests, preferences, and expectations. Never use the same proposal twice. When applying to more than one organization simultaneously, make sure to think carefully about the type of help you seek from which organization.
Apart from that, also always pay attention to minor grant opportunities as well as huge grant opportunities. Sometimes receiving a smaller grant can make your request for a larger grant more appealing. Showing that one or two partners have already funded your projects will boost your reputation.
You may find writing a grant proposal to be a challenging process. Therefore, you should closely examine your strategy and consider how your approach can react effectively to a challenge or weakness. Sometimes, even for experienced grant applicants, the process ends in rejection. However, if you define and explain your goals thoroughly, it may lead to success. Writing carefully about the proposal makes you understand it and discuss it irrespective of what the grant panel decides. And once you get a grant, the writing won’t be finished. Many grants request progress reviews and notifications.
Grant Proposal Letter Sample
Provided below is a sample of a letter proposal to illustrate how it is written.
Sarah Connor
ABC Limited
343 Conley St
Brooklyn, NY 44352
October 5, 20XX
Jeremy Stone
Deloitte Limited
223 Harvey St
New York, NY 22345
Dear Mr Stone,
Our team at ABC enjoyed talking about the opportunity to work closely with you to create a new website for your business. After our initial email, we started working on this project this week and sent a draft action plan for your analysis.
On November 18, we reviewed your increasing concerns about the layout of your website. Difficult access and lack of mobile connectivity have steadily influenced the retention of consumers. By making the design more eye-catching, user-friendly and compatible with both iPhone and Android, we will maximize the amount of time that prospective customers spend on the website, resulting in a larger number of leads and clients. As reported in the meeting, our target would be to increase your customer base by 25% and increase your lead by 30%in the next year. This objective can be achieved through the following steps:
- Analyzing your ideal clientele to describe the identity of your business.
- Working with your marketing staff to establish clear messaging to reach your potential customer.
- Rebuilding the Foundation’s website utilizing the most user-friendly features.
- Creating an exceptional mobile design that attracts the interest of mobile consumers.
- Effortlessly combining branding and messaging with the new format.
Our company finished a related hotel project in Seattle four months ago. Our concept has kept visitors 75% longer on their website, which has resulted in a 35% growth in revenue for four months.
For this type of project, we expect a budget of approximately $14,000 to $18,000. If you choose to continue, we will address the proposal in more depth and modify the budget based on your specific requirements and our advice.
If you would like to go forward with our idea, please send me an email to start discussing and preparing the next steps immediately. I’m going to catch up with you by email next Wednesday, November 23.
Thank you so much for reading our proposal.
Sincerely,
Sarah Connor
Grant Proposal Templates
Grant proposals are valuable instruments that should be well-crafted to get the interest of a possible source of funding and to get them to consider why they should be donating to your cause. We have created well structured and easy to follow templates on our website. Feel free to download them and try your hand in writing a perfect grant proposal.
FAQs
Conclusion
Every year, businesses, foundations and government organizations give billions of dollars in funds to firms interested in solving problems of concern to these organizations. Writing successful grant applications is a very useful skill. You will learn a lot about what you need to do to write a good application by talking to the grant provider. Many proposals end in rejection, but mistakes give researchers opportunities to understand how to pursue new opportunities, make better proposals, and manage the process. Taking time to learn about others’ failures and achievements will help increase the probability of receiving a grant.
To maximize the probability of securing funding, we suggest researching available grants and recognize differences in the kinds of projects funded by different funding bodies. You can attain a lot of help from our templates available on this website in the process of sending out a grant proposal.