In grant proposals, organizations present an initiative, explain its objectives and expected timeline, provide evidence of its importance, and describe how they would use grant funds to implement it, and its impact. To be successful, a grant proposal must convince potential funders of the value and impact of the proposed project.
An effective grant proposal showcases an organization’s dedication to its mission and builds ties with grant-making organizations. To write and submit a robust grant proposal, an organization needs to plan the required time and expenses, understand their project, and clearly define success scenarios. Telling a compelling story in a grant proposal shows the potential impact of the project and attracts funders’ interest. A grant inquiry letter may be required to get approval from a grant-making organization before sending a grant proposal (often called a Letter of Intent (LOI).
A grant application typically includes the following components:
- Executive Summary/Abstract: A brief overview of the project, highlighting its significance and expected outcomes. This may be all some reviewers read, so be concise, clear and specific! Waiting to write your executive summary until the rest of your proposal is complete will help you be able to succinctly summarize the grant proposal in a way that compels and engages the reader.
- Needs Statement: A description of the problem or opportunity the project addresses. Briefly describe the needs that will be addressed, the proposed services, and the client population group(s) to be served.The most effective statements of need will convey urgency and communicate (with research!) how a need or issue is unmet in a specific community. You could cite reports, stories, studies, or data that gives context to the need and illustrates its severity.
- Project Description: A description of the project, including its activities and methods. This is the heart of your proposal, so it’s important that you spend ample time developing it.
- Goals, Objectives, Impact Statement: A list of measurable accomplishments and impacts the project aims to achieve. A great rule of thumb for goal and objective setting is to adhere to SMART goal principles (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Limited).
- Budget & Justification/Narrative: A detailed budget for the project and how elements of the budget will be implemented. Grantmakers expect you to be transparent and communicate openly about how funds will be spent if you receive the grant. A well-crafted grant budget illustrates transparency and also demonstrates that the project is well-thought-out. It is common to ask your budget office for assistance.
- Evaluation Plan: A plan for evaluating the project's success. An evaluation plan shows the funders that you are committed to measuring the impact or achieved outcomes of your proposed project.
- Sustainability Plan: Refers to the continuation of a project's goals, principles, and efforts to achieve. This is a core component of any successful proposal.
- Data Management Plan: details how data will be collected, processed, analyzed, described, preserved, and shared.
- Contact Information: The name, address, phone number, and email address of the applicant.
- Organization Information: Details about the applicant organization
- Collaborations and Partnerships: other organizations that will actively support the project
- Appendices & Supporting Documentation: grant proposals may ask for very specific supporting documents (literature reviews, letters of support, organizational financial information, etc.)
Other components that may be included are: A cover letter, A statement of need, A description of the project's strategies, A plan of evaluation, and details about the applicant's organization.
