The Application Process
To apply for a grant, you must write a proposal in accordance with the guidelines of the foundation. The proposal, typically around five pages, will be the cornerstone of your application. The other materials you will need to fill out are primarily for administrative purposes. Remember, follow instructions carefully.
The Data
You will need to do advance preparation for your proposal. This includes gathering your backup support materials and making sure the data you are about to include is factual and up to date. While many people labor over the wording of their grants and may hire professional grant writers, even the most carefully worded, professionally written grant proposal will be unsuccessful if the data are incorrect or the claims that are made are unsubstantiated.
Your proposal should make key points in a clear and compelling manner. Your objective is not to dazzle prospective grantors with vocabulary words, nor is it to try to tug at their emotional heartstrings. It is to make sure that whoever makes the funding decision understands the significance of your cause or mission and the need for funding at this juncture. You must also explain in specific and practical terms how their funding will help.
When writing a grant proposal, don't make the common mistake of focusing more heavily on the wording than the credibility. Putting the right substance into a concise and attention-grabbing package is the key.
The Specifics
Include the specifics regarding your mission first. Then include some facts about your organization, followed by the specifics of your program, such as how long it will run and other pertinent information. Be realistic in what you feel can be accomplished within a set time frame.
Make sure you have both backup information and clearance from whoever needs to approve such activities before you put anything in writing. Don't assume your organization or school board will go along with whatever you ask for. You should also explain the various tasks that will be carried out in the project and the experience of the people who are slated to handle these tasks.
The Guidelines
While working on the proposal, have the funding requirements and guidelines open at your side and follow them closely. If the foundation provides research grants, don't claim that a building grant will be a research grant just because the building may be used for research. Likewise, don't decide your project is so important you can take ten pages to explain it when the requirement is five. Remember, if the foundation is going to provide five grants this year and they have 200 proposals sitting in front of them, you can be sure that one manner of narrowing down the huge pile is to eliminate the proposals that do not adhere to the guidelines — without even reading them.
Also keep in mind that the application may request a copy of the IRS letter regarding your organization's 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. This is not optional. You must provide a copy.
If your grant proposal is requesting seed money for the startup of a project, the foundation will be interested in how the program will be funded in the years after the funding it has provided has been spent. Be as detailed as possible; demonstrate that you've thought it through completely.
Support and Endorsements
You may also seek support for your proposal from outside sources. Individuals in academic, medical, or political positions who believe in your work can help by adding a letter of support to your proposal package. Endorsements from government or other agencies, organizations, or influential individuals can help promote your cause.
Grant application reviewers will also look for a division of responsibility if you are collaborating with other organizations. In your grant application process, you will need to present a schedule of meetings for the project and display a clear division of responsibility. Show that the project deliverables (or tasks that make up your fundraising effort) are being produced by more than one entity.
Presentation
While the validity of the mission is the most important part of the equation, presentation is also a factor. Your proposal should look good and be user-friendly. Many foundations now request that applicants use a standard format application, which may vary by region. Some foundations participate in regional associations, such as in southeastern Pennsylvania, where the Delaware Valley Grantmakers has developed a standard format that many foundations in the metropolitan Philadelphia area use.
Some pointers:
Use a popular and easy-to-read font, no smaller than 12-point.
Use the headings from the grant application.
Don't crowd your pages or try to cram nine pages of material into five.
Use words and phrases that say what you mean.
Use a cover page and keep it simple.
Include all necessary documents and signatures.
Include tables, charts, and graphics that are clearly labeled and explained.
Include all contact information.
Don't use clip art, cutesy pictures, or plastic covers.
Recheck your work several times.
Ask several people who are known to produce meticulous work to proofread the application to help ensure the text is cohesive and there are no typos.
Use FedEx, UPS, or another shipping provider that allows you to track the proposal so you can be sure it was received before the proposal deadline.
While presentation is not the deciding factor, it will often help keep your proposal in the “To be read” pile. Neatness counts. Edit, spell-check, and proofread.
Take pride in the details of your presentation. Never deliver a handwritten application or one presented on notebook or loose-leaf paper or that includes cross-outs. Make sure to address the application to the correct person (check the spelling of the person's name!) at the correct department. Never submit a proposal late.
Increasingly, foundations now include online grant applications. The process requires some transition, as grant seekers must adapt to telling their stories in a paperless format and often within a limited amount of space. It can also have its share of glitches, such as servers going down, preventing an applicant from accessing the site and meeting the foundation's deadline. Yet because online applications allow foundations to streamline processes, experts predict the paperless format will become progressively more prevalent.
