Writing Effective Grant Proposals (Self-Guided)

Lesson 1

The Writing Style You Will Need for Your Grant Proposal

There's nothing magical about preparing a grant request, but in this lesson, you will learn some easy and fun tricks of trade that will help you with all sorts of writing projects, even those beyond grant proposals. And you will learn special ways to practice these tricks.

Thinking About Your Institution the Way Grantors Do

Those of who work for causes they think believe in will care about this cause in a very special way, usually a rather subjective one. But grantors who deal with literally thousands of institutions and causes have a rather different way of thinking about them. In this lesson, you will put yourself in their shoes. And in the process, you will learn a great way to describe your own cause to anyone.

Information You Will Need for Your Grant Proposal

Now that you have tried on your grantor's shoes, let's talk about why those grantors look for certain kinds of information and documents. You will learn what these documents are, so you can dig them out and be ready to supply them when you prepare a grant request.

Special Characteristics of Non-Profit Organizations

There are lots of interesting things to know about each individual nonprofit organization, but all nonprofits share one thing: They're not in it to for the money. Generally, you can measure a good business by its bottom line—whether it makes money or not. But how do you measure the effectiveness of a nonprofit that needs money? In this lesson, you will start to look into it.

Finding Funding Sources—Foundations

The hunt for funding sources is the eternal game of hide and seek that grant writers have to consider. How do you find sources that might be appropriate for you? This lesson will point you toward the most effective research tools available.

Finding Out About Your Foundation Prospects

Once you find some foundations that you think might be a good fit for your cause, how do you choose among a field that might include hundreds? In this lesson, you will learn different ways to sift through these foundations, and in the course of this process, you may unearth sources you haven't even considered.

Finding Out About Your Corporate Prospects

You have looked at all the possible charitable foundations that fit your cause, but don't stop there. What about the corporate world? Corporations have foundations, but they also have other ways of giving. This lesson focuses on packaging your projects for corporations.

Doing the Numbers

For those of you who are word people, you will learn another way to tell your story—let the numbers do the talking. People reviewing your proposals will attach great importance to numbers, so you can't get away with simply describing a project with words. In this lesson, you will learn about preparing numbers effectively. It's not hard to do, but it's essential to the success of your proposal.

Assembling Your Proposal

By the time you reach this lesson, you will have all the pieces you need for your proposal. Now it's time to put them all together and add the finishing touches so you can finally put a complete proposal in the mail.

So You Don't Get a Gift—What Now?

In the grant writing industry, you won't win them all. But when you do get a turndown, there are positive alternatives to doom and gloom. The suggestions in this lesson will help you deal with those inevitable turndowns.

So You Get a Gift—What Now?

Okay, just as you hoped—you did get a gift. There's an old saying in this business: Every gift paves the way to the next. This lesson will ensure you know just how to pave that road.

Some Thoughts About Writing Grant Proposals to Individuals

Now that you have all the elements you need for your proposal; can you also send it to an individual? Partially, yes. But you need to think about what would interest an individual and how you can best present your proposal to them; that's what this final lesson covers.