The Five Commandments Of Writing Free Grant Proposals

The Five Commandments of Writing Free Grant Proposals



Here's something only few people know about: The Federal Government gives away 10 billion dollars in government grants each and every month. That's free money right at your fingertips! Well, not exactly, because a grant is, in its simplest terms, contribution for money so it comes with certain obligations and conditions that the grantee (that's you) must comply with.

Still, a grant is a huge opportunity that you absolutely must take advantage of. Some grants provide thousands of dollars. Others may fund two hundred dollars. Fortunately, for those in need, there are a lot of grants available to the private and public non-profit sector.

Free US government grants come in cash, loans, technical advice and other programs. They may even come in a variety types. Typical categories include the following:

- Awards - General support - Endowments - Fellowships - Matching funds - Continuing support

Government grants may also be given for projects, or for things like research, scholarships, or seed money. A project or a program is a creative plan of action that has a specific goal, usually community-based. Grantors generally want to fund new and innovative programs. However, there are instances where they will fund programs that have already been implemented and proven very successful.

Free US government grants are annual allocations. The U.S. government allocates federal grant through its annual federal budget process. Since it is the Congress that is responsible for passing laws that would make money available to the different government, it will ultimately be the one to decide how much free money goes to what project.

Once these federal budgets are approved, free US government grants are made available and made known to the public in the Federal Register. Free US government grants for the projects will be listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) at CFDA.gov.

But knowing where to find free grants is only the first step. To qualify, you need to make a free grant application first.

Applying for Free Grants

Applying for free grants means that you have to shell out a lot of your own time, money, and effort. The process, in fact, takes a lot of skill. For this reason, many grant awardees are civic organizations or non-profit groups as opposed to ordinary individuals. The market for free grants is so vast that some groups even hire their own full-time staff who will handle free grant applications and administer them.

The next phase to getting financial aid from free grants is writing grant proposals. For most people, this is the most important step to the free grant application process.

A grant proposal has the power to make or break your chances of earning money from a grant. There are rules that must be followed and follow them you must if you plan to successfully apply for a grant.

Writing a grant proposal involves solid advance planning and preparation. Planning and research alone will take a lot of time. It takes even more when you organize, write and package your proposal, then submit it to the funder for his perusal. And even then, your job doesn't end there, because you still have to follow up your grant proposal and see what the funders think of your plan.

Below are five must-follow rules to a successful grant proposal:

Commandment 1: Organize Your Idea

If there's anything you need to constantly remember in free grant application, it is this: Grant providers want to make a difference. It could be that their goal is modest; they want to do some good within a particular community. Or their goal could be grand, like changing the world. Whatever the case, you must organize your idea for a project around that particular aim.

In addition, when developing an idea for a proposal, it is important that the idea was determined in consideration of your locality or State. Be sure to make a careful check with your legislators, area government agencies and related public and private agencies. Find out if they have grant awards or contracts to do work similar to yours.

If a similar program already exists, you may need to reconsider submitting the proposed project, particularly if duplication of effort is perceived. However, if you can prove that there are significant differences or improvements in your proposed project's goals, then it may be worthwhile to pursue Federal assistance.

Once you have a solid idea in mind, make a realistic proposal out of it by defining your project.

Here are some tips:

- Clarify the purpose of your project and write a concise mission statement - Define the scope of work to focus your funding search - Determine the broad project goals, then identify the specific objectives that define how you will focus the work to accomplish those goals

- Decide who will benefit. Benefits may extend beyond the direct beneficiary to include the audience, other institutions, etc.

- Draft expected project outcomes in specific measurable terms - Draft a timeline that includes the planning phase, the period of searching for funds, proposal writing, and the intended project start date. Periodically update the timeline as you learn more about submission deadlines, award timetables, etc.

Commandment 2: Use Clear and Concise Words

When you write your proposal it is important that you pay attention to detail and specifications. Avoid any vagueness or obscurity. And most importantly, stay grounded when it comes to presenting your goals and objectives.

Remember that your ultimate goal in grant writing is to catch the attention of your grant providers and make them believe that you are serious about this project you have. If you use vague words or terms with obscure meanings, you're going to make them think that you don't know what you're talking about. Worse still, they may even think that you're not serious about your application.

To avoid obscurity, use clear and concise words. This, after all, is the key to persuasive writing. As much as possible, you want your grant providers to vouch for you and the only way to do that is to convince them that you are the right person to receive their grant and make the project work.

Use active, not passive words. Use proper grammar and correct spelling. Do not waste words. Be clear, factual, supportable, and professional. In addition, be clear about why you are seeking a grant, what you plan to do with the money, and why you are a good fit with the grant maker's priorities. Prepare an interesting, persuasive, and unique proposal.

Keep in mind that some grant providers do have their own grant proposal guidelines to follow. Make sure that you get a copy of your funder's guidelines and use this as basis for your own proposal.

Guidelines usually tell you about:

- Submission deadlines - Eligibility - Proposal format: award level forms, margins, spacing, evaluation process and restrictions on the number criteria of pages, etc.

- Review timetable - Budgets - Funding goals and priorities - Award levels - Evaluation process and criteria - Whom to contact - Other submission requirements

Commandment 3: State the Problem

The best way to catch the attention of your grant providers is to prove that there is a significant need or problem and that your project delivers the answer to that need. It is imperative that you prove this in your proposal.

The problem statement (or needs assessment) is a key element of a proposal. The best way to collect information about the problem is to conduct and document both a formal and informal needs assessment for a program in the target or service area. The information provided should be both factual and directly related to the problem addressed by your proposal.

Areas to document are:

- The purpose for developing the proposal - The beneficiaries – who they are and how they will benefit - The social and economic costs to be affected - The nature of the problem (provide as much hard evidence as possible) - How the applicant organization came to realize the problem exists, and what is currently being done about the problem

- The remaining alternatives available when funding has been exhausted. Explain what will happen to the project and the impending implications.

- Most important, the specific manner through which problems might be solved. Review the resources needed, considering how they will be used and to what end.

If you need help on what assessment technique to use in project proposal, there is a considerable body of literature available. Any local, regional, or State government planning office, or local university, offering some course work in planning and evaluation techniques should be able to provide you with excellent background references.

The types of data that may be collected include: historical, geographic, quantitative, factual, statistical, and philosophical information, as well as studies completed by colleges, and literature searchers from public or university libraries.

USEFUL HINT: It helps if you include examples of the findings for highlighting in the proposal.

Commandment 4: Identify the Goals and Desired Outcome

Another important rule in grant writing is to make an effective presentation of your program objectives. These refer to specific activities in a proposal that are necessary to give the funders an idea on how you plan to complete your project.

To write a successful grant proposal, it is necessary that you identify all objectives related to the goals to be reached, and the methods to be employed to achieve the stated objectives. Consider the quantities or things measurable and refer to a problem statement and the outcome of proposed activities when developing a well-stated objective.

Demonstrate project logic and outcome, impact of funds, and community support. Now, when it comes to large-scale projects like the one you may have in mind, broad goals may be unavoidable. Still, try to be as specific as possible by coming up with objectives that are measurable and outcomes that are quantified.

Moreover, when you write your project objectives, it is inevitable that you will be using a lot of figures. Make sure that these figures are all verifiable. You are allowed to make assumptions, but make sure that these assumptions are based on experience, ability, logic, and previous findings of related projects.

Remember, if the proposal is funded, the stated objectives will probably be used to evaluate program progress, so be realistic. There is literature available to help identify and write program objectives.

For some tips on coming up with good program objectives, keep the following questions in mind:

- What specific problem will you address with this particular activity? How? - Who will benefit from this specific program objective and how? - How will you measure your results? In addition, always cover the following important criteria: - Project purpose - Feasibility - Community need - Funds needed - Applicant accountability and competence

Commandment 5: Make a Flexible Budget Budgets are cost projections. They are also a window into how projects will be implemented and managed. Well-planned budgets reflect carefully thought-out projects. If you want to get into your grant provider's good side, request only reasonable funding.

Don't go over the top. Keep in mind that free grants are not limitless. Your grant providers may run out of funds, too, so practice money-saving tips. Certainly, they will be all too impressed if you minimize your project costs.

Funders use these factors to assess budgets:

- Can the job be accomplished with this budget? - Are costs reasonable for the market – or too high or low? - Is the budget consistent with proposed activities? - Is there sufficient budget detail and explanation?

Many grant makers provide mandatory budget forms that must be submitted with the proposal. You can find this kind of information in the guidelines provided by some grant makers. In addition, you may want to list in-kind and matching revenue, where appropriate. If you are writing a proposal for Federal assistance programs, bear in mind that funding levels for this kind of programs vary yearly. It is useful, therefore, to review the appropriations over the past several years to try to project future funding levels. But do not stick to these projections alone. In other words, be flexible.

Make sure that there is enough leeway in your budget proposal in case the funder chooses to negotiate costs. It is always safer to never anticipate that the income from the grant will be the sole support for the project. So when you do make the overall budget, include this one consideration into the requirement, and in particular, into the budget line items most subject to inflationary pressures.

Keep an eye on the following vulnerable budget areas:

- Utilities - Rental of buildings and equipment - Salary increases - Food - Telephones - Insurance - Transportation Budget adjustments after the grant has been awarded are possible, but the process can be lengthy, not to mention tedious. To avoid having to make budget adjustments, be certain that implementation, continuation and phase-down costs can be met with the budget you have prepared. Especially, consider costs associated with leases, evaluation systems, hard/soft match requirements, audits, development, implementation, and maintenance of information and accounting systems, and other long-term financial commitments.

While the above rules won't guarantee that your free grant application will get approved, it will however give you a slightly higher edge compared to the hundreds of other grant proposals that your prospective grant maker receives on a daily basis for one project alone.