Handling a Grant Rejection Notice
As a grant writer, getting a rejection letter from a funding source after you've shed blood, sweat, and tears researching and writing your grant application can be a big letdown. Besides coping with your [more…]
How to Write a Great Case Statement
The backbone of your fundraising campaign is a strong case statement. A case statement outlines what need your agency addresses, how you address it, what makes your organization unique, and how others [more…]
How to Present Your Organization's Qualifications when Applying for Grants
Any funding source you approach will have questions about your organization's legal name and overall structure as applicant qualifications. Understanding exactly what qualifications the application is [more…]
What Attachments to Add to Your Grant Request
When you submit an application for funding through a grant, include any information about your organization, in the form of attachments, that isn't covered in the main the application. Here are some of [more…]
How to Download and Upload Grant Applications on Grant.gov
Since the arrival of the Grants.gov e-grant system, all the federal grant application forms that you need are available on that Web site. You can find, download, fill out, and upload an application electronically [more…]
How to Write an Application That Wins Grants
The opening section of your application for funding is a key ingredient of your winning grant, cooperative agreement, or contract bid recipe. When you write your application, focus on the problem you want [more…]
How to Write Your Grant Application's Program Design Section
When you write the program design section of your grant application, cooperative agreement, or RFP narrative, remember that the point is to explain what you want to do with the grant, agreement, or contract [more…]
How to Complete Grant Application Cover Forms
Many groups of grantmakers, from foundations to corporations, have created their own customized common grant application forms and formats. Look for these types of common forms and formats on the [more…]
How to Complete Federal Grant Application Cover Forms
The electronic Grant Application Cover Form (also known as Form 424) has four pages (it used to be just one page). When you fill in the Grant Application Cover Form at [more…]
How to Present Your Organization's Capabilities in a Grant Application
When writing the organizational capability section of your application, you need to tell the grant reader, clearly and concisely, just enough information about your organization’s experience and accomplishments [more…]
How to Determine the Required Elements for a Contract Bid
When you respond to an RFP (Request For Proposal), you position your organization to win a contract bid. Pursuing contracted services on a regular basis can strengthen and grow your business. In the first [more…]
How to Construct Your Grant Application's Problem Statement
Sometimes the hardest part about writing the problem statement for your grant application is knowing when you’re done. You know you’ve written a convincing and compelling problem statement when you get [more…]
How to Prepare a Grant Funding Timeline
A timeline in your grant application tells the grant reader when activities (also called process objectives) will begin and end during the grant’s funding period. When you develop a project timeline, keep [more…]
How to Create a Program Blueprint for a Grant Application
When you apply for a grant, use a Logic Model (a graphic blueprint of the key elements of your proposed program) to sway the reader. This blueprint, or Logic Model, looks at inputs, activities, outputs [more…]
How to Prevent Mistakes on a Grant Application
After putting so much time and energy into your grant application or bid proposal, you may miss fatal writing or formatting errors. Unfortunately, when program officers and peer reviewers reading your [more…]
How to Follow Up on Government Grant Requests
As soon as you send your grant application off to a state or federal funding agency, start the tracking process so that you can do any necessary follow-up on the application. You have specific rules to [more…]
How to Follow Up on Foundation and Corporate Grant Requests
When you submit a grant application to a foundation or corporate funder, you may find information on procedures for grant proposal awards and declines on the funder's Web site. If you can’t locate the [more…]
How to Fill In Federal Grant Application Forms
Each federal agency has its own grant application forms and its own guidelines for filling out the forms. All the federal agencies have standard cover forms, budget forms, and assurances, certifications [more…]
How to Write a Grant Application Cover Letter
Your cover letter should be brief, it should get to the point, and it shouldn’t regurgitate the information that’s in the grant application or proposal. The grant app cover letter should provide the first [more…]
How to Create Your Grant Application's Abstract or Executive Summary
The abstract or executive summary of your grant application is a brief, one-page overview of what the grant reviewer will find in the full grant application. Keep your abstract short [more…]
How to Compose Your Grant Application's Management Plan
The management plan of your grant application tells the grant reviewer who’s accountable to whom. It clearly shows where the buck stops when questions arise from the funder. In your management plan, the [more…]
How to Organize Your Grant Application's Attachments
The attachments to your grant application go in a specific order. For most government grant applications, the attachments are compiled in the order that you refer to them in the narrative you construct [more…]
How to Submit Your Grant Application Electronically on Grants.gov
E-grants are the only way to submit your funding request to many corporations and foundations, as well as to most government agencies, especially the federal government. [more…]
Writing Effective Grant Proposals
To make your grant writing stand out from other proposals, you have to know how to write grants effectively. Do some research for your specific grant proposal and incorporate the following guidelines to [more…]
Maximizing Your Chances at Winning a Grant
A good grant writer spends hours researching and drafting a winning grant application. You don’t want to give a funder the chance to reject your funding request. To increase your chances at winning the [more…]
