Tips & Tricks on How to Make Your Grant Proposal Stand Out
Whether you’re starting up a business that sells custom shipping containers or bringing a new Fair-Trade coffee shop into town, a custom and well-thought-out grant proposal will improve your chances of receiving the funding you need. So, what makes you the better choice over other applicants? That’s where we come in. Take a look at our tips and tricks on how to make your grant proposal stand out.
Here are 5 tips on how to make your grant proposal stand out:
- Overall Style Content is absolutely important, but so is how you present it. Varying your sentences, using a cohesive voice, and not repeating yourself are some simple ways to establish the right style that Grantmakers want to see (and read).
- Keep it Short and Sweet Nobody wants to read a rambling piece - whether it’s a book, poem, or grant proposal, people appreciate when the writer gets to the point. This is incredibly important for grant writing. Less is more for proposals. You state what you need, why you need it, and how the grant will help you reach your goals. You want to make sure the audience has a clear understanding of your topic.
- Community Impact This is something that will really improve your proposal. Grantmakers look for details on how you’ll use the award to benefit yourself and your community. Do your best to include information about the benefits you’ll be able to give others thanks to the funding you might receive. When you build this type of relationship with a Grantmaker, they’re more likely to choose you over others who have not made an effort.
- Fact Check
A well-written grant proposal normally includes facts and other statistics that back up the goals of the grantee. When citing your facts, make sure they’re from reliable sources. The right information can give your proposal more power, which causes the audience to trust you more.
- Practice Makes Perfect It’s going to take a couple of tries before your proposal is good enough to send off. Prepare yourself for the fact that you’ll likely write multiple drafts. The more you play with the format, tone, and specific details about your request, the better chance you have of finding something that fits.