A Comprehensive Guide to Writing Grant Proposals: Values, Priorities, & Strategies

Introduction

Grant writing guide implies the intimate knowledge regarding grant funder and applicant where values are shared, visions and priorities provided as well as strategies for attaining them. Various grant programs may hire academic reviewers with sufficient knowledge and discipline. So, while writing the grant proposals, it is significant to consult a friend or a colleague with extensive experience and who may not realize the needs for your grant guide. Grant guides can be written to a particular corporation or funding agency for convincing the reviewers to offer specific support (Harrison, Weisman, & Zornado, 2017). The grant writer's professionals create a good research proposal that seeks financial assistance from different companies or agencies. They may work well in social services, health care, or universities. The success of a grant guide needs a proper comprehension of grantsmanship. However, this paper focuses on vital parts of the grant writing process, submission guidelines, and post-grant activities.

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Grant Writing Process

The first step in the writing process is looking for a grant application. In an attempt to apply or search for a grant, it is vital to acquire information from the society of the local corporation that can offer charitable services about educational programs or has a mission that relates to childhood literacy. The organizations would be Junior League or Rotary Club. Identify the needs in either a community-based in society that requires goodwill. For example, in acquiring a grant for water contamination, one requires to engage the community stakeholders and accept it as real an issue. Therefore, in this step, there must be a brief explanation of the organization and personal details, the project objectives, and funds needed.

The next step is to research an organization that gives grants through IRS 990 and GuideStar form (Prevost, 2016). This avenue offers adequate information before applying that is contact details, assets, the application procedures, the past support provided, and whether they endorse unsolicited applications. Realizing who the corporations have provided in the past will enable in compiling the proposal that fits the mission well.

The third step is to contact the organization. Having researched the company, one can as well call. It is vital to have an explanation of what you need, do, and details. Passion concerning childhood literacy mission program is also necessary (Horn-Mallers, Ruby, & Garcia, 2015). Ask the organization whether you can give the follow-up information associated with marketing materials. One can send the follow-up messages that provide a better explanation of the mission and program. Also, it crucial to give a company a period of like a month before beginning to follow up once more because foundations boards may not meet every day, and the previous meetings are approved during the next meetup.

The fourth step is proposal writing. After getting the information that the organization has confirmed the qualification of submitting a grant proposal, one can use the same wording in marketing material follow-up. The grant proposal should be brief and covers the required content. There should be the inclusion of heart-warming or testimonial story as well as hard data that indicate fiscal responsibility of work programs (Visovsky, 2015) The proposal should contain various sections such as cover letter since it gives the grantor the first impression. The executive summary comes after a message to offer brief information about the projects. The proposal also requires a needs statement to persuade the grantor of the importance of the project and needs to be understandable and straightforward. Give information on the plans towards addressing the issue that is the goals and objectives. The other sections should be program design to assist the grantor to comprehend how they will attain objectives and goals identified. The evaluation part assesses the failure or success of the program that the grantor would like to know whether the money achieved the intended purpose. In the budget section, it is essential to state the project cost without estimation, both direct, overhead, and personnel expenses. Thus, the funder will require some documents like the IRS letter, the affiliated organizations or board of directors, and the recent budget (Visovsky, 2015).

Finally, the last step in grant writing is reviewing and submitting the proposal. In this stage, it is essential to ensure all checkpoints are answered appropriately through studying before submitting the reports. For example, when addressing all questions in the application, checking budget figures, editing proposals, and following the format guidelines (Horn-Mallers, Ruby, & Garcia, 2015). Also, one should include the attachments, copies, meet the funding criteria, and allow the material to approach the deadlines.

Submission Guidelines for a Grant for Funding Agencies

The first guidelines in grant guide submission are to review the proposed budgets with federal agencies like governmental when applying financial support related to salary, or benefits. For electronic donations, allow ample time for automated validation and verification process through the agency for funds, which may take almost 72 hours (Horn-Mallers, Ruby, & Garcia, 2015). Give troubleshooting or support for submission processes like access, logins, and verification requirements. Ensure the budget is accurate and adequate or work with subcontractors to obtain the needed institution signatures, work statements, or budget. Finally, review and resolve the requirements of regulatory compliance which is identified through the internal research

For hard copy proposals, ensure the grants meets the requirements according to the guidelines like formatting such as page limitations, margin width, and font size. Review and resolve the compliance problems as well as acquire the organization letter that endorses the proposal writing and lastly, send or make through courier. Also, the budget should be accurate and reliable.

Post-Grant/ Program Success

The success of the program can be measured through furnishing the electronic copy of the grant completely and support documents to foundations or corporate relations. A person can report the feedback of the proposal to the corporate offices in case the projects are not as successful as they may assist in searching for the alternative funders. Also, in case the grant engages various coordination procedures and management, there is a need to agree before commencing the projects. The project director requires to submit the reports to grant funders, managers' ad committee for accessible reports.

Categories of Post-Grant Report

The following are types of post-grant reports. For instance, status reports can be produced monthly or weekly, indicating the nature of questions that the projects manager would like to hear. Risk reports entail the output linked with reviewing of the risk during the meeting (Wisdom, Riley, & Myers, 2015). Also, the executive or board reports contain the significant problems that require resolution like a budget summary. Lastly, the resource report shows the breakdown of a project allocated to the group daily

Conclusion

Grant writing entails the act of applying for financial supports offered by various organizations like foundations, corporations, or government departments. When writing a grant proposal, there is a need to develop or generate an idea that the stakeholders support as well as identifying the available grant funds. Some readers might not respond to poorly written, confusing, or organized proposals, thus provide readers with what they desire. It is vital to follow the guidelines of a specific grant application as it helps to reframe the project focusing on the requirements and crucial parts. Also, the grant talks more about the writer, researcher, or scholar. Therefore, writers should understand the guidelines for writing and submitting the grant proposal to ensure the projects become successful.

Reference

Harrison, J., Weisman, D., & Zornado, J. L. (2017). Professional writing for the criminal justice system. Springer Publishing Company.

Horn-Mallers, M., Ruby, J. R., & Garcia, J. A. (2015). Skill and efficacy development in human services grant writing course. American Journal of Educational Science, 1(4), 117-121. Retrieved from http://files.aiscience.org/journal/article/pdf/70380024.pdf

Prevost, S. S. (2016). Research Abstracts and Grant Writing: Basic Strategies for Success. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10755/601508

Visovsky, C. (2015). Writing a Successful Grant: Tips and Tools. Journal of the advanced practitioner in oncology, 6(3), 279-280. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4625634/

Wisdom, J. P., Riley, H., & Myers, N. (2015). Recommendations for writing successful grant proposals: an information synthesis. Academic Medicine, 90(12), 1720-1725. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000811