10 Tips for Successful Grant Proposals

10 Tips for Successful Grant Proposals
Dalya Massachi

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Today’s Speaker

Dalya Massachi
Writing for Community Success

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10 TIPS FOR
SUCCESSUL
GRANT
PROPO$AL$
Presenter: Dalya F. Massachi
©2011 Dalya F Massachi
www.dfmassachi.net 4

Reprinted with permission from CompassPoint Nonprofit Services.

OUTLINE

I. The life cycle of a grant proposal
II. 2P2R Planning System: 4 easy steps
III. Powerful writing techniques
IV. Spot the weaknesses
V. Bonus handouts (follow-up)


1. KNOW THE LIFE CYCLE
OF A GRANT PROPOSAL
(6-12 months)

You research foundations

You begin relationships

You submit an LOI or proposal

Program Officer reviews your proposal

You answer any outstanding questions

Program Officer advocates for you

Board votes on your proposal

You rejoice OR learn why you lost

2. USE THE 2P2R SYSTEM
1. Understand your “Good writing does
Purposes. not come from fancy
word processors or
2. Define your expensive typewriters
or special pencils or
Priority info. hand-crafted quill
pens. Good writing
3. Know your comes from good
Readers. thinking.”
– Ann Loring
4. Refine your
messages.

UNDERSTAND YOUR SPECIFIC
WRITING PURPOSES.

Inspire the funder with your unique ideas.

Encourage the view of your organization as a
solid investment.

Explain your pressing issue.

Show that you share goals and values.

Instill trust in your ability to get the job done.

YOUR UNIQUENESS:
So powerful that it cuts through inertia,
gets noticed, and gets people talking about
you.

Under-served clients, location, etc.
Outstanding credentials or experience
Extensive collaborations
Unusual point of view or approach


EXAMPLE: Beyond Breast Cancer

Beyond Breast Cancer is different from
other breast cancer organizations in
that we focus on quality of life. We
acknowledge the challenges and
limitations of living with breast cancer,
and we believe that focusing on
activities that our clients are able to
enjoy cultivates a higher quality of life
than might otherwise be possible.

ASK YOURSELF:
1) What’s inspiring and intriguing about
your organization or program?
2) What is the unique value it adds to the
community?
3) What makes your org a good investment-
NOW?


DEFINE YOUR
PRIORITY INFO

Facts and figures

Importance of the issue

Results you envision

Solution you propose

Track record

ASK YOURSELF:
What does your work mean for the community:
personally, economically, spiritually, emotionally,
socially, etc.?

How does your work serve, excite, entertain, or
educate your community?
“So what?” How does your work lead to something
better for the community?
“What’s in it for US?”


EXAMPLE: HOMELESS SHELTER

PROGRAMS: You offer homeless families a soup
kitchen, warm beds, restrooms, child care, long-
term job and housing services
BENEFITS: (the difference you make – so what?)
Higher level of nutrition and stability
Higher level of employment
Fewer families living in cars or on streets
Less desperation, often leading to crime, drug abuse, etc.
The sense of being a community that cares for everyone
Lower long-term financial cost to local area

KNOW YOUR READERS.


PROGRAM OFFICERS:
Foundation gatekeepers

Have background, concern BUT may be
unfamiliar with your particular slant/niche
Are time-pressed
Want to be inspired

Have been around, frequently talk to others

Are people too, with hearts, minds, concerns

WHAT INFORMATION IS OF
MOST INTEREST TO THEM?
True match with your goals and priorities

Program is a high priority for you

High chance of success: realistic, specific plan

Clear, measurable impact on a vital community need
-- NOW


Beneficiary involvement

Strategic collaboration/role in the field

Strong evaluation plan

Replicable model

Community support ( and in-kind)

Funded by other foundations

Note: Corporations are looking for how their
investment will benefit them.

HOW TO FIND OUT MORE?

Read their publications, websites, grant
guidelines.

Research what they have previously
supported.
(Is there enough similarity with your project,
yet uniqueness in your specific approach?)

Call or email to clarify.


REFINE YOUR MESSAGES.

Match your READERS’ interests
with your writing PRIORITIES.
(This takes time!)


POWERFUL
WRITING TECHNIQUES


3. FOCUS ON CLARITY
“The most powerful factors in the world are
clear ideas in the minds of energetic
men [and women] of good will.”— J Arthur Thomson

You know all about your program, but
your readers don’t. Explain everything!

Avoid vagueness; talk specifics.

Use examples, quotes.


4. TELL STORIES

Talk about how people have
benefited: results they have seen
and importance.

What are some characteristics of great
stories?
A beginning, middle and end
Memorable characters
Interesting setting (time and place)
Compelling plot or conflict resolution

5. TAKE CUES FROM THE FUNDER

Remember to answer all of the funder’s
questions with details.

Use the funder’s language.

Use headings and sub-headings with chunks
accessible at a glance.


6. AVOID JARGON AND
UNEXPLAINED ACRONYMS

Does the term mean the same
thing to them as it does to you?

If you must use technical terms or
acronyms, explain them the first time.


Reprinted with permission from CompassPoint Nonprofit Services.

7. SHOW, DON’T JUST TELL
Convey striking details

Use metaphors and analogies

Show HOW your solution benefits folks

Use word pictures:
NOT “affordable housing and good nutrition”
BUT “safe roof and 3 solid meals a day”

Compare your topic to a more familiar one.

EXAMPLE
The Frameworks Institute used stats from U.S.
Dept. of Ed’s 2005 study, “Calories In, Calories
Out: Food and Exercise in Public Elementary
Schools,” and crafted this message:

“Exercise is something that children need
every day. But half of all students attend
schools that have reduced their phys ed class
to just one or two days per week. Part-time
fitness is no more effective than part-time
reading or math instruction.”

8. MAKE YOUR PROPOSAL
PLEASING TO THE EYE.
Use:
white space
legible font
numbering
bullets
charts
simple graphics (maps, diagrams, etc.)


9. CULTIVATE CONCISENESS:
LESS IS MORE
“I didn't have time to write a short letter,
so I wrote a long one instead.” —Mark Twain

Sentences: 14-20 words max.
No freeloading words
KISSS: Keep It Short, Simple, Skimmable
Average LOI:1-3 pp.; full proposal: 7-10 pp.


10. PROOFREAD
Check your document
for grammar,
punctuation, spelling,
and other slip-ups.

Always read your piece
out loud (even if it’s
only to yourself). Most
people hear words as
they read them, so your
words should roll off
the tongue.

LET IDEAS GERMINATE.
"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to
get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon."
—Robert Cormier

Wait at least 24 hours before starting
to revise.
Try keeping a notepad & pen
on your nightstand. This invites
creative ideas to visit you.


EXERCISE
SPOT THE WEAKNESSES:

Can you identify the problems
in this piece?


EXERCISE
(SPOT THE WEAKNESSES)

Dear Program Officer:
We are pleased to submit this brief Letter of
Intent to the Over-the-Top Foundation. We
propose the “Get A Life Project,” which will
have a negligible effect on housing conditions
for low-income women and will probably do
nothing to change their economic status.

EXERCISE

We don’t have an innovative bone in our
bodies, so we’re just doing the same old
project that we’ve always done, and it’s not
part of any larger plan. In fact, we think there
are already many organizations doing this
work in our town.


EXERCISE

Based on no community feedback or
involvement, we believe that our Get A Life
Project will provide much-needed assistance.
It’s not clear how we will do this work, but we
are sure that we’ll come up with something.
To be sure, we definitely will not be
evaluating it.

EXERCISE
Our project does not address any of your
priority areas, but we know you will make an
exception because of our good intentions. We
will have to indefinitely rely on your
foundation to sustain our work. Otherwise
will have to close.
Sincerely,
Wanda Grant

FINAL THOUGHT

"Find a subject you care about and which
you in your heart feel others should care
about. It is this genuine caring, not your
games with language, which will be the
most compelling and seductive element in
your style.”— Kurt Vonnegut


Your special discount:
www.dfmassachi.net/event.html

2 BONUS HANDOUTS:
1) Proposal Checklist
2) Sample Cover Letter
~Both Available on the Same Website!~

©2011 Dalya F Massachi 42
www.dfmassachi.net

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