Grant Basics

Grant Writing Tips

Inclusion here does not imply endorsement.

Basic Elements of Grantwriting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting evaluates hundreds of proposals each year for a variety of funding purposes. This publication is an easy guide to the basic elements of grant writing and is offered to assist applicants to CPB and to other funding sources. It offers guideposts to help you through each stage of the process. These guideposts are transferable to a variety of grant applications. However, we encourage you to carefully read the guidelines written for each grant you select. Successful grant writing involves the coordination of several activities, including planning, searching for data and resources, writing and packaging a proposal, submitting a proposal to a funder, and follow-up. Here are some steps that will help. www.cpb.org/grants/grantwriting.html

Proposal Writing: Short Course
The Foundation Center’s guide to successful proposal writing. This is especially useful in connecting the project narrative and financials. www.fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html

Grantwriting Tips
The purpose of SchoolGrants is to provide resources for children, teachers/educators, and K-12 schools. The goal is to contribute to the common task of improving schools and programs for the children served by those schools. The “most good for the most kids” is the SchoolGrants commitment and primary aim. Their grantwriting tips page provides a useful checklist to help strengthen grant applications. www.schoolgrants.org/tips.htm

Help with Grant Writing
Links to information about all aspects of grant writing and proposal development provide by About.com. www.nonprofit.about.com/careers/nonprofit/cs/helpwithgrants/index.htm

Grantsmanship Center
TGC's website is packed with information on how to plan, manage, staff and fund the programs of nonprofit organizations and government agencies. http://www.tgci.com/index.shtml

Advice from Funders
One of the best ways to become an expert on grantsmanship is through careful review of application guidelines and funding priorities issued by foundations, from the major national funders with large staffs to the corporate foundations and the small family foundations. Here, you can find advice from funders on how to craft better proposals. www.grantproposal.com/funders.html

Writing Knockout Proposals
Excerpt from How to Write Knockout Proposals: What You Must Know (and Say) to Win Funding Every Time. Anyone, and everyone, can write a proposal. But precious few people can write a "knockout" proposal, a document of such force it catapults the funder down the hall. Here are three tips to help you enhance your own proposals. http://www.guidestar.org/DisplayArticle.do?articleId=1068

Last updated: November 24, 2010