Give your Grant the Best Chance

In short, a grant proposal is a request for a financial investment in a not for profit sporting or community organisation.

When grant writing, the process of creating a great grant proposal consists of these stages:

Proposal summary

The proposal summary is two or three paragraphs that summarise the key points and objectives of the project you are trying to fund. As grant writer, you will need to add sufficient specifics and detail.

Overview of your organisation

This is where your grant writer needs to showcase your organisation and its capacity and ability to meet all deliverables of the grant while also meeting all safety, legal and quality obligations. Include a biography of key staff, your track record and organisational goals. Tell the funding body why your organisation should be selected.

Problem statement

The problem statement is when you clarify who will benefit from the grant and how the solution to the problem will be implemented. You need to include the history of the problem, any previous solutions that have been tried and failed and what it is about your solution that will make a difference.

Project objectives

This section is to provide details of the anticipated outcome and how the success of the project will be measured. You need to include when and how you plan to measure your Key Performance Indicators.

Project design

Project design includes all the skills you will need in order to succeed as well as what additional facilities, support services and transport needed to deliver the project.

Future funding

This section of the grant proposal may involve you articulating the projected ongoing costs, funding requirements that surpass the project, total cost of ownership, ongoing maintenance and operational support.
In this section, you need to factor in specialist skills, inflation, ongoing training, decommissioning expenses and potential future growth when the project reaches end of life.

Project budget

You must include a detailed budget for the project you are seeking funding for. How much money will be needed to deliver the desired results? Provide a full and detailed justification for all expected expenses. Ensure you include a table of services, aka a service catalogue.

The true meat of your grant proposal is the project budget section. Do not lose the grant by over quoting your projects expenses. This can be seen as profiteering. Under quoting, on the other hand, might win you the grant but leave you unable to deliver on your organisations project. This could have an adverse impact on your standing with the Funding body.

Hooking in the client by under quoting and then looking for more funding at a later stage, is a dangerous game to play. This could affect your individual or organisation’s brand, reputation and community standing.

Remember that there is always help at hand. Red Tape Busters has a team of experienced and professional grant writers, waiting to assist you in writing a grant winning grant proposal. With grant writers Sydney, grant writers Melbourne or grant writers across Australia, Red Tape Busters are ready to help.