Mental Health Association in New York State

TEN TIPS FOR APPLYING FOR GRANTS

Even in the best of times, finding adequate funding is an issue every non-profit agency has had to grapple with. As the economic climate gets harsher, competition for grants only gets stiffer. We have assembled these ten tips for grantwriting based on suggestions from seasoned grantwriters who have experienced both the joy of winning funding, and the anguish of the rejection letter.

Tip 1: Before you even set pen to paper (or more likely, fingertips to keyboard), research potential funders. Does your proposal fall within the funder’s area(s) of interest? Do they restrict their giving to a specific geographical region, and if so, are you in it? Are you sending a $25,000 request to a funder who has never made an award over $5000? Don’t waste your time, or a funder’s, writing a proposal that won’t appeal to the giver.

Tip 2: When considering specific grants, find out what additional requirements the funder imposes. This is an important concern with state or federal government grants, which typically require that agencies use specific accounting practices, file quarterly/annual reports, provide evaluations of the funded program(s), attend meetings or trainings, and fulfill other requirements set by the grantgiver, all within a fixed deadline. Smaller agencies in particular should consider whether they have the staff, time, and ability to meet all of the grantgiver’s requirements. Failure to do so, especially with government grants, could result in the funder demanding repayment of the grant.

Tip 3: Read the funder’s application instructions carefully, and do exactly what they say. One administrator of a New York State grant candidly admitted that the first step in cutting the very large number of applications they receive down to a more manageable amount is to immediately discard the ones that didn’t follow instructions precisely. If the instructions ask for an Executive Summary of 300 hundred words, don’t send in a three-page Executive Summary or your brilliant – but wordy – application is likely never to reach a reviewer.

Tip 4: Develop a realistic budget that strikes a balance between asking for enough to pay for your proposal without being seen as “padded.” Asking for either too much or too little can damage your credibility in a funder’s eyes. In a case where you are asking for less than enough to pay for the proposal – because the particular funder you’re approaching doesn’t award large enough grants, for instance - explain that you have funding from other sources lined up so that you will be able to accomplish what you propose to do. With grants that impose additional requirements, be sure that you factor in the costs of fulfilling these requirements.

Tip 5: Include all staff members who will be affected should your application be funded in the process of developing the proposal. Let them know what they can expect, and how their jobs might change as a result of receiving this funding. Incorporate their feedback and knowledge into your grant application to support the case that your agency is qualified and prepared to carry out your proposal. It might also be appropriate for some staff members to write sections of the grant application in the areas in which they have the greatest expertise.

Tip 6: To hire a grantwriter or not to hire a grantwriter? You know best what your agency is capable of, and what you want to accomplish with your proposal, but – let’s be honest – grantwriting can be a pain in the neck. A professional grantwriter can lift the burden of grantwriting from your back, leaving you free to attend to other responsibilities. A good one will know how to emphasize what grantmakers are looking for using the current “buzzwords.” On the other hand, a professional grantwriter may try to fit your agency into the “template” she usually uses, and may omit some of your agency’s unique strengths and capabilities. Is the cost of a professional grantwriter worth it to your agency? You may need to answer that question on a grant by grant basis, factoring in how much time you can realistically devote to the grant application process, and how demanding the particular grant application is.

Tip 7: As you gain experience as a grantwriter, you’ll find that funders will request the same kinds of information over and over again: copies of your agency’s IRS Form 990, your Certificate of Incorporation, resumes of key project people, etc. They’ll also ask for similar information in your grant narrative: a brief history of your agency, for instance, or a description of the community you serve. While it’s important to tailor each application to each funder’s particular interests, you can save time by having prepared answers for the questions that come up again and again, which you can then rework, rather than writing it from scratch each time.

Tip 8: Have a trusted editor (or two) closely review the finished application. In cases where several people contributed to writing the application, before the final review assign one person the task of rewriting the finished grant to give it a singular “voice,” rather than having it read like a patchwork of writing styles. Have your editor(s) review the application for unclear or confusing statements, excessive jargon, and redundancies. Give your editor a copy of the application instructions and let her judge; did you fully answer the questions the instructions asked? By this point the application should be free of spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and all the other unprofessional touches that can harm your credibility in a reviewer’s eyes, but have your editor also keep an eye out for these, just in case. Finally, make sure that someone has taken care of the ‘nitpicking’; checking that the pages are numbered in sequence and they match the table of contents (if there is one), that the appendices are named correctly and are in the right order at the back of the application, and so on.

Tip 9: Before you head to the post office, double (or triple) check your application. Have you made the corrections your trusted editor suggested? Did you include everything the funder asked for, presented in the way they specified? If they haven’t included a checklist it may be helpful to make one for yourself. Will your application reach the funder on or before the deadline? If so, your work is done and you can send your grant application out with confidence. Good Luck!

Tip 10: Did you get the grant? Congratulations! Follow up the award announcement with a thank-you note to the funder, and reach out to the contact person administering the grant to begin establishing a good working relationship right away. Take this opportunity also to send a press release to local media announcing your newly awarded grant and the great work you’re going to do with it. Didn’t get the grant? See if the funder is willing to do a debriefing for you, explaining why they declined your proposal. Ask about your application’s strong points as well as its weak points. Use this feedback to craft a stronger, more appealing application to submit to other funders, or to the same funder the next time you are eligible to apply for their grant.

For information on locating grantgivers, you may also want to read the companion Skills Development Sheet, Finding (and Researching) Grantgivers.