No nonprofit organization can run without proper funding, and grants are an essential way to kick start your charity or business and keep it going. Here are just a few tips on grant writing to help you continue helping others.
Check your eligibility
Before you begin writing your grant application, it is essential to check the eligibility of whichever grant you will be applying for. Every grant program will have their own unique requirements for funding distribution. You don’t want to waste your precious time writing a grant you are ineligible for receiving.
Clarify your mission statement.
Every charitable organization and small business should have their own unique vision – that vision is best expressed through your mission statement. Figuring out who you are aiming to help, and how you want to help them, is essential before beginning your grant proposal. Whether it’s international or community oriented, business start ups or human rights focused, grant programs will seek out nonprofits that match their own goals and values.
Tone.
Assessing the desired tone for your grant writing is also an important aspect of catering your proposal to the specific program you are applying to. You’re probably not going to apply to the US government the same way you would to a smaller organization more local to you. Either way, your tone and syntax must be professional, while still emphasizing the uniqueness of your organization’s objectives. If it fits in with your organization’s mission statement, it might be preferable to showcase the approachability and engagement your organization has with the community you serve by being more down to earth.
Emphasize your impact.
After you’ve clarified your vision, you’ll want to showcase specific examples of the ways you’ve followed through on your organization’s mission statement. Without knowing what your organization actually does for your community, or means to do in the future, programs will remain unclear on whether their funding is going to the right place. It’s best to choose a few instances that exemplify your mission statement and detail the impact these have had in the community you serve. If you were, for example, applying for the Capacity Building for Health Eating and Active Living (HEAL) Funding Opportunity you would want to select examples of your organization or business promoting fitness and healthfulness that had an active (no pun intended) and ongoing impact on the physical and mental well being of your community. If your organization focuses on community engagement and outreach, it would be best to focus on active partnerships and events your organization has created or participated in.
Feedback.
Another effective way of emphasizing your impact is to include positive feedback you have received from the community you serve, as well as any other organizations, businesses and grant programs you have had partnerships with. There’s no better way to showcase the good works you have done than by using the words and experiences of the people you have helped. Even critical feedback can be an important addition to your grant application, if you use it to showcase the changes you have made or intend to make to better your organization. All it takes is to engage with the community you serve and to listen to what they have to say about their experiences.
Writing grants from a professional yet personal perspective is a great way to display all the best aspects of the services your organization provides.