You need more than a love of writing to craft a well-written proposal that achieves results
Poetry, scripts, short stories and…grant proposals? Yes, grant writing is a genre unto itself. You may enjoy writing for pleasure or find dashing off a well-written email easy, but grant writers must possess a special skill set to write a proposal.
To be able to hone winning grant proposals, you need the following:
An ability to stay organized
A messy desk is not a sign of a genius in the world of grant writing. On the contrary, a successful grant writer must be meticulous in tracking information, such as:
- The organization’s history, contact info, mission statement, brand narrative, programs, and projects
- Lists of past donors, possible donors, and resources for finding them
- Documentation of the extraordinary accomplishments of your organization
- Outreach efforts
- Calendar of deadlines, important dates, meetings, conferences, meet-and-greets, and fundraising events
You have to maintain this level of organization throughout the entire process, starting long before you put pen to paper and even after you’ve submitted your proposal.
Stellar research skills
To be a grant writer, you need a deep-rooted curiosity to constantly seek out possible funders, decipher the requirements and legalities of the grant, get to know your possible funders, understand how to best present information to them, learn from rejections, and, oh, so much more.
In other words, you must possess an insatiable hunger for learning.
“Identifying state agencies, private foundations, and other organizations that give grants to individuals or small businesses requires considerable time, effort, and research,” warns Carolyn M. Brown.
The research that you do in the beginning of the process is crucial – it can save you time and effort in the long run.
Excellent time management skills
If you want to be a grant writer, you must know how to use time efficiently – not just for your organization but also for the potential funders. You have to put in the research to craft well-written proposals that don’t waste the funder’s time. (In other words, they’re not sloppy, meandering, poorly written pieces that do not interest the funder.)
You also respect time by scheduling only necessary meetings. For example, if the information can be presented well in any email, consider writing one instead of forcing everyone to attend a meeting.
The most important time management rule is: Never miss a funder deadline. Deadlines must be met ─ not viewed as suggestions.
Clear, engaging writing skills
Writing for a grant needs to be strong, crisp, and informative. Everything within the proposal should serve a purpose and serve that purpose well.
Your grant writing needs to focused, clear, and organized, so that readers will get a clear picture of:
- Your credibility
- The problem or issue
- Reasons for your proposal (including benefits and goals)
- How the grant will help to ease or solve the issue
The proposal, as a whole, should be cohesive as well. Paragraphs should naturally flow from one section to another and not be a series of disconnected thoughts.
In addition to adhering to the overall tone and style of the proposal, a grant writer should make sure that it doesn’t have typos or grammatical errors. Sloppy writing suggests sloppy thinking.
Critical eye
As a grant writer, you can’t get too attached to your own writing. You need to revise (and revise and revise) your proposal, critically looking at writing that needs to be tightened, deleted, or strengthened.
“In your revision and editing, ask your readers to give careful consideration to whether you’ve made explicit the connections between your research objectives and methodology,” according to the Writing Center.
- For example, you’ll have to ask yourself:
- Have I made a compelling case?
- Is my hypothesis clear?
- Does my project sound doable or too lofty?
- Did I provide metrics and measurements for determining its success?
Ability to ask for help when needed
Researching opportunities, getting materials together, writing a proposal, and waiting to see whether the grant has been awarded to your organization all takes a lot of time. So, you need to know when you simply do not have the time or energy to dedicate to writing a proposal.
It’s all right to admit that you need help writing a proposal. At Williams Grant Writing, we can dedicate the time to crafting well-written, thoroughly researched proposals, so you can focus on the other aspects of your organization. Put us to work for you today.
