The Community Tool Box

Our Mission

Promoting community health and development by connecting people, ideas and resources

English | Español

Table of Contents | Do the Work | Solve a Problem | Use Promising Approaches | Connect with Others | Services

In this Toolkit, you will find supports for writing a grant application for funding. Part I gives a step-by-step overview of the grantwriting process. Part II provides a general template for writing a grant application. Completing Part II will give you a solid proposal that can be adapted to meet specific grant opportunities and review criteria for specific funders. Additional tools can be found at the end of the section.

Part I. Overview of the Grantwriting Process

Before writing the grant application:

1. Identify problem/ goal area for which funds will be sought.

Toolkit: Assessing Community Needs and Resources

Toolkit: Analyzing Problems and Goals

2. Develop relationships with grantmakers when possible. Communicate with grantmakers about your work periodically, even when not submitting an application. This may help you learn about future funding prospects, as well as increase your chances for a successful proposal.

Chapter 14, Section 7: Building and Sustaining Relationships

3. Thoroughly search for relevant grant opportunities. See Additional Resources for a list of grantmakers or potential funders. Consider the following types of funders:
1. Government agencies(e.g., federal, state/province, or local)
2. Private foundations or donors
3. Corporate foundations or businesses.
4. Consider the proposed project/goal’s fit with the identified funder(s).
1. Learn the funder's grant making philosophy, program interests, and criteria.
2. Does the funder make grants that meet your needs?
3. Check the purpose of grants offered:  Seed money (not ongoing operating expenses)?  Direct Service?  Other?
4. Check the size of grants offered, including minimum and maximum awards.  Determine whether you will need to apply for multiple grants and investigate whether this is allowable under the guidelines of each funder.
5. Check out the timeline for submission, and the funding cycle.
6. Check other restrictions (e.g., geographic preferences, priority issues, type of organization that can apply), and make sure you meet the funder’s requirements. In the case of federal or state grants, these may include certification or pre-approval, which may have to be completed well before the application deadline. 
7. Look at the number and kind of past awards given by the funder and determine whether your odds of receiving funding warrant the effort it takes to prepare a competitive grant proposal.
8. Check to see if there is organizational fit between your group/ project’s mission and that of the funder.

1. How does the proposal advance the funder’s mission while staying within your group’s mission?
2. How does your group’s work reflect the funder’s values and goals?

9. Check to see if you meet the eligibility criteria.
10. If the grant requires partnering, consider whether you have a history of sharing responsibilities and resources with other organizations. Is there a potential partner for this grant? Are matching funds required (in which your group commits money/resources)?
11. Before beginning, determine if you have the needed time, energy, and other resources to prepare an effective grant application.
5. Consider a meeting with the funding source.
1. Learn the funder's preferred method of initial contact (e.g., e-mail, phone, face-to-face meeting).
2. Check to see if the funder offers a conference call or web conference briefing session – if so, attending may be well worth your time.
3. Check to see if the funder offers Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on their website, and review these in detail. The FAQs may be updated periodically.
4. If you see value in a pre-application meeting, and if the funders’ guidelines don’t tell you otherwise, consider requesting a meeting with the grantmaking agency.
5. Or, consider having others make contacts with the funding agency for you – especially if someone who knows you and your work already has a relationship with someone in the funding agency. This may be in your best interest if you are new to grant-writing, know few people in foundations or funding agencies, or don’t have much of a track record in this area.

If you decide to pursue the funding opportunity:

6. Review the literature to find out what approaches might work in your situation. Take a look at relevant lists of promising approaches or best practices since you don’t want to propose something that won’t work.
7. Learn about the problems and goals of the community, and work with partners to develop an intervention for addressing them with the proposed funding. Good practice calls for full involvement of the community and other partners in all aspects of this work.

Toolkit: Assessing Community Needs and Resources

Toolkit: Analyzing Problems and Goals

Chapter 9, Section 3: Developing Multisector Task Forces or Action Committees for the Initiative

Chapter 7: Encouraging Involvement in Community Work

1. Identify the community problem/goal to be addressed and what needs to be done.

Chapter 17, Section 3: Defining and Analyzing the Problem

2. Assess the level of the problem or goal.

Chapter 3, Section 1: Developing a Plan for Identifying Local Needs and Resources
Chapter 3, Section 4: Collecting Information About the Problem

3. Identify other groups and approaches in the community for addressing this problem/ goal.
4. Describe the prioritized groups to benefit and those implementing the intervention.

Chapter 18, Section 3: Identifying Targets and Agents of Change: Who Can Benefit and Who Can Help

5. Indicate how you will obtain community involvement in identifying problems and goals to be addressed by the intervention.

Chapter 3, Section 12: Conducting Interviews

Chapter 3, Section 6: Conducting Focus Groups

Chapter 3, Section 10: Conducting Concerns Surveys

6. Analyze the problem or goals to be addressed by the intervention.

Chapter 17, Section 3: Defining and Analyzing the Problem
Chapter 17, Section 4: Analyzing Root Causes of Problems: The "But Why?" Technique

7. Set goals and objectives for what "success" would look like.

Chapter 8, Section 3: Creating Objectives

8. Identify and assess “best practices” or “evidence-based interventions” that could help address the problem or goal in your situation.

Chapter 19, Section 1: Criteria for Choosing Promising Practices and Community Interventions

Chapter 19, Section 6: Promoting the Adoption and Use of Best Practices

9. Specify the core components and elements of the intervention.

Chapter 18, Section 1: Designing Community Interventions

10. Identify the mode of delivery through which each component and element of the intervention will be delivered in the community (e.g., workshops for skill training).
11. Indicate how you will adapt the intervention or “best practice” to fit the needs and context of your community (e.g., differences in resources, cultural values, competence, and language).

Chapter 19, Section 4: Adapting Community Interventions for Different Cultures and Communities

12. Develop an action plan for the intervention.

Chapter 8, Section 5: Developing an Action Plan

8. Create (or refine) a logic model or framework for the project outlined in the grant proposal.

Toolkit: Developing a Framework or Model of Change

Chapter 2, Section 1: Developing a Logic Model or Theory of Change

        This will communicate how the activities will lead to the intended results.

1. Outline the vision and mission of your project.
2. State the objectives of your project or effort.
3. State the context and conditions under which the problem or goal exists that may affect the intended outcomes (e.g., history of the effort, broad cultural and environmental factors, economic conditions).
4. Identify inputs, resources and barriers – include both resources or supports available and constraints or barriers to meeting the initiative’s objectives
5. State activities or interventions - what the initiative or program does to bring about change andimprovement (e.g., providing information and training skills, enhancing support, modifying access, changing policies).
6. State outputs - direct results or products of the group’s activities (e.g., number of people trained or activities conducted)
7. State intended effects - more broadly measured outcomes or results (may include shorter-term, intermediate, and longer-term effects)
8. Using the components listed above in items a-g, draft a picture or visual representation of the framework or model of change.
9. Create an evaluation plan for the project.

CTB Toolkit: Evaluating the Initiative

Chapter 36: Introduction to Evaluation

Chapter 39: Using Evaluation to Understand and Improve the Initiative

1. Indicate what "success" will look like for the project or initiative. (e.g., how would the lives of individuals and communities be better?)
2. Identify your criteria or indicators for judging success. How will success be measured?

Chapter 38, Section 9: Gathering and Using Community-Level Indicators

3. Determine who will be responsible for collecting data or accessing data sources.
4. Indicate the role of documentation and evaluation in supporting program improvement and determining effectiveness, along with your plan for documentation/ monitoring your efforts.
5. Describe the results you expect to achieve by the end of the funding period.
10. Prepare a budget for the project.

Chapter 42, Section 1: Planning and Writing an Annual Budget

1. Consider all forms of potential revenues (e.g., other grants and contracts, local funding, memberships, in-kind support), as well as all forms of expenses (e.g., staff salaries and benefits, consultants, travel, equipment, supplies, rent, insurance), for each year of the proposed project.

1. Identify appropriate matching funds or resources if applicable.

2. Clearly outline the amount of funding requested for each type of funding sought (e.g., amount for salaries, travel, and equipment).

Click here to see an example of a budget report form.

3. Create a budget justification (i.e., a description of why each type of expense is needed)
11. Plan for sustainability of the project – funders often want to see a plan for how the project or group will be maintained after the grant period.  

Toolkit: Sustaining the Work or Initiative

Chapter 42, Section 1: Developing a Plan for Financial Sustainability

1. Create a business plan to anticipate what resources will be necessary to sustain the organization or effort.
2. Identify specific tactics to be used to sustain the effort (e.g., sharing positions and resources, becoming a line item in an existing budget).
12. Follow up with the funder.
1. Follow up to be sure that the proposal arrived.
2. Identify a contact person at the grantmaking agency.
3. Prepare a thank you letter.
13. Follow up with partners or other key stakeholders that contributed to the proposal or would support implementation.
14. Keep at it.
1. Finding one grant takes multiple applications. Don’t wait to hear about one application before sending out another.
2. Once word has been received from the grantmaking agency about the funding (or lack of approved funding), debrief with the group to discuss lessons learned and next steps.
3. Continue efforts to diversify the types of funding and types of funders that support your work. Be persistent

Part II. Writing the Grant Application

COVER LETTER

1. Be sure to include important information (e.g., the RFA or grant name, proposal name, agency name)

PROPOSAL NARRATIVE (usually a total of 10-20 pages)

1. After drafting the narrative, have someone with limited knowledge of the proposal give you feedback based on the review criteria.

2. Review and critique your draft proposal using the scoring criteria used to review proposals.
3. Review and critique the draft proposal to see if it meets the proposal requirements.
4. Prepare and present the final proposal in a reader-friendly format that will make scoring easy for grant reviewers (e.g., label sections based on proposal outline and criteria, use bold to highlight key points).
   

ABSTRACT/ EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. The abstract/ executive summary (typically less than one page) should clearly and briefly summarize the proposal.

2. Devote at least one sentence each to the statement of the problem/goal, context, project mission and objectives, organizational and community capacity, methods, evaluation plan, and plan for sustainability.
3. Keep it clear and simple. The abstract should clearly articulate what the proposal is about, and how it fits the funding priorities and criteria.
4. Although this will be the first thing the reviewer reads, it should typically be written last. Prepare the abstract after the rest of the proposal is complete. That way, you won’t have to rewrite it as your proposal evolves.

I. Problem/Goal and Context

A. Statement of the Community Problem or Goal

Toolkit: Analyzing Problems and Goals

Chapter 3, Section 5: Analyzing Community Problems

Chapter 17: Analyzing Community Problems and Solutions

Process Checklist: Analyzing Information about the Problem or Goal

1. State the community problem or goal to be addressed. Describe the active involvement of the community in defining the problems and goals and planning the approach.

Chapter 17, Section 3: Defining and Analyzing the Problem

Chapter 17, Section 4: Analyzing Root Causes of Problems: The "But Why?" Technique

Toolkit: Increasing Participation and Membership


2. Document evidence of the problem, including data on the scope or level of the problem. You may use public records of community-level indicators and/or community surveys to communicate the importance of the problem/goal.
   
   Chapter 3, Section 1: Developing a Plan for Identifying Local Needs and Resources
   
   Chapter 3, Section 2: Understanding and Describing the Community
   
   Chapter 3, Section 4: Collecting Information About the Problem
3. Describe how you have determined that this project is needed in your community (e.g. community assessments, surveys or public records that support the need for the project. Document evidence of community concern about the issue, including information from people affected by the problem, those responsible for addressing it, and reports from the media. (You may want to use public forums and focus groups. If available, attach media reports on the issue or problem in this community.
   
   

   Process Checklist: Analyzing Information about the Problem or Goal

   Chapter 3, Section 10: Conducting Concerns Surveys

   Chapter 3, Section 6: Conducting Focus Groups

   Chapter 3, Section 3: Conducting Public Forums and Listening Sessions

4. State whom the problem or goal most affects and how they are affected by it.
   
   Chapter 3, Section 4: Collecting Information About the Problem
   
   Chapter 17, Section 3: Defining and Analyzing the Problem
   
   Chapter 18, Section 3: Identifying Targets and Agents of Change: Who Can Benefit and Who Can Help
   
   Chapter 3, Section 3: Conducting Public Forums and Listening Sessions
5. Describe how the problem or goal is linked to other related issues in the community

Chapter 17, Section 3: Defining and Analyzing the Problem

Chapter 17, Section 4: Analyzing Root Causes of Problems: The "But Why?" Technique

Chapter 3, Section 3: Conducting Public Forums and Listening Sessions

Chapter 3, Section 4: Collecting Information about the Problem

B. Description of the Community

1. Describe the geographic area that defines the community (e.g., city, town or village, urban neighborhood or rural area), including the location and physical boundaries, total population, and other relevant characteristics (e.g., commercial/residential area, quality of physical environment, etc.).
   
   Chapter 3, Section 2: Understanding and Describing the Community
2. Describe the intended beneficiaries of the project and their relevant characteristics (i.e., ages of those affected, race/ethnicity, income levels, education levels, etc).
   
   

   Chapter 18, Section 3: Identifying Targets and Agents of Change: Who Can Benefit and Who Can Help

   Chapter 3, Section 2: Understanding and Describing the Community

3. State community assets, challenges, and needs.

Chapter 3, Section 7: Conducting Needs Assessment Surveys

Chapter 3, Section 8: Identifying Community Assets and Resources

4. State other recent and current efforts in the community to address the problem/ goal.

Chapter 3, Section 3: Conducting Public Forums and Listening Sessions

II. Project Mission and Objectives, and Organizational and Community Capacity

1. Mission and Objectives of the Project

Chapter 8, Section 1: An Overview of Strategic Planning or "VMOSA" (Vision, Mission, Objectives, Strategies, and Action Plans)

1. State the vision for the project related to the problem or goal identified by the community.

Chapter 8, Section 2: Proclaiming Your Dream: Developing Vision and Mission Statements

2. State the mission of the project or initiative.

Chapter 8, Section 2: Proclaiming Your Dream: Developing Vision and Mission Statements

3. State the overall objective(s) for the community project or initiative

Chapter 8, Section 3: Creating Objectives

4. State the key behavioral objectives for the community project or initiative (e.g., what are the measurable impacts that could be expected in 3 – 5 years

2. Describe the Organization's Capacity to Conduct the Project. Include:
   
   
   1. A brief overview of the organization, including its mission or purpose, and its clients or groups that benefit from its work.
      
      Process Checklist: Defining Organizational Structure and Operating Mechanisms
   2. Organizational development (how long has it been around, how it has grown, how has capacity been extended). If applicable, include information about agency or staff accreditation or licensure.
      
      Toolkit: Improving Organizational Management and Development
   3. Resources and assets (e.g., people, financial, etc.). Include a summary of key personnel and partners, including their experience and skills, previous work in addressing the problem or goal to be addressed, and their anticipated roles in this initiative – including percentage of time dedicated to the program. Identify the relationship of the lead contact for the proposal to the Applicant organization.
3. Describe the Community’s Capacity to Address this Problem/ Goal. Include:
   
   
   1. Community assets and resources
      
      

      Toolkit: Assessing Community Needs and Resources

   2. Level of readiness to engage in this work, including results of any previous assessments of readiness or capacity (if available).

   Chapter 2, Section 9: Community Readiness

   3. Describe support from and collaboration with other organizations. Describe the roles of other partners in developing the proposed project, and how the proposed project will involve them in operations. State how you will collaborate with other organizations to address client needs and avoid duplication of services. Attach letters from collaborating organizations. (Letters of support should be on the organization’s letterhead and include the name, title, telephone number and e-mail address of the appropriate contact person within the partner organization).

   Toolkit: Creating and Maintaining Coalitions and Partnerships

   4. Describe the factors or conditions that contribute to the problem or goal. Describe the personal factors (e.g., past history, knowledge, and skills) and environmental factors (e.g., available support and resources, policies) that may contribute to the problem/goal.

   Chapter 19, Section 2: Understanding Risk and Protective Factors: A Tool for Selecting Ingredients for Community Health and Development Initiatives

   5. Describe the lead agency’s previous work addressing the problem/goal.
   6. Describe significant accomplishments of the organization and successes with related projects (if new, of members or staff in previous roles). Attach media reports in Appendix A, if available.

III. METHODS

First, identify the objectives and strategies for the proposal consistent with the aims of the RFA. Then, address the following:

1. Intended Beneficiaries and How to Reach Them

1. Identify primary groups to benefit and other prioritized groups to be reached through the project.
   
   Chapter 18, Section 3: Identifying Targets and Agents of Change: Who Can Benefit and Who Can Help
   
   Chapter 3, Section 2: Understanding and Describing the Community
2. Describe the universal approaches to be used to reach many or all of the people in the prioritized group
   
   Toolkit: Implementing a Social Marketing Effort
3. Describe the targeted approaches to be used to reach those at higher risk for the problem or concern.
   
   Chapter 45, Section 4: Segmenting the Market to Reach the Targeted Population

2. Mobilizing Resources and Overcoming Barriers

Toolkit: Increasing Participation and Membership

Chapter 23: Modifying Access, Barriers, and Opportunities

Chapter 3, Section 8: Identifying Community Assets and Resources

1. Describe the people who could potentially help address the problem or goal, the assets they could contribute, and how they will be engaged in the project.
2. Describe material resources (e.g., money, equipment) which could potentially help address the problem or goal, the assets that could be contributed, and how they will be used.
3. Identify the key stakeholders (those who have something to gain or lose by the efforts to address the problem or goal) and how they will be involved in the project.
4. Describe potential sources of resistance to the project, the forms it might take, and how resistance could be reduced.

Troubleshooting Guide: We are facing opposition or conflict.

5. Describe potential barriers to the project, the forms it might take, and how barriers could be removed or reduced.

Troubleshooting Guide for Solving Problems: Common Problems, Reflection Questions, and Links to Support Tools

3. Proposed Project Activities

Chapter 8, Section 5: Developing an Action Plan

Chapter 8, Section 7: Identifying Action Steps in Bringing About Community and Systems Change

4. Logic Model

Toolkit: Developing a Framework or Model of Change

Chapter 2, Section 1: Developing a Logic Model or Theory of Change

1. Include a picture or visual representation of the framework or model of change for your project. Be sure to include:
   1. The vision and mission of your project
   2. The objectives of your project

3. The context and conditions under which the problem or goal exists that may affect the intended outcomes
4. Inputs, resources and barriers for meeting the initiative’s objectives
5. Activities or interventions to bring about change andimprovement
6. Outputs or products of the group’s activities
7. Intended effects - more broadly measured outcomes or results (may include immediate, intermediate, and longer-term effects)

5. Intervention and Action Plan – complete and include the following:

Proposed Intervention

Toolkit: Developing an Intervention

Components of the Intervention (for example)	Specific Elements of the Intervention
Providing Information and Enhancing Skills	(e.g., workshops to train skills on…)
Enhancing Services and Support
Modifying Access, Barriers, and Opportunities
Changing the Consequences (e.g., incentives)
Modifying Policies and Broader Systems
Other (be specific):

 

Action Plan for Implementation

Chapter 8, Section 5: Developing an Action Plan

Chapter 8, Section 7: Identifying Action Steps in Bringing About Community and Systems Change

Element of the Intervention (e.g., workshop)	What needs to be done:	Person responsible:	By when:

6. It may be appropriate to include an implementation timeline (sometimes, this is appropriate to include in the appendix).

 

IV. EVALUATION PLAN

Toolkit: Evaluating the Initiative

Chapter 36: Introduction to Evaluation

Chapter 36, Section 5: Developing an Evaluation Plan

1. Overall Evaluation

Chapter 36, Section 5: Developing an Evaluation Plan

Chapter 36, Section 1: A Framework for Program Evaluation

Chapter 1, Section 5: Our Evaluation Model: Evaluating Comprehensive Community Initiatives

Chapter 38, Section 1: Measuring Success: Evaluating Comprehensive Community Health Initiatives

Chapter 36, Section 4: Understanding Community Leadership, Evaluation, and Funders: What are their interests

1. Indicate what "success" will look like for the project or initiative.
2. Describe your criteria or indicators for judging success. How will success be measured?
   

Chapter 38, Section 9: Gathering and Using Community-Level Indicators

3. Indicate the role of documentation/evaluation and feedback in supporting program improvement and determining effectiveness, along with your plan for documentation/ monitoring your efforts.
4. Describe the results you expect to achieve by the end of the funding period.
2. Measurement
   
   
   1. Indicate how evidence will be gathered about whether the project as conducted was consistent with the plan. Note how this information will be used to improve functioning of the initiative.

   Chapter 38, Section 2: Gathering Information: Monitoring Your Progress

   2. Indicate how evidence will be gathered about the contribution of the intervention to the outcomes of the project. Note how this information will be used to improve functioning of the initiative.

   Chapter 39, Section 2: Providing Feedback to Improve the Initiative

   3. Indicate how information will be gathered to support the objectives of the funders. Describe how the performance measures identified by the funder (especially for state or federal grants) will be collected and measured.

   Chapter 39, Section 4: Communicating Information to Funders for Support and Accountability

   4. Indicate how information about satisfaction of stakeholders and collaborators with the project will be gathered regularly. Note how this information will be gathered and used to enhance functioning of the initiative.

   Chapter 38, Section 4: Rating Member Satisfaction

   Chapter 38, Section 5: Constituent Survey of Outcomes: Ratings of Importance

   5. Indicate how community-level indicators (e.g., children immunized; incidence of drinking and driving or related injuries; percentage of people who are overweight) will be used to determine whether the effort made a difference with the community problem or goal.

   Chapter 38, Section 9: Gathering and Using Community Level Indicators

   6. Indicate how the behaviors (or products of behavior) of prioritized groups will be measured to determine whether the initiative had an effect on key behaviors (e.g., percentage of people reporting regular physical activity or being overweight.)

   Chapter 38, Section 7: Behavioral Surveys

   7. Indicate how community and systems change (e.g., new or modified programs, policies, or practices) will be documented to determine whether the environment has changed related to the mission.

   Chapter 38, Section 2: Gathering Information: Monitoring Your Progress

   8. Indicate how other things occurring in the community during the initiative will be documented to determine how they may have contributed to the observed effects (or lack of effects).

   Chapter 38, Section 8: Conducting Interviews with Key Participants to Analyze Critical Events

 

V. Sustainability Plan

Toolkit: Sustaining the Work or Initiative

Chapter 42, Section 1: Developing a Plan for Financial Sustainability

1. Create a business plan to anticipate what resources will be necessary to sustain the organization or effort. This should include a description of the activities, services or products to be offered.

            Chapter 42, Section 2: Creating a Business Plan

2. Generate an annual budget, including:
   
   
   1. All projected expenses (e.g., salaries, office expenses, rent, utilities, phone and computer expenses, equipment, travel, etc
   2. All projected income - based on current sources of funding and other in-kind resources.

   Chapter 43, Section 1: Planning and Writing and Annual Budget

3. Use the anticipated budget to:
   
   
   1. Evaluate the financial resources needed to sustain the programs and services of the initiative.
   2. Identify ways to generate resources other than money (e.g., time, materials) to meet some of the anticipated expenses.
4. Indicate how you will use potential tactics for financial sustainability, including:
   
   
   1. Sharing positions and resources
      
      Chapter 46, Section 6: Sharing Positions and Other Resources

2. Becoming a line item in an existing budget of another organization
   
   Chapter 46, Section 7: Becoming a Line Item in an Existing Budget
3. Incorporating the initiative’s activities or services into another organization with a similar mission

Chapter 46, Section 8: Incorporating Activities and Services in Organizations with a Similar Mission

4. Applying for grants

Chapter 42, Section 4: Applying for a Grant: The General Approach

5. Outline a specific action plan for sustaining the organization or effort (i.e., who will do what, by when to implement chosen tactics for sustainability)

Chapter 42, Section 1: Developing a Plan for Financial Sustainability

 

VI. Appendices

1. Include appropriate supplemental items in the Appendix. The appendix should not include any information essential for the review of the application since the review of the appendix is often optional for the reviewer.
2. Include appropriate Letters of Support (LOS). Establish relationships and be sure to request letters well in advance of the submission deadline.
   
   
   
   

Tool #1: A Checklist for Following Funders’ Guidelines

When applying for a grant, it is important to follow the funders’ specific guidelines exactly. Here’s a general checklist you may wish to use:

1.  

   _____	Be sure to format and organize the grant headings exactly the way the Request for Proposal (RFP) requests. Answer all the questions in the order listed, and use the headings, subheadings, and numbers provided. Be sure to submit the number of copies the grantmaker requests.
   _____	Include a cover letter to introduce your organization and your request, and to make a strategic link between your proposal and the funder's mission and grant making interests.
   _____	Grant proposals should be typed and look professional. Make sure the grant is easily readable (e.g., the font size is not too small).
   _____	Keep an electronic copy of the proposal for future reference. This can be to adapted, or modified for future proposals.
   _____	Find out if you need to register to submit an application. Contact the funder to let them know you are applying, or set up a profile before submitting a grant (e.g., a federal grant needs a DUNS number). If any of these steps are required, make sure you complete them well in advance of the grant’s due date. If you contact the grantmaking agency, be sure to state not only your name, but also the group you are with.
   _____	Find out if the grant needs a letter of intent (LOI), and submit one by the due date if required.
   _____	Determine if you need letters of support or if you need potential partners to sign an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding).
   _____	Pay attention to how reviewers are going to score various aspects of the grant, and give higher priority (proposal length, etc.) to areas that are more heavily weighted.
   _____	When writing the grant, use bold or italics for emphasis of key points.
   _____	Note that it is fairly common to need to include the following in the Appendices: proof of non-profit status, staffing overview or organizational chart (including board, staff, and volunteer involvement), and an audited income or expense statement.
   _____	Once the grant is written, review it for clarity and consistency. Although grant applications are often a team effort, the final grant application should have one voice. It should read as if it were written with the consistent language of one writer.
   _____	Be sure to make a strong case for the overall significance of the proposal and prospects for success. (State WHY this project should be done: a) at all, b) in this community, c) at this time, and d) by this organization.
   _____	Be sure to ask questions of the funder, if needed – but read the application well and think before asking. If your organization is granted funding, there will likely be periodic reporting requirements to the funding agency. Click here to see an example of grantee interim reporting guidelines. Click here to see an example of grantee final reporting guidelines.

   
   
   
   
   
   

Home  |  About the CTB  |  eNewsletter  |  Guestbook  |  What Users Say  |  Ask an Advisor  |  Add CTB Link  |  Contact Us  |  Use Policy

The CTB is a service of the

Work Group for Community Health and Development

at the University of Kansas.
Copyright © by the University of Kansas for all materials provided via the World Wide Web in the ctb.ku.edu domain.