Grant Writing - How to Prepare Your Grant ProposalGrant writing is very important and you better not rush through it. When it comes to writing your grant papers it is important to keep in mind that the proposal is made of many parts and, when it is put together, it should be able to give the reader an idea of what you want, how your goals are to be achieved, how much it will cost and what your short and long term objectives are. Before you apply for a federal grant, you must already have anidea as to what you are proposing. This will help you figure outwhat your need statement is. The need statement is the starting point of grant writing because this is what the funders will be looking at whenthey decide whether or not to award you the grant. When you arewriting this, focus on the people that you serve and not yourorganization, use statistical facts, expert testimony and keep iteasy for the reader to understand. You are competing against many others for this grant so be specific. After you finish the need statement, it's time to write down whatyour goals and objectives are. Do your best to give an overview of who in the community will be best served and what your organization hopes to accomplish if they are awarded the grant money. For the grant committee to be convinced that such goals and objectives can be met, you will have to show them what steps you will be taking to make this happen. When this section is being written, explain why certain methods were chosen and that theactivities proposed are feasible. In the end, the big question will be how much are you asking for in your proposal. If you are applying for a direct federal grant, you may be able to get a huge sum of money. On the other hand if you are applying for a pass through grant you will only get a small slice of the pie. You won't get more than you are asking for, however, so make certain you know how much you need. In every grant proposal, you must never forget to talk about yourorganization and what it does exactly. This is what distinguishesyou from other organizations out there and, if you have hadsuccessful accomplishments in the past, be sure to bring them up.These are plus points in the eyes of the grant committee. Once you are finished writing the most important parts of the grant proposal, it is time to put it all together. If it consist of a lot of pages, include a table of contents. Remember that it is a good idea to have your proposal reviewedby someone else before it is submitted, so that you will have time to make any needed changes to it. When it is ready, send itvia registered mail. Grant writing can be tedious but the rewards can be huge.
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