10 top tips to write fantastic grants

 

Grant Writer Sydney

1) Choose the appropriate grant scheme

Writing a grant proposal takes time and effort and to make this investment cost effective the grant writer should first ensure the grant funding scheme is appropriate to the needs and requirements of the organisation. Carefully examine the grant funders criterion to confirm the eligibility of the organisation and their project or program falls under the parameters.

2) Have the right team in place

When grant writing the role of the grant writer is to give evidence that the organisation can deliver on the project or program. An effective and capable team that is innovative and can brainstorm together can support the grant writer to produce a top-notch grant submission.

3) Clear rationale

The role of the grant writer is to definitively provide the grant scheme that there is a clear and focused reasoning behind the project or program. What is the rationale? What are you doing and why? How does it address a gap in the community? Who does it benefit?

4) Have well defined goals and objectives

By using the SMART goal setting approach the grant writer adds a dimension of structure and accountability to goals and objectives of the program or project and makes them more definitive. Goals should match the needs statement, outcomes and rationale and specifically define what your proposal will achieve or accomplish for the target group. The goals and objectives detail the desired results or outcome of the program and how your organisation plans to achieve them.

 5) Time is money

There are two aspects to time in the grant writing process. The first is taking the time to be thorough in addressing all the requirements for the grant application and ensuring compliance within the parameters of the funding scheme. The second is getting the grant submitted prior to the deadline – a late grant submission is often automatically excluded from the selection process.

6) Remain focused

When grant writing, remain focused on the goal. You want the proposal to be reviewed and accepted so sell the project and its benefits. Answer all required questions and provide all requested documentation. Outline how the program or project will positively benefit the proposed clients.  Use verifiable research to emphasize how it will improve the outcomes for the core beneficiaries.

7) Identify effective support people

There is always an element of requiring referees for a grant proposal. It is important to choose the correct people to support the application. They should ideally be passionate and supportive of the program and should be informed of the rationale, goals and objectives so that they can endorse and advocate on the behalf of the organisation.

8) Provide detailed pricing

The pricing model and quotations provided to support the grant application should be clear to read and detailed to identify where the grant funding will be used. Grant writers should identify and use local suppliers in as many cases as possible – this has a further positive effect for the community and demonstrates the organisation passion and commitment for their community to thrive.

9) Use visual aids for impact

Photographs, diagrams, plans, graphs can make an impression on the evaluator and enable them to clearly visualise the project or program. And as is often the case a picture speaks a thousand words – it can back up your written application and make an impact.

10) Sell! Sell! Sell!

The purpose of grant writing is to give the assessor a clear visual picture of the project or program. It should sell the long term benefits of the funding for the community and demonstrate a commitment to improvement and progress for the core group. Using descriptive language, addressing all the requirements and doing so in a concise and thoughtful way makes a fantastic grant.

Red Tape Busters has a team of professional and enthusiastic grant writers eager to assist you. Whether you require a grant writer Sydney, a Grant writer NSW, a grant writer Melbourne or a grant writer anywhere across our nation, Red Tape Busters are waiting for you now. 

Popular posts from this blog

Tender Writing – The Top Three Qualities of an Effective Tender Writer

Tender writing can be a very challenging process but the effective tender writer will have a personality, a skill set and an approach that sets them apart from the run of the mill tender writer. I believe the really important qualities that a tender writer needs to possess are an ability to stay calm under pressure; an ability to org anise other people within the organisation and to organize resources, information and supporting documents or material and an ability to develop the strategy and approach that pitches the organisation in the right light to win the attention of those assessing the tender response. I will now discuss these qualities in further detail. Calm Under Pressure Tender writing can be a very pressurized situation. There are deadlines to meet. Responses need to be submitted by a specified time, in a specified format and in a specified way. Sometimes tenders need to be hand delivered, sometimes they need to be electronically submitted via a specified web porta
Read more

Avoid Tender Rejection With This Expert Advice

Image
The experienced tender writer finds it hard enough to get their tender considered after applying and following the guidelines, ensuring that the lodgement time is met and that they have crafted a decent tender response. Tender writing requires some skill to prepare a great application yet a lot of writers ensure their tender response is rejected at the first review by making some simple errors. Here are some of the pitfalls you need to avoid to ensure your application is not rejected without first being serious considered. Remember the assessment panel on first review of all the responses will be seeking to reject as many as possible initially to get down to a manageable number and to make the task easier. Following are the mistakes that will almost certainly see your response put into the NO pile. Failure to answer every question or tick every box on the application form This might seem just plain ridiculous. How can anyone fail to fill out the application form completely? W
Read more

Grant Writing – What are the determining factors in applying for a grant?

Image
There are many factors which determine if you should be applying for a grant and if your grant writer should spend time on crafting a great submission. Grant writing is far more than filling out an application and explaining why you need that funding. The outstanding grant writer will adopt a very strategic and thorough approach and will not just apply for everything on a whim. Following is a list of issues to consider when applying for grants. Organisational Eligibility All grants have eligibility criteria relating to the type of organisation Grants might be restricted to a business, an incorporated non profit, an organisation with DGR/PBI status for example. So before applying the grant writer will ensure that the organisation as an entity is eligible to apply for this grant.   Location Restrictions Grants at times can be only available to organisations within a set geographic location or a project being delivered within a specific geographic loc
Read more