How To Write Grant Proposals

Here is a list of the best resources I could find on writing grants. Print one or more of them out and follow the outlines to develop your grant proposal package. I have also included a list of places to find examples of successful grant applications.

How to Write a Grant Proposal

The Minnesota Council on Foundations has an EXCELLENT roadmap to Writing a Successful Grant Proposal. It is one of the best grant outlines I've seen and is a great starting point.

The Foundation Center has a nicely laid out short course on writing a grant proposal.

The bioscience.org website has a useful guide to writing research grant proposals.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting reviews hundreds of grant proposals every year. Here is a list of their tips for writing a good grant proposal.

Proof of Success -- Grant Proposal Examples

By their nature all grant proposals are very specific to an organization and to the type of grant being applied for. However, it is useful to look at a few proposals where grants were awarded to see the specific elements in context.

The ideabank is a site devoted to firefighting. They have several examples of successful grant applications.

Non-profit Guides has a great tutorial on writing a grant proposal as well as several samples of proposals for foundation and government grants.

The Gill Foundation gives out grants. They were so impressed by the Nashville Cares grant proposal, they published it and annotated it comments telling you why they loved various elements of the proposal. Great learning tool! Sample National Grant Proposal

A fabulous tool I have been using for the past few years both for myself and for my clients, is the Proposal Kit. This is a compilation of information that helps you build great proposals. It comes with a variety of "packs" that are basically presentation skins. It also includes a proposal wizard that helps you put your proposals together. It takes a bit of time and work to get it all set up, but once you have all the elements in place, you can pump out proposals quickly and easily. Writers who write proposals for clients and non-profits can really stream line their work and maximize the amount of revenue they make per hour. Take a look at the Proposal Kit if you plan on doing this for a living or have to regularly write proposals to land clients.

Here are several books I recommend for those who wish to learn the craft.

The First-Time Grantwriters Guide to Success