Grant Writing Process - Advice and Safeguards

Program officers and reviewers offer these suggestions:

1. Write concisely yet persuasively.
2. Use readers to gain valuable feedback
3. Pay close attention to proposal guidelines and follow them exactly.
4. Be as clear as possible about the goals, methodology, and evaluation of your project.
5. Try to view your proposal through the eyes of a foundation officer. (Questions a Smart Foundation Officer Will Ask About Your Proposal
6. Be sure that your budget is well planned, detailed, and reasonable. (For assistance with budgetary items, contact the Grants Office.)
7. Include in-kind support, matching revenue, and overhead in the budget, if appropriate.
8. Recheck your budget numbers before submitting your proposal.
9. Be sure that you have included all of the necessary supporting materials (letters of support, budget forms, and so forth). A checklist (Word document, 22KB file size) prepared by the Grants Office may help you to work through this process.
10. Think about becoming a proposal reviewer yourself. It's a great way to learn what makes a winning proposal.