Category Archives: grant sample

Eight Things a Grant Sample Can Teach You

Writing a grant is always a challenging exercise. People who aren’t grant writers always ask me if I can’t just take a previously written grant sample and rewrite it for another client. They think grant writing can be more efficient like building a successful template and then rearranging the pieces for a new competition. It sounds logical, but it simply doesn’t work.

The “bear” of grant writing is that each grant MUST be a unique creation. It is for a specific client with a specific set of needs, and those needs dictate a specific set of remedies, that are dictated by the specific talents and resources of the specific agency making the application, and on and on…

In short, there is no one-size fits all grant template. “Well,” one inquisitor pressed, “surely when it is the same grant competition for the same client, the grants must be almost identical” (after all, he was thinking, their address and phone number haven’t changed). NOT necessarily so! Even the same grant competition revises the request for application (RFA) each year before it is issued to better represent the desires of the issuing agency. So no, resubmission involves a whole lot more work that merely changing the dates on an application.

So what about the title of my article and how does all this apply to grant samples? Well, the point of collecting and reading grant samples is not to copy a previously successful grant because as I’ve already stated, the formats will be different, the requirements will be different, and probably everything else you will write is going to be different.

Here are 8 things that grant samples CAN provide you that are very valuable:

  1. You can learn a lot about the style of language that is effective in your writing.
  2. You can learn ways to show data in tables and graphs that emphasize the right things.
  3. You can learn how other applicants portrayed concepts or processes in a graphic that might be useful to telling your story.
  4. You can review evaluation plans that might inform your evaluation design to make it more comprehensive.
  5. You can see how the various sections of the grant were addressed, numbers of pages used, integration of data, research cited, etc.
  6. You can learn more about the topic of the proposal including applicable research, funding statutes, applicable regulations where indicated, etc.
  7. You can learn about specific populations and regions of the country where grants are given and approaches to the grant purpose that you may not have thought of but which might be applicable to your situation.
  8. You can also learn formatting, style, tricks of word processing that save space, utilize non-narrative portions of the application to clarify and extend concepts.

There are many great benefits to reading successful grant samples and these are just a few. We work hard to collect as many grant samples for each type of competition as we can and we read through them to educate ourselves on best practices and best programs. It has been a worthwhile effort on our part as our clients can attest.

—————————-
 
Get help with your grant writing.  Check out a grant sample or grant outline.
 
Find more great grant writing resources at GrantGoddess.com!

Eight Things a Grant Sample Can Teach You

Writing a grant is always a challenging exercise. People who aren’t grant writers always ask me if I can’t just take a previously written grant sample and rewrite it for another client. They think grant writing can be more efficient like building a successful template and then rearranging the pieces for a new competition. It sounds logical, but it simply doesn’t work.

The “bear” of grant writing is that each grant MUST be a unique creation. It is for a specific client with a specific set of needs, and those needs dictate a specific set of remedies, that are dictated by the specific talents and resources of the specific agency making the application, and on and on…

In short, there is no one-size fits all grant template. “Well,” one inquisitor pressed, “surely when it is the same grant competition for the same client, the grants must be almost identical” (after all, he was thinking, their address and phone number haven’t changed). NOT necessarily so! Even the same grant competition revises the request for application (RFA) each year before it is issued to better represent the desires of the issuing agency. So no, resubmission involves a whole lot more work that merely changing the dates on an application.

So what about the title of my article and how does all this apply to grant samples? Well, the point of collecting and reading grant samples is not to copy a previously successful grant because as I’ve already stated, the formats will be different, the requirements will be different, and probably everything else you will write is going to be different.

Here are 8 things that grant samples CAN provide you that are very valuable:

  1. You can learn a lot about the style of language that is effective in your writing.
  2. You can learn ways to show data in tables and graphs that emphasize the right things.
  3. You can learn how other applicants portrayed concepts or processes in a graphic that might be useful to telling your story.
  4. You can review evaluation plans that might inform your evaluation design to make it more comprehensive.
  5. You can see how the various sections of the grant were addressed, numbers of pages used, integration of data, research cited, etc.
  6. You can learn more about the topic of the proposal including applicable research, funding statutes, applicable regulations where indicated, etc.
  7. You can learn about specific populations and regions of the country where grants are given and approaches to the grant purpose that you may not have thought of but which might be applicable to your situation.
  8. You can also learn formatting, style, tricks of word processing that save space, utilize non-narrative portions of the application to clarify and extend concepts.

There are many great benefits to reading successful grant samples and these are just a few. We work hard to collect as many grant samples for each type of competition as we can and we read through them to educate ourselves on best practices and best programs. It has been a worthwhile effort on our part as our clients can attest.

—————————-
 
Get help with your grant writing.  Check out a grant sample or grant outline.
 
Find more great grant writing resources at GrantGoddess.com!

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Grant Writing Made Easy

We make everything easy these days. Microwave ovens made cooking easy. GPS relieved men from stopping to ask for directions after getting hopelessly lost. Some cars parallel park all by themselves. Debit cards all but replaced checks making it easier to get and spend money.

Most of our lives is so much easier now; it’s about time to make grant writing easy too. Here are ten ideas to make your grant writing easy. Don’t skip a step or you’re going to make your writing hard again!

  1. Hire a grant writer; but, if you’re still determined to write the grant yourself, proceed to steps 2 – 9.
  2. Get a really-really comfortable chair because you’re going to be there a while.
  3. Get a second screen for your computer so you can have multiple documents open at once and still see at least two of them.
  4. Get extra ink and paper for your printer so you don’t have to run to Office Max in the middle of production.
  5. Get a grant outline or write your own.
  6. Get one or two grant samples at http://grantsample.com/ to read before you start to write.
  7. Push the DND button on your phone (that’s “Do Not Disturb”) and let the answering machine handle the calls from sales people and neighbors wondering why your lights were on until 3 AM.
  8. Hit crtl-S every few minutes to save the work so you don’t experience the Prozac-inducing experience of a frozen computer and lost narrative.
  9. Highlight in yellow the areas you need more information about so you don’t forget to go back to them and highlight in green items that you need to remember to put into the budget.
  10. Plan ahead on how you are delivering the finished grant so you aren’t driving it like a maniac to beat a deadline at the last moment.

Even following all of the steps above aren’t guaranteed to make your grant writing easy. When you are writing grants you will find that some narratives just flow easily from your mind while others will cause writer’s block and even the most comfy chair won’t unblock you. If you are really looking for the easy button on grant writing, it’s hiring a professional to do it for you!

This post was written by non-profit consultant and expert grant writer, Derek Link.
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Want mroe grant writing tips?  Check out our free webinars or sign up for an online seminar or course at our Online Leanring Center.  

Grant Writing Made Easy

We make everything easy these days. Microwave ovens made cooking easy. GPS relieved men from stopping to ask for directions after getting hopelessly lost. Some cars parallel park all by themselves. Debit cards all but replaced checks making it easier to get and spend money.

Most of our lives is so much easier now; it’s about time to make grant writing easy too. Here are ten ideas to make your grant writing easy. Don’t skip a step or you’re going to make your writing hard again!

  1. Hire a grant writer; but, if you’re still determined to write the grant yourself, proceed to steps 2 – 9.
  2. Get a really-really comfortable chair because you’re going to be there a while.
  3. Get a second screen for your computer so you can have multiple documents open at once and still see at least two of them.
  4. Get extra ink and paper for your printer so you don’t have to run to Office Max in the middle of production.
  5. Get a grant outline or write your own.
  6. Get one or two grant samples at http://grantsample.com/ to read before you start to write.
  7. Push the DND button on your phone (that’s “Do Not Disturb”) and let the answering machine handle the calls from sales people and neighbors wondering why your lights were on until 3 AM.
  8. Hit crtl-S every few minutes to save the work so you don’t experience the Prozac-inducing experience of a frozen computer and lost narrative.
  9. Highlight in yellow the areas you need more information about so you don’t forget to go back to them and highlight in green items that you need to remember to put into the budget.
  10. Plan ahead on how you are delivering the finished grant so you aren’t driving it like a maniac to beat a deadline at the last moment.

Even following all of the steps above aren’t guaranteed to make your grant writing easy. When you are writing grants you will find that some narratives just flow easily from your mind while others will cause writer’s block and even the most comfy chair won’t unblock you. If you are really looking for the easy button on grant writing, it’s hiring a professional to do it for you!

This post was written by non-profit consultant and expert grant writer, Derek Link.
————————————-
 
Want mroe grant writing tips?  Check out our free webinars or sign up for an online seminar or course at our Online Leanring Center.  

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Grant Research Includes Reading a Grant Sample

“Nothing succeeds like success” is an old proverb, but it applies well to grant writing today. Grant writers who want to be successful know what is wanted by the grant maker and one great way to do that is to read a grant sample of proposals that were successful in previous competitions.

Now you might be saying to yourself “Whoa! You’re talking about plagiarism,” and I’ll say y’all are wrong about that. I’m talking about reading for the purpose of research only, certainly NEVER copying or creating derivative works.

Reading a grant sample is no different than serving as a reader on a grant scoring team. You learn a lot about how to write a successful grant proposal by reading the work of other successful grant writers.

Here are some of the key things you should look for when you are reading a grant sample.

  1. Program structure including who is served, what kind of services, how much service was deemed acceptable, etc.
  2. What kind of organization got the money, public, private, non-profit?
  3. Who was the target audience? Is there a preference for a certain demographic, geographic area, or municipal size?
  4. What is in the budget? What will the funder actually pay for and what are the relative amounts in terms of budget categories?

Of course there is a lot more to look for including use of language, use of graphics, and use of charts and tables. Remember that successful proposals were those that the readers liked and recommended for funding. That’s the group you want to be in the next round of funding!

Creative Resources and Research offers grant samples that our staff has collected for various competitions at http://grantsample.com/. We also offer some of our own successful proposals there (with identifying information about the client agency redacted).

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Also check out http://grantoutline.com/!

Grant Research Includes Reading a Grant Sample

“Nothing succeeds like success” is an old proverb, but it applies well to grant writing today. Grant writers who want to be successful know what is wanted by the grant maker and one great way to do that is to read a grant sample of proposals that were successful in previous competitions.

Now you might be saying to yourself “Whoa! You’re talking about plagiarism,” and I’ll say y’all are wrong about that. I’m talking about reading for the purpose of research only, certainly NEVER copying or creating derivative works.

Reading a grant sample is no different than serving as a reader on a grant scoring team. You learn a lot about how to write a successful grant proposal by reading the work of other successful grant writers.

Here are some of the key things you should look for when you are reading a grant sample.

  1. Program structure including who is served, what kind of services, how much service was deemed acceptable, etc.
  2. What kind of organization got the money, public, private, non-profit?
  3. Who was the target audience? Is there a preference for a certain demographic, geographic area, or municipal size?
  4. What is in the budget? What will the funder actually pay for and what are the relative amounts in terms of budget categories?

Of course there is a lot more to look for including use of language, use of graphics, and use of charts and tables. Remember that successful proposals were those that the readers liked and recommended for funding. That’s the group you want to be in the next round of funding!

Creative Resources and Research offers grant samples that our staff has collected for various competitions at http://grantsample.com/. We also offer some of our own successful proposals there (with identifying information about the client agency redacted).

————————–

Also check out http://grantoutline.com/!

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com