I have a colleague who likes to equate grant writing with all sorts of things like peanut butter, sausage, donautes and the like, but I think grant writing is more like a symphony.

There are many different parts to a grant and each of those parts on its own can be very complex, yet all of the parts come together to make a whole that is truly much greater than the sum of all its parts.

In the composition of a symphony, how you put the pieces together makes the difference between noise and music, and between a piece of music that is simply o.k. and one that is inspirational. Sure, the technical aspects of putting it all together are important. In a grant application, if you don’t connect all of the parts (needs connected to goals and objectives, which need to be connected to project design, and so on), you’ll end up with a product that looks like noise, and it probably won’t be funded.

In a truly great symphony, the composer goes beyond the technical aspect of composition and creates art. The same is true for grant writing.  A highly skilled and successful grant writer will move beyond the technical aspects of the writing and the composition of the grant and will use those to create a work of art – a grant application that speaks to the reader, demonstrates commitment, and inspires the reader to take action (the right kind of action – recommending the proposal for funding).

The next time you write a grant, create a symphony.

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Take a look at our YouTube video on Pulling All the Parts of Your Grant Together.

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