Writing a good grant proposal is not that hard.  Crafting a winning proposal takes a combination of skill, effort and will. Putting the right words down on paper is important, equally important is positioning your organization.

What does this mean and how do you do that?

Being well positioned means both articulating the alignment between your program and the funder’s interest, and actually being in alignment in real-life. If you are a human service agency that works in affordable housing, you can say that you are committed to providing supportive services to  people in your housing developments — but if your track record does not backup that assertion the words are meaningless. To demonstrate alignment you must show two things: 1) that your programs and partnerships are consistent with the funder’s goals, and what you say you will do 2) that your programs and partnerships are based on evidence. Do your past accomplishments support what you have written in the grant? Does the design of your current programming line up with past accomplishments and vision?  Do you have the right partnerships in place?

How do you do it — position your organization to win? Look at your proposal through the lens of the funder who will be evaluating it, then work backwards. Do you have the data and the research to support whatever problem you are proposing to fix?  If not you may need to do gather some supporting documentation by researching publications in your field of work and/ or grab census data and/ or contact other local service providers who work with the same population.  This can take time! Don’t rush through your proposal and don’t talk in generalities. If you are applying for a grant to help homeless veterans, no need to discuss the problem from a national perspective. Everyone has heard about it — instead get the evidence to show it’s a problem in the community where you work. If you plan to help disadvantaged youth, don’t talk about the skills-gap between the poor and the rich — we all know that problem is endemic in this country. Instead pull up specific data from you neighborhood schools, talk to the principles in that community which you will serve, compare the availability of enrichment programming in those schools to better-off schools in the district. Get data that shows that the type of afterschool program you are proposing has proven to be effective in helping kids get better grades, be healthier, get admitted to college, etc.

The key is don’t be sloppy. Take the time to get real facts. Get letters of support from potential partners and collaborators in the community. If you have a financial commitment from another funder or big donor — get letters from them as well. Demonstrate that you have the pieces in place to succeed, should you win the grant. Writing a grant proposal takes a lot of time and resources. Don’t waste either. Don’t take shortcuts.