writing_guides

Tips and Guidelines for Writing

What we do is "write proposals" (a.k.a "Grantseeking") (Grants and development professionals eschew the labels "grantwriter" and "grant writng")

All Proposals will address a basic set of items:

Why are you doing this project?
What will it do for the people?
What will you be doing?
How will you be doing it?
Who will be doing it?
Where will it be done?
How long will it take?
How much will it cost?
How will you know the objectives are met?
How does it fit the Grantor's goals & Objectives?
How will you share & broadcast your evidence of success?

Grantmaking is big business, resulting in Billions of $$$ paid every year for the purpose of accomplishing the specific goals and objectives of the grantor through the work of other people and organizations. (over $34 Billion was awarded in private foundation grants alone in 2007)

Because it is such a big business, and because reading grant proposals is hugely time consuming, and thus costly, many grantors have published guides to confine unbridled enthusiasm and gushing prose on the part of wannabe grant getters. ( ... short, comprehensive proposals are much harder to write ...)

Proposals are usually prepared in response to a request by the grantor (a.k.a. RFP, RFA, SGA, NOFA, etc).- they may be as simple as a 3-page "letter of inquiry" to a foundation, or as complex as a 200 page tome for a multi-year Federal grant. Most Federal grants are now submitted electronically (a.k.a. e-Grants), and are typically confined to 50-70 pages of narrative.

Writer's RESOURCES:

In the Gavilan Library:

The "How TO" Grants Manual by pre-eminent grants guru, David Bauer

Here are some good, free, learning resources on the web: (links underlined)

Grantwriting Glossary of Terms

Tips on How to Write a Proposal

Write to Be Scanned