By Aaron Rome, Co-Founder of Writing for Green
This article appeared in the Fall 2023 issue of Frontline Momentum. Aaron Rome, our guest author for this issue, is Founder & CEO of Writing for Green, a FRI partner focused on building the grant writing capacity of frontline organizations.
Five Best Practices for Preparing Competitive Grant Proposals
Your organization’s work is important – perhaps it’s even changing lives as you create cleaner and healthier environments for the communities you serve. You see your work’s impact daily. What is evident to you, however, may not be so clear to outside observers, including grantmakers and other donors. Two key questions to ask as you craft your grant proposals are: “How do I make the reader care?” and “How do I establish credibility?” Below are five actionable tips to help guide your process.
Tell A Story
A story helps create context and allows the reader to visualize your work’s impact on people. Capturing the attention of the reader ensures they feel interested and invested in the problem, solution, and/or the people you seek to help. Can you think of a story about a person or community that your organization’s work has positively impacted, or a problem that has detrimentally affected your target demographic? Can you tell this story in a way that is universally relatable? In some instances, a story could be used to highlight a problem associated with a type of pollution. For example, maybe children in a community you worked with had to miss school due to asthma attacks linked to a local petrochemical plant. Presenting evidence – even anecdotal – that shows how real people are being affected can be powerful.
Use Data to Your Advantage (But Don’t Overdo It)
Stories can be an integral way to augment your proposal. You shouldn’t, however, rely solely on anecdotal evidence to make your case. Interspersing key data in your proposal in ways that support your narrative is a best practice. Be sure to cite your sources and vet the quality of the data and sources. Unreliable data and sources (e.g., data that doesn’t provide substantiation or that comes from old sources) should be avoided. Too much data can create a problem, especially if that data doesn’t directly connect to the points you are trying to make (or even worse, if the data contradicts the written narrative). Data should also be put in context. Tell the reader why you are including certain data and how it relates to the project.
Leverage the Experience of Your Organization and Key Individuals on Your Team
Stories can be an integral way to augment your proposal. You shouldn’t, however, rely solely on anecdotal evidence to make your case. Interspersing key data in your proposal in ways that support your narrative is a best practice. Be sure to cite your sources and vet the quality of the data and sources. Unreliable data and sources (e.g., data that doesn’t provide substantiation or that comes from old sources) should be avoided. Too much data can create a problem, especially if that data doesn’t directly connect to the points you are trying to make (or even worse, if the data contradicts the written narrative). Data should also be put in context. Tell the reader why you are including certain data and how it relates to the project.
Connect the Problem to a Logical and Achievable Solution
Identifying the people you are seeking to help, and the life challenges they are facing, is of paramount importance. Your narrative’s needs statement or problem statement is a good place to incorporate data and statistics. However, a grantmaker is unlikely to be spurred to action (in this case, the action being to approve your application for funding!) simply because you presented a bunch of credible data that illustrates the problem. You must go a step further by linking your solution directly and unambiguously to the problem. Problem A should be addressed by Solution A, not Solution B. Even if you brilliantly describe the problem using some data and stories and you have the reader onboard, you still must go on to demonstrate that your proposed solution (the program for which you are seeking funding) has a strong likelihood of addressing that problem. One way to be sure you have this covered is to include a logic model (also referred to as a “theory of change”) as part of your proposal.
Avoid Ambiguity and “Connect the Dots”
Think about your audience at every phase of the writing process and remember, they may have limited or potentially no knowledge about your organization’s work or programs. What may be crystal clear to you will probably need to be explained – simply and succinctly – for the benefit of the reader. After every sentence, ask yourself, “Will the reader understand what I just wrote… will they know to whom or to what I am referring?” If the answer is “no” or “I’m not sure,” then take the time to modify that sentence or paragraph to eliminate any potential ambiguities. One of the most common and easy-to-mitigate mistakes is not being clear regarding what or who the subject is. Overuse of pronouns like it or they may confuse the reader because they may not know whether you are referring to Person A, Person B, Object A, or Object B. Instead, whenever possible, use proper names when referring to your subjects. Similarly, when describing your programs or proposed project, avoid ‘insider’ language or references, and assume the reader knows nothing about the program’s history, rationale, target demographic, etc.
Writing for Green provides training and coaching services aimed at increasing the grant writing capacity of frontline organizations. To learn more about Writing for Green, their mission, and the services they provide, visit their website here.
About the Author
Aaron Rome
Aaron is an accomplished grant-writing professional who has helped raise over $400 million in grants for a multitude of nonprofit and community-based organizations. He founded Writing for Green to impart the best practices, skills, and competencies that he has learned over his 30-year career. To learn more about Writing For Green, visit their website here.
