Grant Writing: One Way to Look At It

Anyone who has written a grant knows what it's like: No matter how well you plan, you always feel like you're right up against that deadline.  Sleepless nights and endless collection might leave you feeling like this time consuming process is doing your organization more harm than good.  Weathervane Strategies treats every grant proposal not as a stand-alone project, but as a process that continues to guide our clients long after the project has been deployed.  Here's one way to look at proposal development.  We hope it helps.

Start By Solving Problems

Just as nonprofit organizations exist to address the needs or challenges of a service area, likewise, federal, state and private funding exist to address the needs of those same service areas.  In order for both to exist, you first identify the problem.  As the problem grows and awareness increases, more people demand change and organizations sprout up to help exact that change.  Then, Funders direct resources to that problem area.  In a perfect world, both organizations and funders would research the problem, identify solutions and then implement or request others to implement those solutions.  However, not every problem is so easily solved.

Finding an effective approach

In trying to solve the problems in their communities, many nonprofit organizations act too quickly, by taking an approach that will later blindside them to other possibilities, partnerships or funding. At the same time, funders may fall into a habit of supporting projects that utilize old methods while ignoring newer, less familiar and potentially more effective approaches.

The decision-making processes on both sides (nonprofit and funder) are intricate, but the grant proposal process helps us navigate this complexity. 

First, funding availability is one way to identify the work that is currently valued by the general public.  Second, grant guidelines provide a format for developing a standardized and detailed plan that can be understood and executed.  The proposal process forces an organization to make a concentrated effort in considering current programming with a more critical eye.  We always find that the proposal process also results in organizations taking action on lower-priority, but necessary, activities, such as improving and expanding partnerships.

Nutrition for Grant Proposals

The components of a completed proposal resemble a pyramid, each layer strengthening the one before it and vice versa.  Without a strongly stated need, the rest of your proposal can't hold up.  Your ultimate goal is to prove the feasibility of your desired outcomes, and you can't accomplish that unless every part of your proposal is as strong as the last. 

Jump-Start Future Developments

Every proposal is different—some will require a greater level of detail than others. However, each proposal requires the same necessary framework for success in federal, state and private grant proposals. By taking a bottom-to-top approach, we find that we have a more complete picture of our desired project goals and outcomes, which in turn enables us to more easily pursue future developments.  Through the proposal preparation process, we discover new and exciting approaches to accomplish our mission and we are better able to solidify and present our plans for the benefit of future projects and partnerships.

Would you like to talk to us about your organization and it's projects? Please, contact us.