Tips for Writing Grants
Some consider grant writing to be up there alongside brain surgery and rocket science – however, grant proposal writing is just a task that needs to be learned. It takes skill and careful planning in order to win your desired grant, but grants do get given out all the time -- so grant proposal writing is not impossible -- it just requires a little bit of thought (and diligence) on the part of you (the author).
Let me make myself clear -- the most important part of grant proposal writing is to read the guidelines provided by your funding agency. Once you’ve done this, everything else will fall in place -- and you can aim your grant proposal at what’s included in this article. Fail to know these basics – and your grant proposal is dead before it even comes alive.
Outline Your Case
The most important step to grant writing is to clearly a case outline why you deserve to have the money. You’ll be competing with other people for the grant money -- so this part better be good! Grant proposal writing depends heavily on this part, and many grants are lost on a poor case.
Check through your proposal to make sure that it provides a solution to an important problem, or at least what sounds like a sensible problem in your grant proposal. Someone who wants money to build a community center will get the money above your request for funds to build a conservatory, even if it will mean you can get a great tan. Be sensible about this -- good grant proposal writing requires that you have a good case, and that you make it sound even better on paper.
Have The Numbers Ready
When you begin grant proposal writing, have all the information you need ready in front of you. It will make a huge difference when you start writing, as you can drop in facts and figures as you need them. You will need to know the exact work that will be accomplished with your grant including the various costs associated, and also how your grant is going to help in the long term. Consideration of the short and long term is crucial in good grant proposal writing.
One of the problems you’re likely to come up against and need to consider during your grant proposal writing is that everyone competing for the funding will have equally good causes. You will need an idea that makes you stand out from the crowd.
Differentiating Your Grant Proposal
Do you have any current funding? If so, mention it during your grant proposal writing, as investors often feel their money is better spent if someone else is also helping the project along. Also, in today’s world, environmental considerations are important. Does your project make provision for environmental friendliness and if so, how? Finally, spelling and grammar can make a difference, particularly if you do it badly. There’ s really no excuse, and people think that if you do not bother to read your grant proposal through --then you really don’t deserve any money.
From here, you should be in a position to do some good grant proposal writing. It’s not as difficult as it may sound, but do put some time into it, and get as many people as possible to read through your proposal before you send it. If you follow the advice in this article --you should have no trouble in securing funding.
Happy grant writing!
Colleen Spiegel is the founder of Clean Fuel Cell Energy LCC, and author of "Designing and Building Fuel Cells" (McGraw-Hill, 2007), “PEM Fuel Cell Modeling and Simulation Using MATLAB” (Elsevier Science, 2008), and (coming soon) “The Brilliant Mind: Fuel Cell Experiments for a Bright Future” (The Brilliant Mind, 2008). You can get a free fuel cell ideas booklet filled with simple tips to help you build your own fuel cells, plus a free newsletter and many free articles simply by visiting: www.cleanfuelcellenergy.com
Colleen Spiegel
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