Primer Worksheet for Grant Writing
The Needs Statement
Description: The Needs Statement makes clear what requires prompt attention before conditions worsen, provides an explanation as to why the problem or need exists, and identifies some of the strategies used in other settings that could potentially address the problem or need in your area.[i]
Checklist:
Have you carefully defined the problem, issue, or lack of service you plan to address?
Have you identified the target audience and/or geographic area that will benefit from the project?
Have you put a human face on your project using anecdotes and quotation?
Have you gathered relevant and meaningful data and statistics to help you make your case?
Have you outlined your main points with appropriate supporting evidence?
Have you demonstrated your knowledge of what others in your community are doing and how they are addressing the current need?
Have you clearly demonstrated the benefits of addressing the problem to all concerned—the participant, the participant’s family, the community?
Project Description
Description: The Project Description provides the solution to the needs you have established. It identifies the project’s goals and objectives and provides details about the implementation plan, including the timeline to complete project activities. This section has five main components: goals/objectives, program activities, staffing and administration, evaluation, and sustainability. (Evaluation and Sustainability have been discussed separately at the end of the document.)
Checklist:
Have you developed a succinct statement of your “theory of change,” or how proposed solutions will lead to the expected outcome?
What will be the goals and objectives from the program participants’ perspectives, both short- and long-term? How will the community benefit?
Are these objectives SMART?
What will keep this program from being successful? Is your organization prepared to deliver these services? Are there any barriers present that negatively impact your ability to deliver these services? Can you solve these problems? Would linkage to other partners address these barriers?
What major activities must be completed in order to implement the program?
Budget
Description: The budget is an accurate, detailed estimate of your project’s expenditures and includes a rationale or budget justification/narrative for the expenses. Typically, a line-item budget is employed, where each expenditure is itemized under its appropriate category.The items are usually relegated to three categories: personnel costs, operating expenses, and support and revenue.
Checklist:
Have you considered both human and monetary resources?
Are the resources adequate to achieve the desired outcomes?
What are the in-kind contributions, assets or strengths that your organization and partners bring to the table?
Evaluation
Description: This section explains the measurement procedures that will be used to determine if goals and objectives have been met.
Checklist:
Have you considered what you think success is and compared that to what the funder might consider success?
How will the results be measured? Have you stated whether you are using qualitative or quantitative measures—or both?
What are the evaluation methods—survey, tests, focus groups, interviews?
Who will conduct the evaluation—someone within your organization, an external consultant?
When will the evaluation be conducted—formative or summative?
Sustainability
Description: This section indicates the plan to continue the project beyond the funding period, if applicable.
Checklist:
What sources do you plan to approach for future program funding? If known, indicate approximate percentage anticipated from each source.
Have any of these sources committed to future funding?
Do you plan for the project to produce any earned income?
How much support, if any, will be provided through your organization’s and partners’ operating funds?
[i] Source: Coley, S.M., &Scheinberg, C.A. (2008).Proposal Writing: Effective Grantsmanship. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications.