They said yes!

Getting Started on the Full Proposal

What you’ve done so far:

Articulated your organization’s specific goal

Determined the amount of funding you seek

Determined the funding’s purpose

Generated a short list of potential grantmakers

Drafted a letter of intent to your premier funder

What’s next?

Assuming you get a thumbs up from your funder, it becomes time to construct the full grant proposal

Some foundations may have particular guidelines

Always access the foundation website to determine grant proposal guidelines

Major sections:

Executive Summary

Organization Description

Issue Description

Organization Preparedness

Project Plan

Project Budget

Proposal Summary

Additional Attachments if needed

The Proposal Narrative

The executive summary should be written last

Write the general proposal narrative to begin telling the story of your organization’s effort

Literary elements of the proposal introduction

Hook

Fundamentals

Hero(s)

Organization Credibility

Sense of Time and Place

The Hook

Following the summary, the first paragraph of the narrative is often the best indicator as to whether the trustees should continue reading the proposal

Hook the reader early with strong, gimmick-free prose.

Stay away from cute, clever, cliché lines

Deliver key information in short, declarative phrases

Example Hook

“During the first two weeks of the year, the San Francisco Bay Area faced a critical health care emergency. Blood Centers of the Pacific’s (BCP) inventory of blood had fallen alarmingly low. Blood donations typically drop during the holidays. This decrease, coupled with a nationwide blood shortage that prevented importing blood into the region, created a perilous situation. On January 5, BCP asked local hospitals to cancel and postpone surgeries due to the acute shortage of blood, specifically Type-O blood”

Different HookIt was a classic “sting” operation. Two undercover law enforcement officers arranged to meet a buyer. At the meeting, they show the buyer the booty they have harvested in the remote reaches of Northern California. Once the buyer pays for the contraband and places another order for more of the same, the two officer reveal their identities, make the arrest and seize key records that lead them to an extensive ring of deals.

 This is an all-too familiar scenario, but this “bust” is different. The harvest being offered for sale isn’t drugs, but animal parts. Bear paws and gall bladders.

Organization Description/Fundamentals

• After grabbing the reader’s attention with a hook, you must provide the funder with essential information.• What is your organization’s history and mission?• Who are your organization’s clients?• Where are they located/what are they like?• What are the characters involved in your story?• What are they like?

Describing your organization

Find ways to get grantmakers to identify with the characters in your story

Use strong descriptive writing to paint an image of your charactersUse active voice to position your subjectsUse verbs that highlight specific actions that relate to your characters

Example Organization Description

“Blood Centers of the Pacific (BCP) is committed to providing the San Francisco Bay Area with a safe, adequate supply of blood. BCP was established in December 1997 with the merger of Irwin Memorial Blood Centers and the Peninsula Blood Bank. Both of these institutions trace their origins to the 1940s, when each was formed as a community blood bank.

Last year BCP collected approximately 100,000 units of blood from qualified donors…”

Hero(s)

The hero in a grant proposal is the organization and the characters involved in making the organization possibleThe best way to establish the hero’s credibility is by demonstrating past achievementsUse organization achievements to demonstrate the characteristics of this heroOther Elements of Organization Credibility

Mention support from other fundersFoundations see diverse support as a sign of credibility

Other characters in your proposal

Bring in people who are dedicated to the organizationBring in characters who the organization has helpedConsider how non-humans become characters

Communities?Habitats?What else?

Sense of Time and Place

Your narrative will also require a sense of placeThink about how you developed a sense of place in your property description?

What did you do?Establish the geographical connection between your organization and the funder

Literary elements of the needs section (next week)

The story arcThe need for fundsThe antagonistThe back storyThe dataThe human face to the problemThe lead characters’ voices

Project TrajectoryWhat We’ve Covered

Choosing funders Letter of intent/inquiry Introduction Organization Description

What remains:Tuesday Issue Description Organization Preparedness Project Plan

Thursday Project Budget Proposal Summary Executive Summary