Grants are usually complicated to win, mostly because it’s quite challenging to prove that the entity that requests it isn’t the sole beneficiary of the project.
Offering a grant is a massive leap of faith, but at the same time, it must be based on an in-depth analysis of all the factors. To get the necessary funds, you need to send an excellent grant proposal, and the best way to craft it is with a great grant proposal template.
Since this is one of the more challenging persuasive documents you may ever write, a grant proposal sample can give you a good starting point.
What Is a Grant Proposal?
When you need to convince an institution to give you the funds your project needs, you send a grant proposal. Whether you are dealing with the government or a private foundation, the process is basically the same.
You must draft a document that proves beyond doubt that granting you the funding will lead to tremendous benefits for a great cause. Since grants are usually needed for products and ideas that won’t bring immediate material profit, you need to include particularly persuasive information.
What Is the Difference Between a Grant Proposal and a Grant Letter?
A full grant proposal is a long and complex document that presents all the vital information connected to the project and explains every crucial aspect. It has a standard form, which is why using a grant proposal template is advisable.
That way, all the essential elements will be included. Since grants, in general, are hard to win, this document will have to be as close to perfection as possible.
A grant letter, on the other side, is a shorter document that serves the same purpose as the grant proposal. They are very similar, except for the length, so people are sometimes confused about the difference.
In some cases, the foundation that is supposed to offer the funding wants a shorter document that still conveys the essential aspects, but is more comfortable to go through.
What to Include in a Grant Proposal?
The main thing a grant proposal must achieve is to clearly show that the project you need funding for will bring a significant positive change. That’s why the grantee needs to plan each stage of the proposal carefully, and the best way to do that is with a grant template.
These are the sections every grant proposal must include:
- The cover letter must be tailored around two things: the institution that provides the funds and the objective of your project; it must give the relevant information, without many details; it’s more of an introduction.
- The executive summary has to give a little extra information, but it shouldn’t be longer than a page.
- The statement of need is the stage where you underline the problem that your project is going to solve, and why it’s essential that you get to complete it.
- The general and specific objectives should include milestones to better explain what you plan to achieve.
- Your strategy needs to explain precisely how you are going to reach the goals you have set.
- Evaluation plan – that’s the section where you explain how you are going to self-evaluate the progress of your project and the level of accountability you will assume.
- The budget is crucial, and every expense needs to be explained.
- A presentation of your organization, providing sufficient background to paint a relevant picture
Conclusion
Grant proposals need to be particularly well drafted and professionally-looking to convince the reader to give you the funds you need. Not only do you need an excellent and useful project, but you must also know how to present it.
A grant proposal template is the best way to start drafting your document, and the one CocoSign has created is extremely efficient, just like all the other proposal templates they offer.