Learn how to get funding for your WhyTry program
It can be costly to hire a grant-writer, so many groups give the task to an individual or committee with little or no background in this specialized field. To help, we've assembled this list of resources, which include tutorials, sample Letters of Intent, model proposals, helpful tips, and insights from grant makers on what makes an application succeed.
The Foundation Center Members can search over a thousand leading foundations and quickly answer common question, like: number of grants awarded, range of dollar amounts, total budget, and deadline. The site allows a guided tour to see what you’d be getting with membership. Check if your local library has access to the site as a Cooperating Collection. This means individuals can access all Foundation Center information free of charge.
A Toolkit for Funding: This article from Connect for Kids includes useful information and links.
Association of Fundraising Professionals: Although some areas are available only to members, other parts of the site include useful information on grantwriting. There’s even a section devoted to ethics.
Basic Elements of Grant Writing This publication is a good introduction.
Chardon Press Books Provides publications and resources on fundraising and organizing social change. Includes the Grassroots Fundraising Journal.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy This “newspaper of the nonprofit world” contains useful information on fundraising and a Guide to Grants.
Examples of Grant Narratives Four examples from the University of Louisiana.
For Grant Writers A list of ten easy tips to follow when going for a grant, including such gems as “Follow its (the grant proposal) instructions obsessively.”
The Grantsmanship Center Covers all aspects of researching grants, writing proposals, and negotiating with funding sources.
Grant Makers Reveal Why Grant Proposals Get Rejected Read this article from the Chronicle of Philanthropy to find out the common reasons why so many proposals don't get funded.
Grant proposal writing A selection of articles and links to help you through the grant-writing processes. Having problems with your proposal? Consider this: “Grantseekers often confuse objectives with goals, which are conceptual and more abstract. . . . Objectives are the measurable outcomes of the program.” In other words, focus is the key.
Grant Writing Guides These guides contain samples of an inquiry letter, grant applications, RFPs, proposals budget, cover sheet and cover letter, and links to grant-making organizations.
Grant Writing Tutorial This tutorial is designed to support new and minority drug abuse researchers who are seeking Federal funding specifically from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Much of the information is also relevant for individuals writing funding applications to other Government agencies. The Tutorial will assist you in developing an outline of a grant application by asking you questions as you proceed.
Grantcraft Developed by the Ford Foundation, this site offers guides, videos, case studies and other tools, as well as insights and suggestions gathered from donors and grant makers.
GrantHelp This site provides the grant writer with tips, techniques, and books related to grant writing. You'll find some great tips, links and resources, funding news, a glossary, and an acronyms page. Best of all, there's a series of free grant writing lessons.
Grants and Grant Proposal Writing A guidebook on seeking external resources for research projects and crafting a grant proposal. Aimed at the academic community, but useful for non-academics as well.
Grassroots Fundraising Journal: 888-458-8588. This publication provides practical information on "funding the work of social justice and social change."
Locating and Writing Grants Specific information about grants and funding opportunities and resources to assist in writing grants and proposals.
Letter of Inquiry Many foundations ask potential grant recipients to submit inquiry letters. This site tells you what you need to include when preparing such letters, and provides some examples.
Mock Grant Writing Activity Here's a site where you can practice writing a grant proposal one step at a time. In each step, an actual grant proposal example is provided for you to compare against and find out how you are doing in the process. Also, you will have the chance to go back and check the relevant information needed on each step, as well as to review the important tips to help you enhance your proposal writing.
National Youth Development Information Center: This extensive website includes information on funds for youth-development programs, with links and listings of resources, including local, state and national foundations.
National 4-H Council: The National 4-H council offers grants for youth at the community, county and state levels. These grants seek to help young people take a leadership role in improving their communities. They design the project, write proposals, implement and evaluate the projects.
NIH Grant Writing Tips Sheets Guides and tip sheets for learning about and preparing NIH grant applications.
NIH Sample Grant Proposal Use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to download and view this fully annotated sample proposal
Proposal Enhancement Tools The exercises and questions in the seven worksheets that make up these Proposal Enhancement Tools from Purdue University are designed to help you effectively identify and describe the target audiences for your proposal, the anticipated impact of your efforts, and the measures you propose to evaluate your success. You will need the free Acrobat Reader to view, download and use these tools.
School Grants This site provides links to funding sources and grant preparation, including grant writing and budget preparation and is an extensive source of funding opportunities for education initiatives.
Teach Yourself to Be a Grant Writer Many small organizations cannot afford to hire a grant writer and the job is taken on by worthy souls already doing other work. In other words, you too can be a grant writer!
Templates for Grant Proposals Free templates and instructions for a letter of inquiry, proposal cover letter, grant proposal, and budget.
Using Hard and Soft Data to Build Strong Proposals Here you can find out how to use two different types of data in your proposals -- hard data, which are usually in the form of statistics, and soft data, which are often presented as quotes and anecdotes. Both types of data are often used in successful proposals.
What do Winning Proposals Have in Common? A listing of ten elements shared by winning proposals.
What Grantmakers Want Applicants to Know Here are 15 solid recommendations that will help you increase your chances of success in winning competitive grants.
WriteThinking: Grant Writing Jobs
Writing a Successful Grant Proposal The title of this website is "Grant Seeking in Minnesota," but everyone can benefit from the excellent information on the contents of a standard grant proposal.
Writing Your Proposal Budget Resources and information on budgeting, as well as links to sample grant budgets. |
