SUMMARY OF LESSON # 6 EPSY 5963 How do you write effective grant proposals?

? Grant proposals are written to convince grantmakers to hand over money to you. Before you write a word, create an outline that exactly follows the funders guidelines, questions, or selection criteria for the proposal. It is important to have all sorts of information about the organization including programs and target population, census data, historical facts, programs descriptions, performance statistics, demographic material and other stats on participants, articles and newsletters. When writing, it is imperative to use plain English in a way that your ideas are easy to follow by those who are reading the proposal. Formality and pretentiousness may hurt the writer in the long run. Statements need to be direct and to the point, avoid imprecise or insensitive terminology, and should portray the writer as a well-spoken role model. Do not use words that are perceived as clichs. Instead, search for words that allow the organizations or programs speak for themselves. Using the active voice allows writers to show their honesty and clarity when conveying ideas. Writers should keep their values judgments, controversial ideas, political views, and sense of humor out of the grant proposal. When too many modifiers are tacked on to a noun, verb, or phrase, the reader is likely to see them as just the opinion of the proposal writer rather than documented facts. Author states that adjectives can be effective if you do not scrimp on fleshing them out and explaining exactly why you have selected them. Stating the facts is a key to success when writing grants.

Very little of what one writes in a proposal is common knowledge. Grantmakers want to see backup information, proof that what you say is true. Stats from surveys are a good source to support every claim that is made by the person requesting a grant.

Miguel Llovera Da Corte