Grants are financial supports awarded for funding a specific facility or activity. For your grant proposal to be approved it has to be well researched, analyzed and include sufficient time to realize the plan. Grant proposal writing indeed requires facts and tons of researching.You have to make sure that you come up with a cohesive and concise proposal that will convince the entire committee.

Grant Proposal Must Haves

A successful proposal is something that is carefully planned, well organized and concise. A proposal summary usually appears at the start of the proposal and gives an overview of the whole project. The summary should be brief and should have the major key points of the whole project. Be sure to include objective as well on the front page. This summarizes your goals and what you have to achieve at the end of the project.

It is also important that you include a brief history and introduction of your organization. You may include your goals, philosophy and brief biographies of board members.

Be sure to include a project method and design that is outlined clearly. Proposals should show how your organization will impact the society as a result of the funding. The Proposal budget should be very specific and must be in detail. There can be budget forms that you will have to follow depending on the Federal agency's request.

Writing Tips

Whether you are looking for a small business grant or any other type of grant, these writing tips will surely come in handy for you.

• Be sure to use a good font that can easily be read by the agency. Arial (11-12 pt) is usually recommended.
• Carefully read and study the instructions for writing a grant and strictly follow it.
• Start writing your proposal 3 to 4 months prior to submission. You may use the last month to polish everything and make small revisions. Never do it in haste.
• Provide figures and tables that are easily understood. You may include legends and short citations.
• Write a crystal clear hypothesis. Make sure that you point out specific aims.
• For every aim, you may allot a section in an experimental design that will talk about strategies and ideas that will test your hypothesis.
• Make sure that your work went through a good proofreading. Review your proposal over and over again. Check for typographical, spelling and grammatical errors.  You may also spot factual errors as you read along. Have a family member, relative, colleague, or a professor of yours to read your proposal and get their opinions for improvement.
• When writing the narrative, answer the following questions: What does the organization want? What concerns are going to be addressed and why do you think it is vital that it gets addressed accordingly? Who will benefit the whole project and in how will it benefit the people? What are the specific objectives of the whole campaign and how is it implemented? How will the grant request relate to your organization's objectives?