Are you tired of garnering ‘rejection mails’ from funders?

We understand your pain.

Getting rejection mails from funders can be discouraging, depressing, and heart-rendering. With the stress of putting together a winning grant, the long hours invested, and the endless wait after, losing grants can depress even the strongest of men.

Before you beat yourself up, note this: grant seeking is notoriously competitive.  With some international grants having less than 1% winners out of the total applicants, you have more chances of losing a grant than winning one.  

Here are the top 7 reasons grant proposals are rejected and battle-tested tips to increase your winning chances:

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1. Your organization’s focus does not align with the donor’s priority:

Alignment is a significant factor you should consider when writing a grant. If your work is not aligned with the donor’s interest, your chances of winning the grant are zilch. For instance, you cannot seek support for a male-led organization where the funder wants to fund only female-led organizations.

Tip: Research your donor before applying. Find out their interests and the past winners of their grant.

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2. Your proposal doesn’t seem to have an impact:

You can have the most innovative ideas in the world, but if you cannot clearly show their impact and urgency, you will not win grants. Remember, funders have thousands of grant proposals to review and seek the most impactful ones. So, your proposal must be impactful.

Tip: State your project’s impact clearly. Show how your project will impact lives.

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3. Your proposal is poorly written and difficult to understand:

A poorly written proposal is a disaster waiting to happen. Using high-sounding terms is a no-no. Grants go through multiple stages of reviews, and reviewers may not be very familiar with your field at a certain stage. Reviewers expect to get an ‘easy peasy’ proposal that states the need, solution, project, and process, among others. So, ditch the big grammar and incorporate research, case studies, stories, and analogies. Make your proposal easy to understand.

Tip: Have a skilled writer work on your grant proposal. Hire the top 5% grant writers here.

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4. There is insufficient evidence that your program will become self-sufficient after the grant cycle:

Besides doling out grant funding, grant funders are concerned about the sustainability of your project. No funder wants to fund you forever. Instead, they want to support grants that can become self-sufficient after the grant cycle. So, if you cannot provide enough evidence of the sustainability of the grant, you are not likely to win.

Tip: Add a section to the proposal on plans for sufficiency and develop a long-term strategy.

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5. The funder isn’t sure of your credibility:

Giving out grants is a function of trust in one’s ability. So, if the funder doesn’t trust your ability to deliver, you have little or no chances of winning the grant.

Tip: Show your antecedents. Get letters of recommendation from recognized people and institutions. Showcase the skillset and expertise of your key people.

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6. The funder has allocated all the money for the grant cycle:

Sometimes, funders run out of funds. Remember the economics maxim - ‘human needs are insatiable,  while the resources to satisfy them are limited.’

Tip: Don’t take this personally -it’s a fact of life. Try the next available grant cycle.

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7. Your grant didn’t meet the deadline for submission:

When it comes to grant writing, deadlines are critical. If you don’t meet the deadline, you significantly reduce your chances of winning grants.

Tip: Ensure that you commence your writing process earlier. Gather all the information you need ASAP. If you’re overwhelmed with the grant writing process, get help here

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