To be successful both in grant writing and any other funding process, your organization needs strategic planning before embarking on writing proposals.

‍What information should you gather before searching for, and writing grant applications?

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1. The Organization:

Every grant application you seek will ask for information about your organization; organizational type/impact of business/business registration number, etc., and questions about your operational cycle and organizational history.

Before you seek grants, take some time to respond to these questions:

• Why was your organization founded?
• What is the mission of your organization?
• Who does your organization help?
• What are the expected outcomes of your project(s)?
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2. The Program or Project:

While it is great your organization is excited about a new program or project, you need to take the time to develop your idea. Be deliberate about your plans or proposed project including the outcomes. Take time to think through the program and write up all the details.

• What exactly is the mission of this project?
• How many people are you hoping to reach?
• What are the goals and expected outcomes?
• How does this new program correspond with your organization’s mission?

3. The Budget:

In addition to planning out the program or project that you want to start, think about the budget. This will be an extremely important part of any grant application that you write, and funders want it to be detailed.

• How much will the program cost?
• How much will the individual pieces cost? (you will need to think about the cost of things to operate a successful project).

Your budget helps you keep in mind the amount required for expenses. Watch out for various costs of the equipment and necessities you need so you don’t overshoot your budget.

When talking about the budget on your grant application, you want to be as honest and transparent as possible. Don’t write a ridiculously high figure for things. Funders will check the market value for whatever you have written.

Also, when planning your budget, no matter the project or program, be mindful of “babbittry”. This simply means narrow-minded materialism.

1. Ask yourself what and why do I need to buy XYZ equipment?
2. Ask yourself why do I need to pay ABC for a service?

So be very mindful of your budget. You might be required to provide a detailed budget with tables, graphs, and other data. Most funders do a post-assessment and they want to know how or what or when the money they gave you was spent.

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