steps Books have been written about it. Whole educational courses have been devoted to it. Websites are dedicated to it. But the whole grant writing process can truly be broken down into just five simple steps. If you’ve been searching high and low for a shortcut to “demystify” the way grants are written and are dying to know how organizations just like yours have been accessing grant money for years, I have a surprise - you have finally come to the right place!

As a child, when asked what he or she wants to be when they grow up, does anyone amongst the girls who want to be princesses or the boys who want to be superheroes ever actually pipe up with “I want to be a grant writer when I grow up!”? Of course not, but as we get older and become more aware of the suffering world around us, we realize that it takes money to enact change. So we’ve held fun special events such as rock-a-thon’s, written heartfelt direct mail appeals to potential donors and have even asked Board members and volunteers for major gifts. Yet there’s still some stigma attached to grant writing that gives pause.

I hear such “reasons” on a regular basis – “I don’t understand how it works,” “I’ve heard that it can take months and months to complete an application,” “our organization is too small,” “we don’t know anyone on any foundation boards,” and, my fave “I just don’t have time.”

Before I share that 5-step process with you, I want to give you some examples of nonprofits that did take the time to write grants on behalf of their organization and were mighty glad that they did. Here’s what they won and how the money helped benefit the community around them:

$600,000 for a small, rural hospital to implement a county-wide school nursing program
$100,000 for a fatherhood initiative program to reunite fathers with their children
$75,000 for a cancer patient wellness program to provide medications and transportation to chemotherapy and radiation
$30,000 for an inner-city ballet program that allowed children to participate in world-class instruction and perform in the ballet company’s recitals

Have I gotten your attention? Well, okay, I’m finally going to share with you what you’ve been shying away from lo these many years. Are you ready?

Identify which of your programs need funding
Find suitable, potential funders
Acquire grant funder’s guidelines
Write the application
Submit the application

Yep, that’s it. That’s what all the fuss is about. It’s why books are written, courses are taught on it and websites are found on it. It is worth your time investment to find out more. It’s not hard – you just build on those five steps and then watch as one day you grow up to be the grant writer you never knew you wanted to be.

Write grants like the pros! Download your free copy of “60 Insider Grant Writing Secrets.”

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SO simple!
written by Sandy Rees, August 15, 2011

What I love about your 5 steps Betsy, is that they are so simple! You've taken a subject that could have been very complicated and boiled it down to an easy, manageable process that people can be successful with! Kudos!

Sandy Rees
Fundraising Coach

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Founder, Miner and Associates, Inc.
written by Lynn Miner, August 12, 2011

Agree these five steps are valuable in developing proposals. Recognize, however, that each step has many foundational elements support it. For example, in Step 3, Acquire grant funder’s guidelines, you also want to get a copy of the reviewer's evaluation form, which doesn't always match the guidelines. In those cases, deviate from the guidelines without guilt and structure your proposal in the same sequence as the reviewer's evaluation form.

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Start to Finish Grant Writing
written by Thomas Galyean, August 11, 2011

I would like to add anothe important step in finding success in the grant writing process. I urge everyone to contact the funder before taking the time to submit a full funding application. Typically, the progarm officers will give you great insights about their most current interests, and provide assistance that may include reviewing and providing comments about a final draft before a proposal is submitted. Taking the time to reach out and get to know the people who are reading your grant proposals will greatly enhance your chances of success, and such work will permit you to building long-term and meaningful relationships with program officers at corporations and foundations.