Government grants and endowments from institutional sources offer significant funding opportunities for nonprofits. Securing these types of awards typically requires NFPs to write and submit formal proposals. Use the following tips to improve proposal writing by your nonprofit.

Start Early

It takes some time to write a great proposal. Typically, applicants must gather data and other types of information from multiple sources. You will also need time to contact public officials and other key influencers and ask them to write letters of support for your organisation, as well as to get your authorising officer to approve it before it is submitted. That’s why it’s best to start the process at least several weeks in advance of the due date. That way, you have plenty of time to get together everything that you need to send in a detailed, and complete proposal.

Make Sure Your NFP Meets the Qualifications Before You Apply

Many times, grants and other public funds come with stipulations on how the monies can be used. Typically, there will also be other conditions that a specific nonprofit must meet to be considered, and ultimately awarded, a grant.

Before you apply for specific grants, take the time to read through the qualifications, stipulations and other requirements. Make sure that your nonprofit qualifies before you apply, and that the conditions of the grant, such as specific services that you will be required to spend the monies on, are all in alignment with your NFP’s core mission and goals.

If you are unsure if your nonprofit qualifies, or if you have other questions about the application process, most grants have an awards officer or other contact person that you can query before you submit your nonprofit’s proposal.

Start Off with a Winning Executive Summary

In this section, you will sum up the more detailed information and stories that will be contained in the main body of your proposal. It’s helpful to think of this section as the major “pitch” to the awards committee as it lets them know who your NFP is, why your work matters, and why they should choose to fund your work.

In this section, include information about your NFP’s leadership, and the history of your organisation. Explain what’s unique about your NFP, along with information that details just what it is that your NFP does and how it helps your service population. Include information about awards and news coverage of your NFP, along with some of your success stories.

Tell Your Nonprofit’s Story, but Back Up Your Claims with Objective Evidence

Think of this next section as the main body of your proposal. It should expand on the information contained in the executive summary.  As in any other fundraising endeavour, telling compelling stories is a must to securing an award. You do however want to include how the grant will help your nonprofit reach specific goals, along with the benchmarks that you will use to help you measure your organisation’s progress.

Focus on outcomes in this section of your proposal and explain who will really benefit in your community if your NFP secures the award. Include letters of support from others in your community, along with anecdotes that show the human-interest side of your work.

Take a little time to research other organisation that are likely to apply for the award and provide information that shows why your nonprofit might be a better fit for this particular award than similar NFPs.

Ideally, you want the awards committee or another reviewer to be able to see exactly what funding your project will accomplish. Include pictures, diagrams, maps and other visual aids that will help you show the impact that will be made if you receive the funding.

Other items to include in this section include case studies, statistics and other research that back up your claims and illustrate just what’s at stake.

Include a Detailed Budget

Make sure that your proposal includes a complete, itemised list of everything that your project needs to be successful, along with a detailed breakdown of the costs of each item. As much as possible, seek out local suppliers and contractors to perform the work and provide materials and note these in your budget.

Awards committees look for signs that the award will truly benefit your community, and that the community at large is involved. Using local sources of materials and labour can make the difference if your NFP is on the short list of funding candidates and can illustrate a more significant impact on your local community.

Don’t Forget to Customise Each Proposal

Many awards require similar information, and so NFPs often create a template that they use to help speed the process of applying for grants. If you are using a template, always take the time to go back and customise each proposal to ensure that you haven’t missed any of the conditions for meeting each grant’s specific requirements.

Proofread and Seek Feedback

Have someone proofread your proposal to ensure it is grammatically correct, and that you’ve not made any noticeable typos or other errors before you submit it. It’s also a good idea to recruit a couple of beta readers that don’t know the ins and outs of your organisation and what it does. Ask them to read over your proposal to see if they can understand what your NFP is all about and why the committee or awards officer should select your nonprofit for this award. If they don’t understand why funding your NFP’s proposal is important after they read it, the chances are great that the awards committee won’t either.

One Final Check

Just before you submit the proposal, do one final check to ensure that you’ve followed all of the guidelines for submitting it correctly. For example, if the grant specifies how many copies of your proposal to send, or days not to staple your pages together, then make sure that you’ve followed all of the instructions and guidelines to the letter so that it isn’t rejected unread!