How to … Write Eye-Catching Grant Proposals
by Tom Durso on February 4th, 2008
Last month the Nonprofit Center at La Salle University brought together a handful of funders for a panel discussion of tips and trends. Representatives of dozens of nonprofits packed a meeting room in the basement of PECO Energy’s Center City Philadelphia headquarters to listen in, and the Center was kind enough to grant me a spot to cover the chat. (My first dispatch from the symposium was about pitching for corporate funding.) Among the topics the speakers addressed was how to write a funding proposal that, as Nonprofit Center head Laura Otten put it, “sings”:
- Emphasize your proposal’s fit with the funding organization. The folks with the scratch aren’t as interested in how “good” you are as in how what you want to do connects with their overall strategic goals.
- Specify the resources you have that will enable you to carry out the project for which you seek funding.
- Do your homework and fire your rifle, not your shotgun. Send your pitches to the appropriate foundation, relate them to the interests of the donors, and find the best match between what you do and what the funder seeks to accomplish.
- Invite funders to your site to check things out for themselves.
- Be specific in whom you’re addressing your proposal to.
- Be brief and be clear.
“How to …” appears Mondays at the 501(c) Files. | 501(c)
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POSTED IN: Foundations, Fundraising, Strategy
1 opinion for How to … Write Eye-Catching Grant Proposals
Joan
Feb 8, 2008 at 4:46 pm
If you missed this “meet the funders” panel and want it to run again, share that with the staff of The Nonprofit Center at La Salle University:
215-951-1701 or nonprofitcenter@lasalle.edu
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