A strong grant application is part storytelling and part discipline: you have to make a funder believe in your mission and prove you'll spend their money exactly as promised.
This guide gives you the practical tips, a proposal format many institutional funders accept, and a starting list of funders to research.
Working on a proposal now? Use the Grant Research and Proposal Template to organize your funder research and draft.
Tips That Win Grants
- Start early, and read the guidelines, then follow them exactly.
- Know the funder: match your project to their published priorities before you write a word.
- Make the summary stellar; many reviewers decide there.
- State plainly why this funder should support this request, ask for a specific amount, and detail how you'll use it.
- Write in clear, active sentences and mirror the funder's own language.
- Share your evaluation plan and KPIs, and answer every question explicitly.
- Have one or two other people review before you submit.
Building the Budget
- Start from the RFP rubric and follow the funder's budget categories.
- Every cost must be necessary, reasonable, allowable, and allocable; you and the funder are both accountable for how the money is spent.
- Use tables for multi-year grants (easier for reviewers), round your numbers, and get vendor quotes for big line items.
- Make sure the math balances and the budget narrative matches the project narrative. Have someone else check it.
A Proposal Format Funders Accept
Many institutional funders accept a common application structure. Prepare it as its own document, in this order:
- General information (legal name, purpose in one sentence, 501(c)(3) status, amounts and dates).
- Proposal summary (half a page): your purpose, why you're requesting the grant, the outcomes, and how you'll spend it.
- Narrative (about five pages): Background (history, mission, the need you address, who you serve, current programs, staffing, and how you differ from similar organizations); Funding request (the program or project, its purpose, the population served, your strategy, staffing, timeline, and how it serves your mission); and Evaluation (how you'll measure effectiveness and the results you expect).
- Attachments: most recent financial statement (audited if available), operating budgets, list of supporters and income sources, pending requests, a project budget if applicable, board list, IRS tax-exempt letter, one-paragraph staff resumes, and your most recent annual report.
Where to Find Funders
This list is a starting point; research funders active in your region and cause at Candid (formerly the Foundation Center). A few funders that support social entrepreneurship: Acumen, Ashoka, Blue Ridge Labs (Robin Hood), Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, Calvert Impact, Echoing Green, Gray Matters Capital, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, New Profit, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, Skoll Foundation, RSF Social Finance, Surdna Foundation, and Uncharted.
For more on getting your financial story straight before you fundraise, start with our fundraising guide.