John Cunningham
HSM/270
Grant Proposal
The chance of whether a grant proposal is funded or not rest on 50% quality, 25% luck, and 25% connections. Quality proposal writing will put the proposal ahead of the crowd and make it competitive (p.18).
Funding agencies usually announce the availability of funding through the issuing of a Request for Proposal (RFP) or Request for Applications (RFA). A notice to the public will be distributed and followed by the release and availability of the RFA (p. 18).
A grant proposal for human services is a written presentation of a program plan. This plan details how the applicant will approach the identified needs or problem with their proposed course of actions. The narrative portion of a grant proposal includes the following major sections: Abstract, Table of contents, specific aims/background and significance/needs and problem statement, Target populations, Approaches and methods, Long- and short-term goals, Process, outcome, and impact objectives, Activity plans and scheduling (timeline), Evaluation plan, Agency capacity and project management, and Budget and budget justifications (p. 19).
Program planners and proposal writers can take advantage of the review comments to improve their program plans. If the program is not funded, the revised and improved version will be an improved and tested version that will have an increased chance for gaining funding support. Receiving rejection and resubmitting a program proposal is common practice in the human services (p. 43).
Grant writing is not only about writing, it involves good planning, organizing, integrating, evaluating, and most important critical thinking. The quality of the grant proposal is among the most important factors in funding decisions. Political economy and sheer luck, however, also have their shares in the making of the decisions (p. 43).
Practical Grant Writing and Program Evaluation, Yuen/Terao - © 2003