Grant Writing Tips - Writing A Winning Opening Statement

Last Wednesday marked the ending of a free grant writing course I had been facilitating over the past several weeks. It was a small group of women who either were involved with a nonprofit as a volunteer or were director's of nonprofits they had formed. Over the duration of the course, we discussed their missions and drafted their grant templates. Although some of the women had grant templates prior to the course, there were a few consistent areas in need of improvement. One particular area was the Organization Background statement.

Every grant template should include a description of the organization's background and history. This section should be 2-3 brief paragraphs and should emphasize the organization's capacity and strengths. At a minimum, this section should include:

• the organization's year of inception;
• the capacity of the board of directors;
• staff/volunteer/board experience and expertise;
• the mission (stated verbatim or summarized);
• a description of the target audience (i.e. ages, incomes, ethnicities, education, etc. as applicable); and
• # of individuals served and the outcomes achieved.

This section is the reader's first impression of your nonprofit and as such it should be strong and compelling. Some strategies I recommend include:

• describing the motivation, or the scenario around the nonprofit's founding;
• boasting past accomplishments and communicating competitive advantage; and
• using percentages and numbers and closing with a striking impact statement when discussing the target audience and outcomes.

These tips and strategies represent only a few that were provided during the course. They have been tested and proven to transform a good grant proposal into a great grant proposal. If your grant proposal template could benefit from these and more tips and strategies, schedule a One-on-One Grant Critique. We can get your proposal in tip-top shape so you can start WINNING grants!