Organizing Your Thoughts to Write a Grant Application

Writing seems to be one of those difficult jobs for many people. Perhaps many people have an innate fear of expression, afraid that others will say negative things about their work. Be that as it may, this is a skill (or art form) which can most definitely be learned. Fortunately, classes in writing abound.

I learned to write on the job when I started working in the Salisbury, Maryland, Mayor’s office. Prior to that time, I had not done any significant writing with the exception of papers in high school and college. I do not remember feeling intimidated about having to write my first grant application. I just looked upon the exercise as simply answering a series of questions. Mentally, I just broke the application down into the relevant sections and only thought about one section at a time.

I still organize my thoughts in that fashion. In my opinion, this helps to alleviate the anxiety which is naturally associated with writing a request for funds or a book such as the one I authored on grant writing. Although it may seem intimidating to write a book, it was actually easier than I expected. The main reason for this is that I spent a significant amount of time in the beginning organizing the topics and the order in which they would be presented. Having this framework has proven invaluable.

The following steps should always be followed before beginning to write the proposal:

• Read the entire solicitation at least twice from beginning to end.
• Call or e-mail the contact listed in the solicitation in order to discuss the project and to make certain that it meets threshold requirements.
• Determine whether it is possible to gather the data and write the application by the deadline-the grant writer will need to consider his or her own schedule and pace of working as well as the availability of colleagues who will be involved in preparing the grant application.
• Determine the feasibility of obtaining statistical data to directly support the project.
• Determine the feasibility of obtaining supporting information from others.

How do you get organized to write an application?