Printer FriendlyHow do you find out about available funds for your project? One way funders let you know is they create a "Request for Proposal" (RFP). Please see tip sheet How to Search for Grants on the Internet for ideas on finding RFPs. The RFP provides all the information you need to put together a complete proposal. What is important is to organize all the information they ask for in a clear and practical way. To do so, read carefully all the RFP, then make a summary of what you learned from it. You may use a Prospect Worksheet like the one provided by The Foundation Center.
A good method to read and organize all the different information provided by an RFP is grouping the similar ones together. You should start looking at:
Restrictions & Deadlines
Check the funder's geographic restrictions and the types of recipients not accepted to make sure you can apply.
Areas of Interests/Types of Grants, Total Assets, Total Grants Paid, Grants Ranges/Previously Awarded Grants/(Foundation's history, philosophy and mission)
Write down an outline of your idea, and compare it with both the funder's area of interests AND the previously awarded projects. This will allow you to make sure that your idea matches the funder's requirements. For instance, a funder may say its interest is the 'environment', but checking the projects funded in the past you might find out that actually these projects addressed only oceans. The financial information is useful to determine whether you are asking too much or too little. Usually it is unlikely that a grantseeker will receive an unusual amount of money. Personally, I find it useful to take some time to read about the funder's history, philosophy and mission. It can give you some additional hints about the funder's priorities. Also, pay attention and highlight any specific terms, words, or definitions that you may find recurring in the area of interest, or in the funder's mission, and try to include them in your proposal narrative.
Application Information - Guidelines, Review & Selection Process
This section is vital because in it not only you find out what you need to do and how, but also what you must not do, like including any material that is not required or explicitly forbidden. Some funders require an initial letter of inquiry rather than a formal proposal, others don't. Some have a standard, detailed application form; other might just list the information you need to provide. Sort all the different information that you must gather into two categories: what you already have (your organization's mission, or the list of the staff members, etc.), and what you must prepare. Then, compare the amount of work you have to do with the amount of time you have (so go back to the deadlines). Knowing the review and selection process you may learn how much important is each component of the proposal (some funders allocate a certain amount of points to the various parts). If you need any clarifications, go to:
- Staff, Board Members, Contact Person. This section is useful for: learning who you can contact in order to get any clarifications about the requirements, and, if you happen to know somebody in the staff or in the board, to get a better idea about the interests and priorities of the funder.
- Feedback/follow-up & Grantee responsibilities. Some funders respond to provide you a feedback if you are not funded. Others don't; but it is good to ask for a feedback in this latter case. It is useful to know what kinds of mistakes you did, in order to avoid them in the future. In case you get funded, you have to meet some requirements that it is useful to know in advance (e.g., the funds must be spent within a specified time frame).
by Manuela Ivaldi
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