Have you received a negative response after sending your grant proposal? If yes, you might have asked yourself, “What went wrong?” Chance is your grant proposal lacks the basic grant writing “must dos”. Note that it takes time, related skills, and effort to write effective grant proposals. But striving to follow grant guidelines and submit a strong application is essential to get the funds you need. Thus, Allied Writers shares a list of grant writing mistakes you should avoid to get successful results.
Writing grant proposals is a difficult task even to skilled grant writers. Most proposals never get fair consideration because of minor errors. Expert editing services, however, can help you produce a well-written, error-free grant proposal. To help you, here are 10 grant writing mistakes you should avoid during the process.
10 Common Grant Writing Mistakes to Avoid to a Successful Grant Proposal
Failure to introduce yourself
State the goals of your organization. Don’t assume that the funder knows everything on your group, the needs of the community you serve, and how your program will promote the funder’s own mission.
The problem and narrative is unclear
This issue occurs when the proposal lacks research and preparation. To discuss your problem with clarity, perform a needs assessment. This will provide the needed data to help shape your proposal. Focusing more on deadlines over quality is a grant proposal wrecker. Your framework needs to present a concise and consistent agenda. Thus, avoid unnecessary bluffs and direct your potential funder to the problem. But don’t dwell too much on it. Make sure also to show your potential funder your step-by-step actions to address the problem. This gives your funder a better perspective of your goal.
Objectives are not well defined
This is one of the common grant writing mistakes most organizations commit. Unclear project objective is one of the main reasons grant proposals fail. A well-written proposal needs to have a clear goal and a focused plan to meet said goal. It must provide requirements, information about the budget, details of the program needs, and time required to finish the project.
Not following simple instructions
The biggest mistake in grant writing is not following directions. Government agencies, corporations, and foundations receive a lot of grant proposals every day, and the first ones they weed out are those who disregard rules. Ignoring instructions guarantees a rejection.
Lack of evaluation
No funder will provide grants to organizations unsure if they’ll succeed or not. Make sure your evaluation meets the individual funder’s requirements by following through on your project.
Incomplete or missing answers to application questions
Although it’s hard to imagine submitting an unfinished proposal, it’s a common problem. If you haven’t answered what the grantor asks or wants to know on your project, your application won’t move to the next level. The grantor may remove your proposal immediately from the competition without even reviewing the entire document. To avoid this fault, review funding guidelines.
Unexplained key staff responsibilities and commitment to the project
Each grant program asks for details on key personnel and their tasks. Thus, including a brief yet strong account of each key staff and his/her contribution is a plus. This gives your potential funder a more detailed perspective of your commitment to addressing the problem.
Use of abbreviations, buzzwords, and/or jargons
While they may seem common because you use them every day, few foreign reviewers may lessen your success rate. To avoid this slip, ask a learned but not-in-your-field person to review your narrative. In addition, always write the full meaning of each acronym to shun this blunder.
Unsupported budget, unexplained items, and/or inaccurate or inflated costs
Presentation of budget plans is exhausting for most grant writers and researchers, especially when the project lacks specific timeline and objectives. Thus, it’s best to inquire and list the cost of each supply and explain the use of each.
Unaddressed “so what” question
At the start of the narrative, show grantors why they should fund your project. By answering “so what” questions, you’re speaking of the worth of your request. Your proposal may be practical and perfect and involves an all-star team. Yet, if reviewers can’t see its impact, you still risk your chances of getting funds.
This list of grant writing mistakes aims to help you avoid slipping your chance in getting a fund. When writing proposals, prepare, research, write, review, edit, and review your paper again. The perfect grant proposal lies to how you present your goals. Perhaps, even the perfect grant writing proposal can fail due to various aspects. Outside factors can hinder your chance of winning the fund. However, shaping your schemes free from this grant writing mistakes is a plus.
If you can’t find the time to write your grant proposal or need a hand, Allied Writers got your back. Our team writes winning grant proposals and knows how to avoid the common and the not-so-common slips in writing one. Check out this page for more details.
Sources: | indiana.edu | thebalance.com | schoolsplus.org.au | nimh.nih.gov | chronicle.com | thebalancesmb.com | forbes.com |