Grantwriting Tip: Cast Your Agency as a Hero, Not a Superhero

More accolades for Cheryl A. Clarke today! This is a great excerpt from her book, Storytelling for Grantseekers. I am skimming the pages again to inspire me to write a multi-layered grant request for a rare form of pediatric cancer. The book is candid, funny and energizes my creativity even when tackling a tough subject matter. Enjoy!

"When writing the goals and objectives section of a foundation grant proposal, grant seekers are like sci-fi writers. They envision the future. Of course, there is one critical difference: whereas sci-fi writers generally present fantasy, grant seekers discuss what is realistic and feasible.

To understand this concept, it may help to think in visual terms. Take a mental snapshot of the community where your nonprofit agency does its work today, at this very moment. What is the problem of unmet need that your agency addresses? Who are the people served by your agency? What more could your agency do if it had additional funds?

Now imagine taking a second mental photograph of the same community at the end of the projected grant period. Compare it with the earlier snapshot. What’s different? How has the need been met? How have the clients been served? Most important, how have the lives of your agency’s clients been positively changed? You should “see” a noticeable difference between these two mental snapshots.

How the community and your story’s main characters (your agency’s clients) will have changed is portrayed in the goals and objectives section of a grant proposal. The challenge in writing this portion of the proposal story is to vividly and accurately describe to the reader what can be seen in the two mental photographs just mentioned. The change that occurs helps resolve the conflict (the problem or need).

Readers appreciate a story that has a believable, satisfying resolution. Program officers and others reviewing grant proposals do too. The validity of your request for grant funding hinges on whether the resolution of the conflict rings true. If it doesn’t, no matter how well the story is written or told, it falls flat and short of the mark."

Want to know how to be a hero? Click here.

Thanks, Cheryl A. Clarke!

~Cheers!