Grant Proposal: Program Description Assignment Instructions
Overview
The best way to learn the knowledge and skills of grant writing is to write a Grant Proposal. Each section of the grant proposal project will develop your knowledge, skills and techniques used in the preparation of professional grant proposals. A grant proposal must convincingly present and justify your ability to complete a project to a funding agency. Funding agencies also have very specific requirements in the application process. Each grant proposal project will introduce you to the sections most commonly required by a private funding agency.
Instructions
This section is often the bulk of a Grant Proposal and requires a great deal of thought, planning, and purposeful writing. The first step is to write a broad goal. Then write a series of objectives to solve “the problem” you identified in the “Statement of Need.” The objectives need to be chronologically ordered and specific. A combination of behavioral, performance, process, and product objectives are recommended.
Then from the project objectives, you need to identify and explain the tasks to fulfill the objectives. This will include a summary of day-to-day activities to implement your organization’s solution. Be sure your activity list is comprehensive. For example, if you plan to hire new staff, think through all the issues to get this process done (e.g., advertisement, interviews, background checks, references check, etc.) and the time it will take to complete the hiring process.
You also need to keep in mind two other issues. First, that your objectives are the items to be assessed in the evaluation component of the grant. Secondly, when you create your budget summary, the individual line items will reflect the costs associated with the activities that are fulfilling the objectives.
Don’t forget to use a timeline table in your Project Description. Whether it’s a Gantt chart or a similar table illustrated in the one of the textbooks, it serves a valuable function to the Grant Maker’s readers.
Lastly, address ways in which this project might be funded in the future once the grant money runs out. Think sustainability if applicable to this project.
To summarize, the following items should be included:
- Goal(s)
- 3-5 Objectives for each goal provided.
- List or summary of detailed tasks explaining how each objective will be reached.
- A Gantt chart or similar table showing when each task will be started and completed.
- Paragraph on the sustainability of the project if applicable.
Papers may be written in APA or AMA style. There is no page minimum or maximum for the project description.
