research proposal grant example

Grant Proposals (or Give me the money!)

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you write and revise grant proposals for research funding in all academic disciplines (sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts). It’s targeted primarily to graduate students and faculty, although it will also be helpful to undergraduate students who are seeking funding for research (e.g. for a senior thesis).

The grant writing process

A grant proposal or application is a document or set of documents that is submitted to an organization with the explicit intent of securing funding for a research project. Grant writing varies widely across the disciplines, and research intended for epistemological purposes (philosophy or the arts) rests on very different assumptions than research intended for practical applications (medicine or social policy research). Nonetheless, this handout attempts to provide a general introduction to grant writing across the disciplines.

Before you begin writing your proposal, you need to know what kind of research you will be doing and why. You may have a topic or experiment in mind, but taking the time to define what your ultimate purpose is can be essential to convincing others to fund that project. Although some scholars in the humanities and arts may not have thought about their projects in terms of research design, hypotheses, research questions, or results, reviewers and funding agencies expect you to frame your project in these terms. You may also find that thinking about your project in these terms reveals new aspects of it to you.

Writing successful grant applications is a long process that begins with an idea. Although many people think of grant writing as a linear process (from idea to proposal to award), it is a circular process. Many people start by defining their research question or questions. What knowledge or information will be gained as a direct result of your project? Why is undertaking your research important in a broader sense? You will need to explicitly communicate this purpose to the committee reviewing your application. This is easier when you know what you plan to achieve before you begin the writing process.

Diagram 1 below provides an overview of the grant writing process and may help you plan your proposal development.

Applicants must write grant proposals, submit them, receive notice of acceptance or rejection, and then revise their proposals. Unsuccessful grant applicants must revise and resubmit their proposals during the next funding cycle. Successful grant applications and the resulting research lead to ideas for further research and new grant proposals.

Cultivating an ongoing, positive relationship with funding agencies may lead to additional grants down the road. Thus, make sure you file progress reports and final reports in a timely and professional manner. Although some successful grant applicants may fear that funding agencies will reject future proposals because they’ve already received “enough” funding, the truth is that money follows money. Individuals or projects awarded grants in the past are more competitive and thus more likely to receive funding in the future.

Some general tips

• Begin early.
• Apply early and often.
• Don’t forget to include a cover letter with your application.
• Answer all questions. (Pre-empt all unstated questions.)
• If rejected, revise your proposal and apply again.
• Give them what they want. Follow the application guidelines exactly.
• Be explicit and specific.
• Be realistic in designing the project.
• Make explicit the connections between your research questions and objectives, your objectives and methods, your methods and results, and your results and dissemination plan.
• Follow the application guidelines exactly. (We have repeated this tip because it is very, very important.)

Before you start writing

Identify your needs and focus.

First, identify your needs. Answering the following questions may help you:

• Are you undertaking preliminary or pilot research in order to develop a full-blown research agenda?
• Are you seeking funding for dissertation research? Pre-dissertation research? Postdoctoral research? Archival research? Experimental research? Fieldwork?
• Are you seeking a stipend so that you can write a dissertation or book? Polish a manuscript?
• Do you want a fellowship in residence at an institution that will offer some programmatic support or other resources to enhance your project?
• Do you want funding for a large research project that will last for several years and involve multiple staff members?

Next, think about the focus of your research/project. Answering the following questions may help you narrow it down:

• What is the topic? Why is this topic important?
• What are the research questions that you’re trying to answer? What relevance do your research questions have?
• What are your hypotheses?
• What are your research methods?
• Why is your research/project important? What is its significance?
• Do you plan on using quantitative methods? Qualitative methods? Both?
• Will you be undertaking experimental research? Clinical research?

Once you have identified your needs and focus, you can begin looking for prospective grants and funding agencies.

Finding prospective grants and funding agencies

Whether your proposal receives funding will rely in large part on whether your purpose and goals closely match the priorities of granting agencies. Locating possible grantors is a time consuming task, but in the long run it will yield the greatest benefits. Even if you have the most appealing research proposal in the world, if you don’t send it to the right institutions, then you’re unlikely to receive funding.

There are many sources of information about granting agencies and grant programs. Most universities and many schools within universities have Offices of Research, whose primary purpose is to support faculty and students in grant-seeking endeavors. These offices usually have libraries or resource centers to help people find prospective grants.

At UNC, the Research at Carolina office coordinates research support.

The Funding Information Portal offers a collection of databases and proposal development guidance.

The UNC School of Medicine and School of Public Health each have their own Office of Research.

Writing your proposal

The majority of grant programs recruit academic reviewers with knowledge of the disciplines and/or program areas of the grant. Thus, when writing your grant proposals, assume that you are addressing a colleague who is knowledgeable in the general area, but who does not necessarily know the details about your research questions.

Remember that most readers are lazy and will not respond well to a poorly organized, poorly written, or confusing proposal. Be sure to give readers what they want. Follow all the guidelines for the particular grant you are applying for. This may require you to reframe your project in a different light or language. Reframing your project to fit a specific grant’s requirements is a legitimate and necessary part of the process unless it will fundamentally change your project’s goals or outcomes.

Final decisions about which proposals are funded often come down to whether the proposal convinces the reviewer that the research project is well planned and feasible and whether the investigators are well qualified to execute it. Throughout the proposal, be as explicit as possible. Predict the questions that the reviewer may have and answer them. Przeworski and Salomon (1995) note that reviewers read with three questions in mind:

• What are we going to learn as a result of the proposed project that we do not know now? (goals, aims, and outcomes)
• Why is it worth knowing? (significance)
• How will we know that the conclusions are valid? (criteria for success) (2)

Be sure to answer these questions in your proposal. Keep in mind that reviewers may not read every word of your proposal. Your reviewer may only read the abstract, the sections on research design and methodology, the vitae, and the budget. Make these sections as clear and straightforward as possible.

The way you write your grant will tell the reviewers a lot about you (Reif-Lehrer 82). From reading your proposal, the reviewers will form an idea of who you are as a scholar, a researcher, and a person. They will decide whether you are creative, logical, analytical, up-to-date in the relevant literature of the field, and, most importantly, capable of executing the proposed project. Allow your discipline and its conventions to determine the general style of your writing, but allow your own voice and personality to come through. Be sure to clarify your project’s theoretical orientation.

Develop a general proposal and budget

Because most proposal writers seek funding from several different agencies or granting programs, it is a good idea to begin by developing a general grant proposal and budget. This general proposal is sometimes called a “white paper.” Your general proposal should explain your project to a general academic audience. Before you submit proposals to different grant programs, you will tailor a specific proposal to their guidelines and priorities.

Organizing your proposal

Although each funding agency will have its own (usually very specific) requirements, there are several elements of a proposal that are fairly standard, and they often come in the following order:

• Introduction (statement of the problem, purpose of research or goals, and significance of research)

Literature review

• Project narrative (methods, procedures, objectives, outcomes or deliverables, evaluation, and dissemination)
• Budget and budget justification

Format the proposal so that it is easy to read. Use headings to break the proposal up into sections. If it is long, include a table of contents with page numbers.

The title page usually includes a brief yet explicit title for the research project, the names of the principal investigator(s), the institutional affiliation of the applicants (the department and university), name and address of the granting agency, project dates, amount of funding requested, and signatures of university personnel authorizing the proposal (when necessary). Most funding agencies have specific requirements for the title page; make sure to follow them.

The abstract provides readers with their first impression of your project. To remind themselves of your proposal, readers may glance at your abstract when making their final recommendations, so it may also serve as their last impression of your project. The abstract should explain the key elements of your research project in the future tense. Most abstracts state: (1) the general purpose, (2) specific goals, (3) research design, (4) methods, and (5) significance (contribution and rationale). Be as explicit as possible in your abstract. Use statements such as, “The objective of this study is to …”

Introduction

The introduction should cover the key elements of your proposal, including a statement of the problem, the purpose of research, research goals or objectives, and significance of the research. The statement of problem should provide a background and rationale for the project and establish the need and relevance of the research. How is your project different from previous research on the same topic? Will you be using new methodologies or covering new theoretical territory? The research goals or objectives should identify the anticipated outcomes of the research and should match up to the needs identified in the statement of problem. List only the principle goal(s) or objective(s) of your research and save sub-objectives for the project narrative.

Many proposals require a literature review. Reviewers want to know whether you’ve done the necessary preliminary research to undertake your project. Literature reviews should be selective and critical, not exhaustive. Reviewers want to see your evaluation of pertinent works. For more information, see our handout on literature reviews .

Project narrative

The project narrative provides the meat of your proposal and may require several subsections. The project narrative should supply all the details of the project, including a detailed statement of problem, research objectives or goals, hypotheses, methods, procedures, outcomes or deliverables, and evaluation and dissemination of the research.

For the project narrative, pre-empt and/or answer all of the reviewers’ questions. Don’t leave them wondering about anything. For example, if you propose to conduct unstructured interviews with open-ended questions, be sure you’ve explained why this methodology is best suited to the specific research questions in your proposal. Or, if you’re using item response theory rather than classical test theory to verify the validity of your survey instrument, explain the advantages of this innovative methodology. Or, if you need to travel to Valdez, Alaska to access historical archives at the Valdez Museum, make it clear what documents you hope to find and why they are relevant to your historical novel on the ’98ers in the Alaskan Gold Rush.

Clearly and explicitly state the connections between your research objectives, research questions, hypotheses, methodologies, and outcomes. As the requirements for a strong project narrative vary widely by discipline, consult a discipline-specific guide to grant writing for some additional advice.

Explain staffing requirements in detail and make sure that staffing makes sense. Be very explicit about the skill sets of the personnel already in place (you will probably include their Curriculum Vitae as part of the proposal). Explain the necessary skill sets and functions of personnel you will recruit. To minimize expenses, phase out personnel who are not relevant to later phases of a project.

The budget spells out project costs and usually consists of a spreadsheet or table with the budget detailed as line items and a budget narrative (also known as a budget justification) that explains the various expenses. Even when proposal guidelines do not specifically mention a narrative, be sure to include a one or two page explanation of the budget. To see a sample budget, turn to Example #1 at the end of this handout.

Consider including an exhaustive budget for your project, even if it exceeds the normal grant size of a particular funding organization. Simply make it clear that you are seeking additional funding from other sources. This technique will make it easier for you to combine awards down the road should you have the good fortune of receiving multiple grants.

Make sure that all budget items meet the funding agency’s requirements. For example, all U.S. government agencies have strict requirements for airline travel. Be sure the cost of the airline travel in your budget meets their requirements. If a line item falls outside an agency’s requirements (e.g. some organizations will not cover equipment purchases or other capital expenses), explain in the budget justification that other grant sources will pay for the item.

Many universities require that indirect costs (overhead) be added to grants that they administer. Check with the appropriate offices to find out what the standard (or required) rates are for overhead. Pass a draft budget by the university officer in charge of grant administration for assistance with indirect costs and costs not directly associated with research (e.g. facilities use charges).

Furthermore, make sure you factor in the estimated taxes applicable for your case. Depending on the categories of expenses and your particular circumstances (whether you are a foreign national, for example), estimated tax rates may differ. You can consult respective departmental staff or university services, as well as professional tax assistants. For information on taxes on scholarships and fellowships, see https://cashier.unc.edu/student-tax-information/scholarships-fellowships/ .

Explain the timeframe for the research project in some detail. When will you begin and complete each step? It may be helpful to reviewers if you present a visual version of your timeline. For less complicated research, a table summarizing the timeline for the project will help reviewers understand and evaluate the planning and feasibility. See Example #2 at the end of this handout.

For multi-year research proposals with numerous procedures and a large staff, a time line diagram can help clarify the feasibility and planning of the study. See Example #3 at the end of this handout.

Revising your proposal

Strong grant proposals take a long time to develop. Start the process early and leave time to get feedback from several readers on different drafts. Seek out a variety of readers, both specialists in your research area and non-specialist colleagues. You may also want to request assistance from knowledgeable readers on specific areas of your proposal. For example, you may want to schedule a meeting with a statistician to help revise your methodology section. Don’t hesitate to seek out specialized assistance from the relevant research offices on your campus. At UNC, the Odum Institute provides a variety of services to graduate students and faculty in the social sciences.

In your revision and editing, ask your readers to give careful consideration to whether you’ve made explicit the connections between your research objectives and methodology. Here are some example questions:

• Have you presented a compelling case?
• Have you made your hypotheses explicit?
• Does your project seem feasible? Is it overly ambitious? Does it have other weaknesses?
• Have you stated the means that grantors can use to evaluate the success of your project after you’ve executed it?

If a granting agency lists particular criteria used for rating and evaluating proposals, be sure to share these with your own reviewers.

Example #1. Sample Budget

Jet travel $6,100 This estimate is based on the commercial high season rate for jet economy travel on Sabena Belgian Airlines. No U.S. carriers fly to Kigali, Rwanda. Sabena has student fare tickets available which will be significantly less expensive (approximately $2,000).

Maintenance allowance $22,788 Based on the Fulbright-Hays Maintenance Allowances published in the grant application guide.

Research assistant/translator $4,800 The research assistant/translator will be a native (and primary) speaker of Kinya-rwanda with at least a four-year university degree. They will accompany the primary investigator during life history interviews to provide assistance in comprehension. In addition, they will provide commentary, explanations, and observations to facilitate the primary investigator’s participant observation. During the first phase of the project in Kigali, the research assistant will work forty hours a week and occasional overtime as needed. During phases two and three in rural Rwanda, the assistant will stay with the investigator overnight in the field when necessary. The salary of $400 per month is based on the average pay rate for individuals with similar qualifications working for international NGO’s in Rwanda.

Transportation within country, phase one $1,200 The primary investigator and research assistant will need regular transportation within Kigali by bus and taxi. The average taxi fare in Kigali is $6-8 and bus fare is $.15. This figure is based on an average of $10 per day in transportation costs during the first project phase.

Transportation within country, phases two and three $12,000 Project personnel will also require regular transportation between rural field sites. If it is not possible to remain overnight, daily trips will be necessary. The average rental rate for a 4×4 vehicle in Rwanda is $130 per day. This estimate is based on an average of $50 per day in transportation costs for the second and third project phases. These costs could be reduced if an arrangement could be made with either a government ministry or international aid agency for transportation assistance.

Email $720 The rate for email service from RwandaTel (the only service provider in Rwanda) is $60 per month. Email access is vital for receiving news reports on Rwanda and the region as well as for staying in contact with dissertation committee members and advisors in the United States.

Audiocassette tapes $400 Audiocassette tapes will be necessary for recording life history interviews, musical performances, community events, story telling, and other pertinent data.

Photographic & slide film $100 Photographic and slide film will be necessary to document visual data such as landscape, environment, marriages, funerals, community events, etc.

Laptop computer $2,895 A laptop computer will be necessary for recording observations, thoughts, and analysis during research project. Price listed is a special offer to UNC students through the Carolina Computing Initiative.

NUD*IST 4.0 software $373.00 NUD*IST, “Nonnumerical, Unstructured Data, Indexing, Searching, and Theorizing,” is necessary for cataloging, indexing, and managing field notes both during and following the field research phase. The program will assist in cataloging themes that emerge during the life history interviews.

Administrative fee $100 Fee set by Fulbright-Hays for the sponsoring institution.

Example #2: Project Timeline in Table Format

Example #3: project timeline in chart format.

Some closing advice

Some of us may feel ashamed or embarrassed about asking for money or promoting ourselves. Often, these feelings have more to do with our own insecurities than with problems in the tone or style of our writing. If you’re having trouble because of these types of hang-ups, the most important thing to keep in mind is that it never hurts to ask. If you never ask for the money, they’ll never give you the money. Besides, the worst thing they can do is say no.

UNC resources for proposal writing

Research at Carolina http://research.unc.edu

The Odum Institute for Research in the Social Sciences https://odum.unc.edu/

UNC Medical School Office of Research https://www.med.unc.edu/oor

UNC School of Public Health Office of Research http://www.sph.unc.edu/research/

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Holloway, Brian R. 2003. Proposal Writing Across the Disciplines. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Levine, S. Joseph. “Guide for Writing a Funding Proposal.” http://www.learnerassociates.net/proposal/ .

Locke, Lawrence F., Waneen Wyrick Spirduso, and Stephen J. Silverman. 2014. Proposals That Work . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Przeworski, Adam, and Frank Salomon. 2012. “Some Candid Suggestions on the Art of Writing Proposals.” Social Science Research Council. https://s3.amazonaws.com/ssrc-cdn2/art-of-writing-proposals-dsd-e-56b50ef814f12.pdf .

Reif-Lehrer, Liane. 1989. Writing a Successful Grant Application . Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.

Wiggins, Beverly. 2002. “Funding and Proposal Writing for Social Science Faculty and Graduate Student Research.” Chapel Hill: Howard W. Odum Institute for Research in Social Science. 2 Feb. 2004. http://www2.irss.unc.edu/irss/shortcourses/wigginshandouts/granthandout.pdf.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Make a Gift

• Skip to main navigation
• Skip to main content

University Research Administration

Sample proposals.

• International Research Collaborations
• Proposal Development
• Sponsored Development Services
• Sponsored Program Services
• Research Compliance & Training
• Policies & Compliance

Quick Links

• URA Intranet 
• Conflict of Interest – Conflict of Commitment
• Finding Funding – Pivot
• PI Eligibility
• Quick Reference Fact Sheet
• URA Annual Report
• Forms, Templates, & Sponsor Resources (URA Intranet)

 Many sponsors and agencies make successful proposals available to researchers; see the selection below.

National Endowment for the Humanities

The National Endowment for the Humanities typically provides 3-4 sample proposals for each funding opportunity. The following are links to samples provided by NEH.  

• Challenge Grant
• Digital Humanities Advancement Grant
• Summer Stipends

National Institutes of Health

Within the National Institutes of Health, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) provides a wide range of  sample applications and summary statements .  The NIAID website has samples for the following:

• Research grants.  R01 ,  R03 ,  R15 ,  R21 , and  R21/R33
• Small business grants.  R41, R42, R43, and R44
• Training and career awards  K01 ,  K08 , and  F31-Diversity

National Science Foundation

While NSF does not publish funded proposals online, there are universities and individuals that do.  Please visit the following sites for samples.

• NSF Cultural Anthropology Samples :  Dr. John Bunce provides a 2011  rejected  proposal, along with the reviewer's comments and panel summary for that year.  He then provides the 2012  successful  proposal with the comments and panel summary.  This is a wonderful resource that demonstrates how someone successfully responded to reviewer's comments.  
• NSF Earth Science Samples :  Teach the Earth provides a number of successful earth science proposals available to the public.
• NSF CAREER proposals  - 5 funded proposals related to Geosciences (On the Cutting Edge) NSF CAREER math proposal  - (Brooke Shipley)

U.S. Department of Education

The Department of Education provides access to a variety of information, including successful grant applications in their Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)  Reading Room .  The selection below was taken directly from their website:

• Office of Postsecondary Education: Strengthening Institutions Grant
• Institute of Education Sciences: Math and Science Grants
• U. S. Department of Education : The U.S. Department of Education has provided links to more than 20 successful proposals.
• US Department of Education  (Colorado Grants)
• USDA Sample Proposal

Other Resources

• Open Grants
• Community Tool Box : The website has posted two sample proposals for community-level projects.
• Community Consulting & Grant Writing : You can find three sample grant proposals posted on  thegrantdoctor.com , the website for Community Consulting and Grant Writing.
• Foundation Center's Guide to Winning Proposals : Released in 2008, this book includes 38 sample proposals, all successfully funded.
• Grant Gopher:  Grant Gopher is an online database of grant opportunities. If you register for an account with Grant Gopher (a free account or paid annual subscription), you can download up to five sample proposals in each category.
• GrantSpace : On GrantSpace, you'll find sample cover letters, letters of inquiry, budgets, and proposals.
• Jabberwocky Ecology:  Jabberwocky Ecology has posted links to proposals in the biological sciences, most of which were submitted to government agencies.
• Nonprofit Guides : Nonprofit Guides has posted sample proposals for community projects (one to a foundation, the others to government agencies).
• U.C. Berkeley, Institute of International Studies : U.C. Berkeley has provided two sample proposals. One proposal is to the National Science Foundation and the second is an example of a Fulbright application.
• Wiley: Jossey-Bass : A supplement to Thomas Blackburn's book  Getting Science Grants: Effective Strategies for Funding Success  (Jossey-Bass, 2003), the website includes links to funded proposals to federal and private agencies.

Additional Resources

• Adventures of Cyberbee : The site provides a sample outline and a suggested approach for education-related proposals.
• CIVICUS World Alliance for Civic Participation : CIVICUS has a proposal toolkit that provides instruction on planning and writing a proposal and includes a sample proposal.
• Community Tool Box : The Community Tool Box offers a comprehensive proposal outline that includes proposal guidance, links to tools for proposal development, and two sample proposals.
• Udemy course  Federal Grant Writing 101  with Dr. Beverly Browning: Dr. Browning's course includes excerpts from two of her funded proposals (one to a foundation, one to a U.S. government agency). The course has a list price of $49.
• National Marine Fishery Service : The National Marine Fishery Service has provided an annotated proposal outline covering proposal development and writing phases.
• World Bank Blog : On the World Bank blog, a reviewer of World Bank proposals for impact evaluation work provides tips for stronger proposals.

• Privacy Policy

Home » Grant Proposal – Example, Template and Guide

Grant Proposal – Example, Template and Guide

Table of Contents

A grant proposal is a document written to secure funding for a project, research, or initiative. This document outlines your objectives, methods, and the expected impact of your work, demonstrating to potential funders that your project is valuable and feasible. Writing a successful grant proposal requires careful planning, organization, and adherence to specific guidelines set by the funding body. This guide provides an overview of grant proposals, including an example, a template, and step-by-step instructions to help you create a compelling proposal.

Grant Proposal

A grant proposal is a formal request for funding submitted to a governmental agency, private foundation, corporation, or other organization. It presents a project idea, explains how the funds will be used, and demonstrates the project’s potential benefits to align with the funder’s priorities. A well-crafted grant proposal can help secure financial resources necessary for research projects, community programs, creative works, or business initiatives.

Key Elements of a Grant Proposal

• Project Summary : A brief overview of the proposal’s goals, methods, and expected outcomes.
• Introduction : Provides background information on the organization or individual applying, including expertise and past achievements.
• Problem Statement : Clearly outlines the problem or need the project addresses and explains its significance.
• Project Goals and Objectives : Defines what the project aims to achieve, with measurable objectives.
• Methods and Approach : Describes the steps, methodologies, or strategies that will be used to achieve the project’s goals.
• Evaluation : Explains how success will be measured and monitored.
• Budget : Provides a detailed breakdown of how funds will be allocated.
• Conclusion : Summarizes the proposal and reinforces its significance.
• Appendices : Optional, may include letters of support, resumes, or additional documents.

Example of a Grant Proposal Summary

Project Title : Enhancing STEM Education for Underrepresented High School Students

Summary : This proposal seeks funding to implement an after-school STEM program for underrepresented high school students in our district. The program will provide hands-on experiences, mentorship, and academic support, aiming to boost students’ interest in STEM fields and improve their academic performance. Through partnerships with local universities and industry professionals, we hope to create a pathway for these students to pursue STEM careers. The total budget for the project is $50,000, covering materials, instructor fees, and program logistics.

Template for a Grant Proposal

[Your Organization’s Name and Logo]

Project Title : Applicant’s Name : Date of Submission : Funder’s Name and Address :

1. Project Summary

• Provide a concise summary of the proposal, including the project’s purpose, objectives, and potential impact.

2. Introduction

• Describe your organization’s background, mission, and relevant experience. Mention past accomplishments and qualifications that make your organization or team capable of executing the project.

3. Problem Statement

• Outline the issue your project addresses. Use data and evidence to support the significance of the problem, and explain why it needs to be addressed.

4. Project Goals and Objectives

• Clearly define the goals and measurable objectives of the project. Goals are broad outcomes, while objectives are specific, actionable steps that will help achieve these goals.

5. Methods and Approach

• Detail the steps, techniques, or methodologies you will use to achieve the project’s objectives. Include a timeline, milestones, and any partnerships or collaborations with other organizations.

6. Evaluation

• Explain how you will assess the project’s effectiveness. Describe the metrics, evaluation tools, and data collection methods you’ll use to monitor progress.
• Provide a clear, itemized budget that explains how the funds will be allocated. Include personnel, materials, travel, and any other costs associated with the project.

8. Conclusion

• Summarize the proposal’s importance and your commitment to the project. Emphasize how the project aligns with the funder’s goals.

9. Appendices (optional)

• Include additional documents, such as letters of support, resumes of key personnel, or data that supports your proposal.

Writing Guide for a Grant Proposal

• Research funding agencies, foundations, and organizations that support projects like yours. Review their guidelines, funding priorities, and application requirements to ensure alignment.
• Tailor your proposal to the funder’s mission and objectives. Emphasize aspects of your project that align with their goals, such as community impact, sustainability, or innovation.
• Summarize the proposal in a few sentences, clearly stating the purpose, target population, and desired outcomes. Make the summary engaging and informative, as it’s often the first section reviewers will read.
• Describe the problem or need your project addresses. Use facts, statistics, and case studies to demonstrate the problem’s relevance and urgency.
• Define what you intend to achieve (goals) and outline specific steps or milestones (objectives) that will lead to those outcomes. Ensure that objectives are realistic, measurable, and time-bound.
• Provide a detailed explanation of how the project will be carried out, including who will be responsible for each component, the resources required, and the timeline. Include any innovative techniques or partnerships that will enhance the project’s impact.
• Describe how you will measure success. Define the indicators or metrics that will track progress and explain the methods for collecting and analyzing data to evaluate the project’s impact.
• Break down the budget by categories (e.g., personnel, materials, travel, equipment). Justify each expense, showing why it’s necessary and how it contributes to the project’s goals. Ensure the budget is reasonable and aligns with the funding amount requested.
• Reinforce the project’s significance, how it aligns with the funder’s mission, and your commitment to achieving its objectives. Highlight the potential long-term impact and scalability of the project.
• Prepare Supporting Documents for the Appendix
• Gather supplementary materials, such as letters of support from partners, resumes of project team members, and relevant past project examples, to strengthen your proposal.

Tips for Writing a Successful Grant Proposal

• Follow All Guidelines : Carefully adhere to the funder’s guidelines regarding formatting, word limits, and required documents.
• Be Concise and Clear : Use straightforward language and avoid jargon. Make your proposal easy to read and understand.
• Emphasize the Impact : Highlight how the project will benefit the community, solve a pressing problem, or advance knowledge in your field.
• Use Data to Support Claims : Back up statements with data, research, or case studies to build credibility.
• Proofread and Edit : Ensure the proposal is free from grammar and spelling errors, and double-check that all required components are included.

Writing a grant proposal requires careful planning, clear organization, and an understanding of the funder’s priorities. By crafting a compelling problem statement, setting measurable goals, and outlining a thorough plan with a justified budget, you can create a proposal that demonstrates the importance and feasibility of your project. Using the example, template, and step-by-step guide in this post, you’ll be well-prepared to submit a persuasive and successful grant proposal.

• Miner, L. E., & Miner, J. T. (2008). Proposal Planning and Writing . Greenwood Publishing.
• Geever, J. C. (2012). The Foundation Center’s Guide to Proposal Writing . The Foundation Center.
• Bauer, D. G., & Margolis, J. (2017). The “How To” Grants Manual: Successful Grantseeking Techniques for Obtaining Public and Private Grants . Rowman & Littlefield.
• Hall, M. (2012). Getting Funded: The Complete Guide to Writing Grant Proposals . Portland State University.
• Levine, M. F. (2018). Guide to Winning Federal Government Contracts . CRC Press.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

You may also like

How To Write A Research Proposal – Step-by-Step...

Proposal – Types, Examples, and Writing Guide

How To Write A Proposal – Step By Step Guide...

Research Proposal – Types, Template and Example

Business Proposal – Templates, Examples and Guide

How To Write A Business Proposal – Step-by-Step...