Grant Writing Tips

With a new fiscal year on its way in just a couple of days, fund-raising is on a lot of our minds! Applying for grants is a good avenue to explore for funding, but it can seem overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. The first step is to do a lot of research to find foundations and businesses that might make a grant to a mentoring program for teenage moms.

Find out what local foundations care about, who they have given to in the past, who is on the board, and what their funding requirements are. If YoungLives seems like a good fit with their funding history and their mission, then give them a call and see if you can get a face-to-face meeting with someone on the board – or at least talk with someone over the phone about the possibility of submitting a grant proposal. Once you’ve spoken with someone at the foundation, they will often ask you to submit a “letter of inquiry” before putting together a whole grant proposal. A letter of inquiry should be one to three pages long, and should include the following information (taken from the Common Grant Application Format put together by Grantmakers of Western PA):

ORGANIZATION
o Brief description of organization
o Address, telephone number, fax number, email address
o Name of contact person

PROJECT or PROGRAM
o Summary – one sentence statement of proposed project or program
o Overview – purpose, objectives, goals, how project relates to funder’s priorities
o Description – target population, specific action plan, timeframe and duration
o Implementation (and results) – qualifications for executing proposed project expected outcomes, how effectiveness will be monitored and evaluated, plan for continuance at conclusion of requested funding
o Cost – amount requested, total project cost, private and public funding sources (pending and received)

ATTACHMENTS (each funder may have specific preferences for information to be included)
o IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter
o Mission Statement
o Board of Directors list

*In addition, many funders request that their application sheet be attached to the letter of inquiry. Be sure to check with the respective funder for its preference.