Top 5 Challenges For Government Grant Writers

Some people’s “business” is in the so-called “Non profit” sector so called.

Grants are a major source of income.

Grant writing can be a lucrative work at home business and compensation is usually a percentage of the revenues won (how that’s so when every penny is supposed to be accounted for by a tangible service shows me how much padding these non profits operate with!)

Before you think it’s easy to write a grant of any kind, consider these hassles:

From Biz Story Blog…

* Locating Funds- Where do I look? The answer is EVERYWHERE. There are three main sources of funding Government, Corporations, and Private Foundations. There are thousands and thousands of grant opportunities out there. Look and ye shall find.
* Short Deadlines- You get notice of opportunity and the proposal is due in a matter of weeks. Don’t panic and don’t rush. Reviewers can tell if you rushed to get something out. Maybe you skip this opportunity (unless it’s too good to be true) and wait for the next opportunity.
* Setting Clear Objectives- A lot of times we serve such diverse populations you want to cure all the ill’s of the world. You can’t… set a clear objective for your program. You should be able to clearly and concisely outline your objective in the abstract of your proposal. If you don’t know what your objective is, you aren’t ready to write a grant proposal, period.
* Setting a Budget- DON’T GUESS! Never guess at your program and administrative cost. The people who are reviewing your proposal have enough knowledge and experience to know when you are pulling numbers out of the air. Get estimates from vendors and service providers before you sit down to complete your budget. You should be able to provide a narrative for every budget line item you have.
* Follow Instructions- Ah, and here lies the biggest challenge. Sometimes I feel funders make this as difficult as possible. ‘ 1 inch margins left/right; 1.5 inch margins top/bottom;double spaced; black font only; headers, no footers; 5 copies; 1 bound copy… and the list goes on. I’ve seen it all. This can be the most frustrating and cruelest part of this experience. Something as simple as not following directions on the margin size or font size can disqualify you. Pay attention to the directions and walk through each direction before you submit your proposal for review.