How can I make my grant proposal stand out from other applicants?
Submit a well-written proposal. Edit your proposal for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. Provide concise responses. Demonstrate your program’s effectiveness by using research-based data. Do not provide information that is not requested. Answer all questions and provide detailed public relations, marketing, sponsor recognition, and demographic information.
DO:
- Make your application concise, clear, and thorough. Program officers review hundreds of applications every year, so the better prepared your application is, the more it will stand out.
- Provide research-based data that confirms the need addressed and the effectiveness of your program/service; this will be of most interest to program officers.
- Describe the publicity you plan to generate if you receive a grant. Part of the Gay & Lesbian Fund for Colorado’s mission is to “highlight the contributions of gay men and lesbians.” The publicity you are able to generate and the inclusion of Gay & Lesbian Fund’s logo and name in all your public relations materials — as well as extensive publicity — help the Gay & Lesbian Fund accomplish its mission and is considered by the Program Officers.
DON’T:
- Include information and attachments that are not requested.
- Give a lengthy response to a question but fail to answer the question directly.
- State that you cannot provide an answer to a question. If you do not have adequate information to answer the question, explain why the information is not available and detail any future plans for collecting it.
- Ignore the Gay & Lesbian Fund’s limitations such as budget limits and application due dates.
Do you really need all the public relations, marketing, and demographic details?
Yes! You must provide responses to all questions. Audience estimates or viewers of communications materials are important. The number of people who see the Gay & Lesbian Fund logo, its name in an article, or the sponsor list on the invitation tells us how effectively you are marketing your organization.
How do you determine this number? Example: Organizational newsletter with the Gay & Lesbian Fund logo (2,000 distribution); poster with sponsor list (1,000 distribution); Gay & Lesbian Fund banner at event (500).
May I check more than one program area?
No. Please choose the program area that most closely corresponds to your mission statement.