Grant Writing For Dummies, 5th Edition

Chapter 22

Ten Reputation-Building Tricks

In This Chapter

Doing the necessary research ahead of time

Including what funders want (and need) to see

How can you determine your odds of winning? Is there a system for knowing if your grant-funding opportunity is worth going after? Have you thought about everything that needs to be in place to win a grant award? In this chapter, I answer these questions and more by presenting ten ways to stay on top of the grant writing game.

Pre-Qualify Your Grant-Funding Opportunity

You can increase your win rate by pre-qualifying every grant-funding opportunity that hits your field of vision. Ask yourself the following questions about each opportunity:

• Does our organization qualify to apply for these monies? Remember, if your organization isn’t an eligible grant applicant and you apply anyway, your application will be rejected for funding.
• How many grants will be awarded? If fewer than ten grants will be awarded, your chance of winning one is extremely low.
• Does our organization have a chance of winning a grant award? If this is your organization’s first time applying for a federal grant application, you may not have the government grants management experience necessary to win higher peer review points in the related response section of your grant ...