HOW TO CRAFT A LETTER OF INQUIRY
Like short stories, LOIs have a beginning, a middle, and an end. As demonstrated in Examples 3.1 and 3.2, in the opening paragraph (or paragraphs) of an LOI, you should state why your agency is a good fit with the potential funder and acknowledge prior funding (if applicable). The lead paragraph is often also a good place to tell the funder how much money your agency now seeks and for what purpose.
Further, if other grantmakers have already committed support to the program, be sure to weave that information into your LOI story. Frequently I will list a few of the funders who are most widely known and will thus lend greater credibility to a project. I refer to them as “marquee” funders whose names you want ...
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