The use or inclusion of any or all of these suggestions does not
guarantee selection to receive a grant opportunity:
-
Read the grant announcement very carefully to make sure your
organization is qualified to apply.
-
Ensure that your organization’s leadership is supportive of
the grant application and all that an award will entail.
-
If the grant process seems too burdensome for your
organization, consider partnering with another local
organization so you can focus on service delivery while they
take the lead on grant administration manners.
-
Develop an action plan with a timeline for meeting the grant
application deadline.
-
Follow the instructions carefully. Be sure that your plan
will meet the needs of FNS.
-
Keep your goals realistic.
-
Cite research that supports your application’s goals.
-
Be reasonable with your funding request to adequately match
the scope of work proposed.
-
Make sure the cost elements listed in the budget match the
activities described in the grant proposal.
-
Create an outline first, then fill in the narrative.
-
Edit your application for spelling, content, and grammatical
errors. Provide a professional product that will reflect well
on your organization.
-
Do not assume the selection panel knows more about your
proposal than you have written.
-
Address each evaluation criteria, and make it easy for the
panel to find the information.
-
Call the grants officer with any questions.
-
Have a table of contents and stay within the specified page
limits.
-
Use spreadsheets for extensive computations to ensure
accuracy of calculations.
-
Meet the application deadline and file in the appropriate
manner.
