











Grant Writing Demystified - Mary Ann Payne
Grant writing is like a cross between preparing a holiday dinner and running
a marathon. The process takes stamina, perseverance, focus, and a lot of effort
before the big day. In fact, it takes more preparation than you can ever imagine,
especially if you’ve never done it before. There are coaches and recipes and
strategies, however, and that’s what this book is about. I’ve written dozens of
successful grants over the last 20 years and my extremely high success rate
shows I’ve learned a few tricks of the trade. Many of them have already been
written down—and I’ll direct you to those resources. Some of them are tips I’ve
stumbled across from sources I’ve forgotten. Others are ideas I’ve collected
from friends and colleagues and strangers who also write grants. I’ve organized
all of these “recipes” in a chronological sequence much like you create a menu
or training schedule. You’ll need to do the actual work (defining your project,
collecting information and documents to explain its value, finding funding
sources, and finally creating a budget and writing the narrative), but I can be
your trusted aunt who teaches you how to make a three-layer cake or hard-
nosed coach who sets the training schedule day after day.
In the fairness of full disclosure, however, I can’t promise the roast will be
cooked to your guests’ tastes or that you’ll win the race. Most foundations
receive 10 to 15 times as many requests for funds as they can meet. Govern-
ment dollars are even more competitive in certain fields. There are dozens of
factors that go into funding an application and many of them are out of your
control. What I can do, however, is provide tools and strategies to ensure your
proposal is noticed and taken seriously. If the potatoes are a bit dry, we’ll add
more milk next time. If you place fourth in your age category and they only
award three medals, we’ll tweak the training schedule before the next marathon.
Grant writing is like a cross between preparing a holiday dinner and running
a marathon. The process takes stamina, perseverance, focus, and a lot of effort
before the big day. In fact, it takes more preparation than you can ever imagine,
especially if you’ve never done it before. There are coaches and recipes and
strategies, however, and that’s what this book is about. I’ve written dozens of
successful grants over the last 20 years and my extremely high success rate
shows I’ve learned a few tricks of the trade. Many of them have already been
written down—and I’ll direct you to those resources. Some of them are tips I’ve
stumbled across from sources I’ve forgotten. Others are ideas I’ve collected
from friends and colleagues and strangers who also write grants. I’ve organized
all of these “recipes” in a chronological sequence much like you create a menu
or training schedule. You’ll need to do the actual work (defining your project,
collecting information and documents to explain its value, finding funding
sources, and finally creating a budget and writing the narrative), but I can be
your trusted aunt who teaches you how to make a three-layer cake or hard-
nosed coach who sets the training schedule day after day.
In the fairness of full disclosure, however, I can’t promise the roast will be
cooked to your guests’ tastes or that you’ll win the race. Most foundations
receive 10 to 15 times as many requests for funds as they can meet. Govern-
ment dollars are even more competitive in certain fields. There are dozens of
factors that go into funding an application and many of them are out of your
control. What I can do, however, is provide tools and strategies to ensure your
proposal is noticed and taken seriously. If the potatoes are a bit dry, we’ll add
more milk next time. If you place fourth in your age category and they only
award three medals, we’ll tweak the training schedule before the next marathon.