Monday, September 21, 2015

10 Steps to a "Winning Proposal"

Despite gaps in today's economy there are still opportunities available for grant seekers and monies to be invested into start-up projects, and nonprofit organizations. In order for your proposal to stand out in the crowd there are three areas examined; preparation, proposal writing, and follow-up. Majority grant-writers experience some sort of doubt at some point; we can believe internally there is always someone out there in the world of grant writing whose proposal may already have that stamp of approval and in this post I've included 10 healthy solutions to begin the process of writing a winning proposal. Rule #1 always prepare an outline that follows the guidelines, questions, or selection criteria for the proposal...Rule #2 write as you speak never try to write as someone whose fluent in a particular language or lingo conveying your thoughts as overly formal, pretentious, or ponderous...Rule#3 keep in mind the choice of words your using and utilize them effectively.....Rule #4 never exaggerate because as we all know actions are to be proven and speak louder than words and therefore if your organization isn't providing innovative solutions for those tech savvy individuals there should not be any indications of such, we all want to provide the next big thing with cutting-edge programs but make sure your promises are clean , upright, and available resources.....Rule #5 purchase a book on grammar you can always refer to it when in doubt....Rule #6 include a dictionary and thesaurus along with a book on grammar trust me they co-exist with one another and will help-to-build your vocabulary in the long-run...Rule #7 stick to your active voice it's a more straightforward way to writing a wining proposal...Rule #8 keep your own voice out of it excluding all personal judgments, controversial ideas, political views, and sense of humor completely out this is no area to take a risk... Rule #9 limit adjectives that modify nouns, verbs, or a phrase this will leave the reader wondering is this an opinion rather than documented facts, and lastly Rule #10 it's not personal; a winning proposal is neither a winning essay nor an autobiography...If we keep these 10 tips in mind when writing that winning proposal we are sure to accomplish what was set-out before us.