We all know that project development costs money. Regardless of the project’s type, shape, scale and size, trying to develop any sort of project can be both thrilling and exciting at the same time. To be able to finally work on your vision and try to make it come to life. That seems all quite nice and happy, but in reality, the development process itself can be  very overwhelming as well, especially when it comes to your budget and finances. Not everybody has the resources and the ability to work on any ideas that may come to their minds. And that’s the reason why grant proposals are a thing, especially in the world of business and academe. Grants are financial support that are made to fund academic projects, papers, and researches. These can also be used to help fund new and startup businesses or companies, even nonprofit organizations. Though its far from being the saving grace to all of your financial woes, they still play a very important role for the development of your projects, especially for those who really need the funding.

When writing a  grant proposal, it is usually assumed that you have a valuable research that you need to complete, a nonprofit opportunity in mind that you want to try, or a demand in the community that you plan to take advantage of. In short, you need to have a crystal clear vision of your goals and objectives. A clear point for how something could be improved or how you can work on your project to secure its fulfillment.  This in of itself is important because you need to make sure that you yourself are confident and ready and sure enough to ask for funding and other means of financial support to make sure that you reach the objective that you have set for yourself.

A grant proposal is a document that can easily help you with that. It makes sure that your request for a grant is not just acknowledged, but also accepted. Its a document which you submit to a board or a panel of an organization with the general intent of securing financial funding for your venture. Regardless of  how you plan to draft the document, it’s shape, purpose, or form, the main function of it is that it should be able to gather enough money and maybe even more to make sure that your project has a safety net that it can land on during development. Write a well and effective grant proposal by checking out these generic grant proposal samples that we have listed for you down below. Once you are quite familiar with the document, with what it looks like and how it works, feel free to use these samples as guides or even as templates for when you draft your own grant proposal.

3+ Generic Grant Proposal Samples

1. Generic Grant Proposal Template

generic grant proposal template

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2. Generic Structure for Grant Proposal

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3. Sample Generic Grant Proposal

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4. Large Team Generic Grant Proposals

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What Is a Generic Grant Proposal?

Grant proposals are documents that are to be submitted as applications to external and internal bodies of a third-party organization as well as private companies with the intent of securing any kind of budget and financial support for any project or venture that you may be working on. Writing a grant proposal varies across different academes and industries. And while its most common use is on writing researches and academic projects, it can also  be for the purpose of funding a business venture and even a startup business. The writing process of the document involves a long winding circular process that grows from a single idea to the full completion of the project. Developers often begin with defining a problem, then the broader sense of the venture, then back again to the main initial idea of why the venture was begun. Developers will then present this application as well as the document to the committee that they are applying the grant from. That is why it is important that you are writing your document in the best possible way. You need to have a perfectly clear idea of what you want to achieve, and how you are going to achieve it. There are three different types of grant proposals that are usually drafted in the business and in the academe, ranging from a simple letter to a full series of application documents.

How to Write a Generic Grant Proposal

Grant proposals are often drafted with different sections dedicated to any specifications required by the committee. Though these specifications may be different, they still serve  just about the same purpose. Listed below are the main elements that a grant proposal must have for it to be effective and comprehensive.

  • Short overview
    First and foremost, you need to be able to present the most important elements of your venture in a short introductory paragraph in the beginning of your grant proposal. Keep the entire sequence short, clear, and concise, written in as few words as possible. If you have a much longer grant proposal, then you may dedicate a full page to this section. Otherwise, around 1-2 paragraphs should be enough.
  • Problem
    This project exists because you have a plan to respond to a gap in resources, maybe take advantage in an increase in demand, or maybe another opportunity in the market that you want to try. Overall, you need to be able to establish your project’s value by clarifying the needs that you plan to fill with your venture. The problem that your project is working around. Write details in context to avoid confusion within your ranks. You can include the target population as well as their demographics, as well as include any for of statistical data if it is necessary.
  • Description of the project
    Once you have established the demand for the project that you are working on, now would be the time to expand on it. You can include your goals, your expected outcomes, the methods and the strategies that you plan to put in place to succeed, and the criteria for success in which you’ll measure the level of success that you are on. Highlight the projected outcomes of your venture in order to let your potential investors know that you have a full grasp of the realistic benefits of your venture and the achievements that you are planning to reach.
  • Budget and resources
    Try to come up with a list of the resources that you are working with right now and the other resources that you need in order to move forward. Be clear with what and how much you need from the grant that you are proposing.
  • Other sections
    You can include a number of additional sections depending on the requirements set by the committee of your choice. They might need  sections like a cover letter, organizational qualifications, as well as supporting documents.

FAQs

What are the three types of proposals?

  • Formally solicited
  • Informally solicited
  • Unsolicited

What is the difference between a grant and a scholarship?

Grants are given based on financial needs, while scholarships are often based on merits and awarded to students depending on their achievements in academics.

Do you pay back grants?

Grants are sources of free money that do not need any kind of repayment from the recipient at all. Grants may come from the local government units, the state government, or from the college or university itself. It may even come from a private organization.

Drafting a well written grant proposal can be quite tricky to accomplish. The writing process requires close analyzation of the vision that you may have in mind, which would also make you consider the scale in which your project will benefit others. With the tips and the templates that we have provided for you in this document, the writing process of your grant proposal will be made significantly easier.

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