Funding Success

I have had the opportunity to review multiple grants for the Federal government. It has been a fascinating process and each time I take more away.  Every one wants the free government money, they apply for grants upon grants. But most are making serious mistakes that are costing them that funding!

!. Do what the application says!! Really read every request and follow it to the letter. If it asks for a type of report – be sure that it is added and that it is clearly labeled. If you are not sure what they mean ask! It is better to ask alot of questions than to have reviewers write that the report was missing or wrong.

2.  Follow the order.  Most grants outline what they are looking for in a specific order. Make it easy on the reviewer and put the sections into the same order as the application outline.   If budget is first place it there, etc.  Use clear titles that are the same as the application titles.  Don’t make the reviewer hunt.

3.  Back up your claims.  If you have an award winning program, wonderful instructor, or other then high light this.  A brief bio or notation is sufficient.  Don’t use up your page limit on too much detail about your organization unless it clearly fits the grant.

4. Find out how the document will reach the funder.  Be especially careful if it is being uploaded. You may find that the pages do not come through as you have written them or in the order you want them to be in.   Be sure to practice with this or ask the funding agency for advice.

5. Attend or listen to recorded informational sessions.  All federal agencies have a contact person for help. Be sure to check in and to ask about any informational sessions. These walk you through the application, the expectations and often the unwritten expectations. At a recent review the application called for a bio or resume for key staff.  Many applications choose the bio. To save room the made the bio a paragraph.  A common mistake but it was not allowed during the review. Only full bios that were closer to a page were accepted.  Several great projects lost points on this and probably lost funding opportunities.  Asking the question or attending the informational session might have saved them.

Be sure to get all of the points when you apply for Federal grants and funding.  You can assure this by carefully following the directions and a little insider information.

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Keridak Kae Silk, MS is the president of FundingSuccess.us. She has been teaching grant writing for over 12 years and has two ebooks on the market.  Keri can be reached at keri@fundingsuccess.us or 866-279-8666.