You’ve identified a funding opportunity that aligns with your organizational mission, strategic and programmatic goals, and organizational capabilities. Further, the leadership team has vetted the opportunity and determined that “it’s a go” to pursue this time-sensitive and competitive funding opportunity.

The funding opportunity notice specifies the timeline for the opportunity as well as the required proposal application components. Where do you start? First, understanding the application will lead you to assemblying the right team to get the job done.

What is a project narrative?

A key application component includes a project narrative that describes:

• The problem your proposed project and/or program is designed to address to serve your community’s needs
• How your proposed approach will employ the activities and resources to address the need;
• How your approach collaboratively leverages community resources and expertise in a coordinated methodology to fill in service gaps and address need
• A plan for ongoing monitoring and evaluation including measurable goals, objectives and outcomes that will demonstrate program success and community impact
• Why funding your organization aligns with the funder’s priorities (because of deep understanding of your community, organizational capabilities and resources, staff with relevant training/credentials, skills, expertise and experience and demonstration of successful provision of services in the community)

In addition, the project narrative is supported by the following program-specific required application attachments:

• Staffing plan descrbing project team, roles, responsibilities and allocation of time/effort on the project
• Project workplan/timeline demonstrating a well-thought-out plan of activities tied to project goals and objectives over the project period of performance
• Detailed budget aligning with specific budget categories, allowable expenditures and budget justification narrative detailing the cost assumptions and purpose of each budget line-item request as it relates to project activities, goals and objectives. 

Additional general application attachments are required including, for example, the IRS501c3 determination letter (proof of meeting funding eligibility requirement), organizational and project organizational charts clearly depicting organizational and project team structure to demonstrate capacity to implement the proposed project, and more.

WHEW!! Developing a proposal application response to this opportunity will require a team of individuals with the relevant skills, knowledge, capabilities and resources to complete the various proposal components. Who do you need at the table to support a competitive proposal submission?

The proposal/grant application A-Team

Listed below are some of some of the key roles and/or resources you need to pull together a cohesive proposal. For small organizations one individual may serve in more than one of the roles outlined below.:

• Lead Writer/Proposal Manager—equipped with writing, reviewing and editing skills and ideally project management skills, this person will guide the team through a proposal development plan with team content writing assignments and interim timelines leading to a package ready for submission (ideally at last one day prior to the submission deadline). Additional supports might include developing “template” documents to organize the proposal response in alignment with the funding opportunity, conducting research to help develop proposal response elements and application final review and edit.
• Program Lead/Subject Matter Expert(s) (SMEs)—equipped with relevant training, skills, knowledge and experience about the proposed program or project intervention, SMEs will have deep understanding of the service area and population needs and know what complement of key project staff, consultants and/or strategic partners are needed to perform necessary project activities and provide coordinated services and/or resources to promote program success.
• Researcher—to help develop compelling need statements and other project narrative sections as appropriate.
• Program Evaluation SME—including an evaluator in the development of the proposal helps to ensure the design of an evaluation plan that aligns with programmatic goals and objectives, defines relevant performance indicators and metrics and a data collection and analysis plan that supports ongoing monitoring of project performance, opportunities to refine project processes as indicated/needed, and evaluate project success in terms of outcomes and impact in a meaningful way. 
• Finance Lead —equipped with relevant financial management and budget development training, skills, knowledge and experience this person helps the team develop realistic budgets to support the defined program or project design. Their guidance helps support developing appropriate budget assumptions and cost information for each budget request line item (e.g., project staff costs with salary and time allocation to project), relevant and applicable personnel fringe costs, equipment and supplies costs, consultant and sub-contractor costs, and other project costs.
• Administrative Coordinator—equipped with relevant organizational and administrative skills and resources this person will be instrumental in completing required forms as applicable, securing required organizational documents and application package assembly using an application checklist to ensure completion of the package according to funder requirements before submission. This person will also receive or secure confirmation of submission and inform team and/or organizational leadership of the successful on-time submission.
• Additional Supports—in addition to the “dream team” outlined above, the following would help to round out a full complement of support.
  • Graphic Designer—while not mandatory, often graphics help to strengthen the proposal presentation through visuals (e.g., tables, charts, photos, call-out quotes, etc.) to support or emphasize dense narrative content and/or break up space on the page(s). When applicable, graphic designs of proposal cover pages help contribute to a high-quality proposal presentation.
  • Proofreader/Copyeditor—having another “set of eyes” to proof documents before submission for grammar check, typographical errors, inconsistencies in formatting (e.g., bulleted statements, indentations, font types, etc.) supports the quality control for the final proposal package for submission. 
  • Internal Panel Review/Pre-submission Mock Reviewer—statistics and studies have emerged indicating that mock reviews (pre-submission reviews performed with similar rigor as the external grant reviews) markedly improve grant proposal success rates (both research and non-research).  Experienced and knowledgeable reviewers can painstakingly review project narratives and additional proposal attachments for: compliance with application requirements, internal application package consistency (e.g., project staff effort is consistent across the project narrative, staffing table attachment and budget narrative attachment) and responsiveness to funder’s published review criteria.

Effective management of proposal team and proposal development process

Now that you’ve identified the members of the proposal team, here are some tips to effectively manage the proposal team and the proposal development process.

• Develop a proposal management plan that clearly outlines all required proposal elements, assigns team members responsible for development of content (not necessarily wordsmithing), and establishes interim timelines for completion.
• Determine the process and frequency for regularly communicating and monitoring team assignment status and the process for identifying potential proposal “risks” and methods to resolve those problems.
• Develop templates as appropriate to facilitate team development of content that is organized consistent with the funder’s application requirements and covers all writing prompts/questions to be addressed. These templates should also be structured with the required formatting (e.g., font size and type, page margins, page numbering conventions if applicable).
• Start with a “kick-off” meeting (virtual or in-person) with all team members present to:
  • Introduce and provide an overview of the funding opportunity – the funder, opportunity name/number, key funding objectives, opportunity timeline (e.g., date opportunity published/released, deadline for submission of “Intent to Apply” if applicable, date of applicant webinar if applicable, deadline for applicant submissions of clarifying questions about the opportunity if applicable and, application deadline). Note both deadline date and time-zone.
  • Review and discuss the proposal management plan, team members’ respective roles, assignments and deadlines, collaborative process (e.g., platform, folders, files and related resources) and ongoing project team check-in meetings or communications schedule for status updates.
  • Answer any questions team members may have about the funder and/or funding opportunity, your organization’s proposed project, the proposal development process and their assignments, etc.
• Use the proposal management plan to monitor and capture status updates on team member assignments and identity proposal “risks” as applicable and work towards resolving risks.

Equipped with a team, plan and process, you are off to a good start on a successful grant-seeking adventure.

This project was supported by the Administration for Community Living (ACL), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $10,000,000 with 100 percent funding by ACL/HHS.  The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by ACL/HHS or the U.S. Government.