Many if not most open grant funding opportunities are extremely competitive with the grant requests for funding far outstripping available funds. Your job is to make your application stand out— demonstrating that you will be a good steward of the funds if you receive the grant and that the funder will contribute to a meaningful impact in your community by funding your organization’s programs and services.

Why a compelling grant proposal narrative is key to success

In a grant proposal narrative, the compelling need statement establishes the scope of the needs and gaps in available resources and services to fulfill critical unmet needs among the priority population(s) in the community served by the applicant. The proposal narrative’s description of the approach describes the inputs/resources, activities, and timeline for delivering services that will address the expressed community needs. Project goals and objectives may be addressed in the proposal narrative and/or in an attachment like the project work plan/timeline or logic model. But how will the funder have confidence that a social investment in your proposed program or initiative will be productive?

The purpose of the proposal narrative’s description of the organizational background or capabilities is to demonstrate to the funder that the applicant organization is a reasonably sound investment that will yield the desired returns.

While the described community need may be significant and the proposed program plan for delivering the appropriate services to meet the need may be plausible, funders need to have confidence that the applicant organization is the right organization to carry out the proposed project.

To persuade external grant reviewers and/or funders that your organization is a good candidate for an investment of grant funds, your description of your organization's background and capabilities needs to demonstrate that your organization has the relevant experience, skill-sets (e.g., program delivery and financial management), access to community assets and resources through key collaborative relationships to deliver the proposed program.

The funder needs the assurance that, unless this is a planning grant, the selected grant awardee(s) will have the capability to quickly implement the proposed program and complete planned activities on-time, within budget and produce the proposed project outcomes and goals. In addition, funders need to have assurance that the selected grant awardee(s) will have the administrative capabilities and infrastructure to comply with regulatory requirements as well as funder requirements (e.g., data capture and reporting). 

How to be ready to craft a compelling narrative

Most notices of funding opportunities or requests for proposals are descriptive about the content and organization of grant proposals. Part of grant readiness, however, is maintaining a “content library” from which you can lift and modify for various proposals.  Key elements your organizational background might include are:

• Brief genesis story—a description of how your organization came to be, the mission/purpose on which you were founded, and key actors (individuals, organizations, etc.)
• Descriptive overview of your role in the community you serve—description of community associations and collaboratives in which you are actively engaged and how, a description of your role in community events, a description of the types of collaborative relationships you have with key community stakeholders and your role in key collaborations,
• Description of key program staff—what their responsibilities are, what relevant skills they contribute, and what preparation they’ve had to serve in their roles (e.g., education/training, certifications, licenses, prior related work experience, and key roles).
• Description of leadership/oversight team—who is responsible for the strategic direction and performance of the organization, relevant skills they contribute, what preparation they’ve had to serve in their roles (e.g., education/training, certifications, licenses, prior related work experience, and key roles).
• Grants management/Financial management capabilities—description of relevant experience and capabilities to manage a grant award of similar type and/or magnitude, including a statement of your organization’s financial stability, grants management policies, and procedures, track record of history of on-time completion of grants and dissemination of related reports (including key outcomes that might contribute to the success of subsequent grant award).
• Key achievements/awards—cite recognition received by external organizations, credentialing bodies, community leaders, etc. to highlight your organization as credible in your community and that differentiate you in your sector (e.g., healthcare, education).
• Highlights that demonstrate depth of experience—while writing the narrative, remember to quantify elements as appropriate/available (e.g., number of years in the community, number of years of relevant experience your key program staff and leadership team have, number of years for key collaborative relationships, grants portfolio that details past and current number of grants and amount of grant awards).

Photo by Nate Smallwood for Age-Friendly Greater Pittsburgh

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 $5,000,000 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.