Grant Writing Secrets

Staring at a blank government grant application can seem harrowing. Often finding the application itself on the government web sites is half the battle.

Here are some guidelines in approaching a government grant submission.

a)Research is Key:

Download and read everything to do with the grant.

Downloads may include FAQ, factsheets, guidelines, proformas, etc. The government department web site will also have valuable information. The idea is to get a full understanding of what the government is trying to achieve in offering this grant. Often the challenge is dealing with information overload.

b)Planning Comes Next:

Once you have a full understanding of the grant and its criteria, it’s time to start a matching process where you match, as precisely as possible, the criteria with objective project information. Remain as factual as possible and maintain a formal business writing style.

c) Don’t be fooled by a Staged Approach.

This is where most trip up. Applications are often staged and this provides the government with a useful vetting process. The stage one applications often seem simplistic and on the surface, only requires broad or general information on the project.

However filling a stage one application prior to having a full documented understanding of a project is a little like writing an executive summary before one writes the body of a document. It’s possible but a better result is undoubtedly reached where elements of the executive summary are sourced from a detailed, thorough body of information. In other words, it is best to approach the stage one grant application after a fully detailed business plan or project plan has been outlined and signed off. That way the funding need is clear and substantiated.

The government grant application is then almost a matter of ticking boxes! Well, ‘almost’ is a stretch but the process is made much easier if detailed planning precedes the entire application process. The planning process is of extreme benefit if you are eliglible for multiple government grants as many will request much of the same details and application time is drastically reduced.

Go get that free money!

For assistance with any government grants, please contact The Financial Writing Company 1300 477 210.