Describing the Background of the Organization

Not only must the proposal describe the project for which funds are being sought, it must also describe the organization that is asking for the funds. The placement of this background material often depends on the wishes of the grant maker; sometimes the background is at the front of the proposal, and sometimes it is located after the sections describing the project.

The aim of this section is to assure the grant maker that the grant-seeking organization is solid and trustworthy, that it commands respect from members of the community, and that the work it does is worthwhile. The grant writer might want to include the history of the organization, its qualifications to undertake the project, and its dreams for the future. It is not, however, necessary to go into great detail on this material. The writer should save the details for the parts of the proposal that deal with the project at hand.

While background material used in one grant proposal written by the organization may be similar to the background material in a second proposal, it may be necessary to tailor some of the information to the specific project.

The Summary of the Proposal

Any proposal that is longer than five pages needs to have a summary, a concise description of the project and the organization that is proposing it. Besides describing the grant-seeking organization, a typical summary should devote a paragraph to the reason the grant is being sought, the qualifications of the grant seeker to follow through with the project, and the final result the grant seeker hopes to achieve. Additionally, the summary should state the amount of money the proposal asks for and the full budget for the entire project. (Of course, these amounts may be one and the same if the grant seeker is asking for enough funds to pay for the whole project.)

The summary can make or break the entire project, since if it is written poorly, the potential grant maker may be inclined to set the whole proposal aside. The summary, then, must be able to capture the heart and soul of the project, so that the potential grant maker wants to keep reading.