Writing the Winning Technology Grant Proposal

From government agencies to private philanthropic groups, technology grant opportunities exist at nearly every societal level.

But there's a difference between writing a grant proposal and writing a winning grant proposal. The difference is in the preparation.

Below are seven essential elements that you must master to write and get a technology grant.

The Proposal Summary

This section is an overview of your project. At this point, you should have already made sure that existing proposals don't already exist for similar projects. This section helps you nail down your primary goals.

How do you get the most out of your proposal summary? Write it last. This will ensure that you've summarized all the key points in your core proposal. Crucial points to include are a need summary, other funding options, and an impact statement should funding not be met.

The Introduction

You will need to introduce your organization, key players, and organizational goals. The introduction should also be specific to your project's funding. Grant funding entities shouldn't have to wade through thick introductions which don't have relevance to your funding.

Needs Statement

This is the key component to your proposal. If you don't get funding, it will more than likely be due to a weak needs statement. Spell out what exactly your project will accomplish — using benefits statements.

Your problem isn't that you need a bigger web presence. Your problem is better community outreach. How is the technology going to impact people? Focus on the outcome of the solution rather than the solution itself.

The more specific data for your problem, the more you can bridge the connection between technology and outcomes. Have you completed surveys? How about statistical or quantitative studies?

To borrow an old marketing axiom, "Show me. Don't tell me."

Objectives

There are two fundamental questions you must answer in this section. What are the goals I'm planning to reach with this project? And, what approach am I going to use to reach those goals?

Implementation

In this section, you will spell out exactly how you're going to solve the problem you announced in your needs statement. This section needs to include enough detail to show that you know what you're talking about and, at the same time, simple enough that an evaluator can understand it at face value.

Evaluation

Once you get funding, how are you going to measure outcomes? If you have existing data, now is the time to forecast, or project, how the technology will address your problem.

If you have multiple possible outcomes, choose the top one or two outcomes that will have the most impact. If you try to measure everything, you'll spend all your time collection data and running different scenarios.

Once you set your measurement criteria, how will you make adjustments if you don't meet your selected criteria?

If the grantor has evaluation criteria which they want incorporated, most often they will, then how do you plan to incorporate the criteria? Spell out how you will perform the evaluation to include a timeline.

The Future

Don't ignore this section. Address your project's future funding needs. Many projects span more than one year. Don't neglect future funding because you're focused on your current project needs. Evaluators will appreciate your honesty.

Start early and take the time to write and solid, compelling technology grant funding proposal. Don't give funding authorities a reason to turn you down. Make them come up with a reason.

 

Written by: Frank J Klein - CIO

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