Grant Proposal Template
Almost every funder asks for the same handful of things in a slightly different order. Once you can see the underlying structure, a new application stops being a blank page and becomes a set of questions you already know how to answer. This is that structure, section by section, with what a reviewer is actually looking for in each one.
See the coursesEverything on this page is yours to copy and adapt. The courses cover the decisions behind it: what to charge, what to promise, and what to put in writing.
What yours needs to cover
- ✓ A cover page and summary section, written last because it summarises everything else
- ✓ A statement of need carried by evidence rather than by adjectives
- ✓ Goals, objectives and activities laid out so the ones that must line up actually do
- ✓ An organizational capacity section that answers "why you" without a list of adjectives
- ✓ Budget, evaluation and sustainability sections, and where each one is usually scored
How to use it
- Read the funder's scoring rubric first and map each section to the points it carries.
- Draft the need and the project design before anything persuasive, because everything else depends on them.
- Build a rough budget as soon as the activities are settled, so the plan and the money stay one project.
- Write the summary at the end, then read it beside the rubric to check nothing scored is missing.
Why a proposal is read against a scoring rubric
Most competitive funders do not read a proposal the way you read a letter. A reviewer usually has a score sheet beside the application, with points assigned to the need, the project design, the evaluation, the budget and the organization, and they are hunting for the paragraph that earns each block of points. A proposal that is well written but puts its evidence in the wrong section can lose marks it deserved.
That is why the template follows the rubric rather than the story. When the funder publishes its criteria, the headings in your draft should mirror them closely enough that a tired reviewer on their twelfth application finds each answer where they expect it. When no rubric is published, the standard order below is the one most reviewers are used to.
The sections in the order you should draft them
Start with the statement of need, because every other section is a response to it. Then write the goals, objectives and activities, keeping each objective tied to one part of the need so the reviewer can trace a line from problem to plan. The evaluation plan comes next, since it measures the objectives you have just written, and the budget follows once the activities are fixed.
Organizational capacity is written after the plan because only then do you know which of your track record matters. A youth tutoring project needs evidence that you have run tutoring before, not a paragraph about your founding year. The sustainability section and the summary come last, and the summary should be written from the finished proposal rather than from memory of what you meant to say.
Attachments are part of the proposal too. Board lists, audited financials, letters of support and determination letters are checked for completeness before anyone scores the narrative, and a missing one can end the review before it starts.
Adapting one structure to many funders
Keep a master version of the parts that barely change, such as the organizational history, staff biographies and the program description, and rewrite everything that answers a funder's own question. A family foundation that asks four questions in a web form wants the same substance as a state agency that asks for twenty pages, only compressed. The skill is knowing which sentences carry the argument so you can keep those when the space shrinks. The Professional course works through this structure unit by unit, with a worked proposal built across units 3 to 6.
A filled-in example
| Funder and program | A county community foundation, education grants round |
|---|---|
| Request and period | $48,000 over 12 months |
| Need in one sentence | Only 41% of third graders at the two nearest elementary schools read at grade level, according to the district report card |
| Objective | 60 students attend at least 40 tutoring sessions each, and 70% of them gain one reading level by June |
| Core activities | Four afternoons a week of small-group tutoring, run by two part-time coordinators and trained volunteers |
| Evaluation | Reading assessments in September and May, attendance logs kept weekly by the coordinators |
| Budget headline | $36,400 personnel, $7,200 materials and snacks, $4,400 volunteer training and background checks |
Mistakes to avoid
- Writing the summary first. A summary drafted before the plan exists promises things the plan never delivers. Write it last, then check every figure in it against the budget and the objectives.
- Hiding the answer to a scored question. If the rubric gives 20 points to evaluation and your measures are buried in the project description, a reviewer may not find them. Put each answer under the heading that earns its points.
- Treating attachments as an afterthought. Missing financial statements or a board list can disqualify an application before the narrative is read. Build the attachment list on day one and collect the documents in parallel with the writing.
- Letting the budget and narrative drift apart. Staff numbers, participant counts and dates change during drafting. Do a final read with the budget open beside the narrative and reconcile every number the two share.
Grant Proposal Template FAQs
Is there a standard grant proposal format?
There is no single standard, but the same components appear almost everywhere: a summary, a need, a project description, a budget, an evaluation plan and organizational information. A funder's own guidelines always take precedence over any template, including this one.
How long should a grant proposal be?
As long as the funder allows and no longer. Page and word limits are usually checked before a reviewer reads anything, so going over can remove an application from consideration entirely.
Can I reuse a proposal for a different funder?
You can reuse the parts that do not change, such as organizational history and staff biographies. Anything written to a specific funder's priorities has to be written again, because a paragraph aimed at somebody else is usually obvious.
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