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Step 1
Developing the Proposal Idea
TIME TO TAKE THE FIRST STEP. This section is dedicated to zeroing in on some key questions to help develop the proposal idea. Before the proposal writing process can begin, you must first determine which organizational programs are the most “fundable.” That is, which programs have the best chance to garner the most interest from grantmakers?
Many funders indicate a preference for investing in new and expanding programs over general operating support or program continuation. Thorough research of prospective funders is critical so that grantseekers understand each funder’s programmatic priorities, geographic focus, and issue areas. Funders might also have an interest in a special project, a capacity-building idea, a set of technology improvements, or building up specific capacities within organizations. This workbook focuses on a general operating support request as the model for developing a proposal.
To start developing a proposal idea, begin with the end in mind. Use the proposal included in this workbook as an example (see Resource A). Alyson Eats is an organization that has identified and is successfully meeting an unmet need in a well-defined community. As an already existing organization, rather than a start-up nonprofit, Alyson Eats is clear on its issue focus, the community it serves, its goals and objectives, and its strategies for success. Additionally, the organization wants to pilot a program targeting a specific demographic within its current community. In the case of Alyson Eats, the executive director will drive the development of the organization’s annual operating plan, inclusive of the concept for a pilot program targeting teens, and will involve other staff, clients, and volunteers as appropriate. The annual operating plan for the organization will serve as the basis of the entire proposal.
The importance of having the right people at the table when the proposal plan is developed cannot be overstated. Nonprofit organizations sometimes make the serious mistake of securing funding for a program that they do not have the ability to implement or – worse yet – a program that does not meet the identified needs because it was developed without the appropriate staff people involved.
When preparing a proposal, most grantwriters start with the planning sections (problem statement, goals and objectives, strategies, evaluation, program sustainability, and budget) because these sections form the core of the proposal. Following that, they craft the organizational background section, finishing with the proposal summary and the cover letter. This workbook follows that format, keeping in mind that most foundation proposals are now submitted via online portal and with limited space. The limited space on portals means being even more succinct with grant proposal copy. Every word, space, and punctuation mark counts. (Please refer to the Helpful Hint provided in the section titled How to Use This Workbook in the frontmatter.)
The planning sections of the proposal deserve careful attention; without a clearly articulated plan, it is nearly impossible to get funding. Writing a clear, goal-oriented, thoughtful proposal is crucial. If a grantseeker can’t explain who they serve, what they want to do, why they’re doing it, and how they’re going to do it (and measure their success in doing so), foundation staff will not have what they need to (1) understand the request and why it is worthwhile, and (2) advocate on the organization’s behalf.
A general guideline is that nonprofits should expect to focus approximately 70 percent of their time on program planning (problem statement, goals and objectives, strategies, evaluation, and budget); the other 30 percent can be dedicated to crafting the organizational background statement, proposal summary, and proposal submission. Remember: submitting via an online portal is going to take some time, which needs to be factored into the overall timeline.
A good guideline to keep in mind is this: the tighter an organization’s plan (annual operating or programmatic), the easier the proposal will be to write. Enter this process knowing that even with program plan in hand, it will be necessary to fine-tune the plan as the proposal is being developed. This should also be built into the timeline.
Reality Check
Pay attention to the fit. When doing prospect research, grantseekers will come across various funding opportunities, including special initiatives and grants for specific programs within defined areas of interest. These opportunities might be tempting, but organizations should take care in evaluating these opportunities against their organization’s mission, goals, and objectives. Is there really a fit? Or is the organization “growing another foot” to “fit the shoe” the funder is presenting? Grantseekers should always keep the mission, goals, and objectives of their organization at the forefront of every funding opportunity.
Helpful Hint
LOGIC MODEL
What exactly is a logic model? It is a valuable tool that provides a visual illustration of the flow of activities that will produce the desired results by the organization or program. Even the most basic logic model can prove useful in organizing the planning and analysis of an organization or programmatic design for outcomes-based evaluations. For the purpose of developing grant proposals, a logic model can be helpful in visually describing the organization and/or its programs. Some foundations require a logic model, including the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, which offers a useful Logic Model Development Guide (https://bit.ly/1HgeuAH).
To begin developing the proposal idea, complete Worksheet 1.1. The more thorough the answers, the more helpful the worksheet. After completing the worksheet, use those answers to identify one idea to focus on as you develop a grant proposal using the exercises in this workbook. To check the merit of the idea identified, answer the Proposal Development Review Questions at the end of this chapter, then follow Steps 2 through 12 to create a well-planned, winning grant. Throughout the steps, this workbook will refer you to the accompanying website for worksheet examples and templates.
WORKSHEET 1.1: Proposal Idea Questionnaire
What new projects are you planning for the next two to three years?
Project A:
Project B:
Project C:
Project D:
Which of these projects are most compatible with your organization’s current mission and purpose, and in what way?
Project Compatibility
A
B
C
D
What is unique about your organization’s project?
Project Uniqueness
A
B
C
D
What other organizations are doing this project? Is there duplication of effort? Is there potential for collaboration?
Duplicate Project (with whom) Possible Collaboration Project (with whom)
A
B
C
D
What community need does each of your organization’s projects address?
Project Need Addressed
A
B
C
D
What members of your community—including civic leaders, political figures, the media, your organization’s clients or constituents, and other nonprofits—support each project?
Project Supporters
A
B
C
D
Does your organization currently have the expertise to undertake each project? If new staff is necessary, can the organization manage growth in infrastructure (HR, technology, supervisory oversight, and so forth) effectively? (Check each category that applies to each project.)
Project Expertise HR Technology Other (specify)
A
B
C
D
Is there internal (board and staff) support for the project? External support (community leaders, clients, neighbors, and so forth)? (Check the category that applies to each project and specify the type of support.)
Project Internal Support (specify) External Support (specify)
A
B
C
D
Winning Grants Step by Step, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
Public Funders
Before you begin developing a proposal concept for a public funding application, be sure to read through all grant requirements, funding restrictions, and regulations that are available. Pay particular attention to eligibility requirements. You don’t want to waste time on an application only to find out your organization or program is not eligible for the funding. Another tip for developing public funding proposals is that it is often possible to find examples of proposals that have been funded under previous solicitations. Looking through successful proposals may help you as you develop your own concept!
Proposal Development Review Questions
To test whether your proposal idea has merit, answer the following six questions.
What community need does the organization’s program or service address? The answer to this question will become the framework for the proposal’s need statement.
What would an improved community situation look like? This answer will become the basis of the proposal’s goals and objectives.
What can the organization do to improve the situation? This answer will become the basis of the proposal’s strategies.
How will the organization know if its program or service has succeeded? This answer will become the basis of the proposal’s evaluation component.
How much will the organization’s program or service cost and what other sources of support (revenue and in-kind support) will it have? This answer will become the basis of the proposal’s budget.
How will the organization’s program or service be funded in the future? This answer will become the basis of the proposal’s sustainability component.
Complete a word processing document that responds to the six (6) “Proposal Development Review Questions” on page 17 of the textbook.
Instructions:
For this assignment, you will continue to use the organization you selected in Unit 1 and now you will need to identify and describe the particular community in which your organization is located or to which it provides services.
You should rely on the information provided in this chapter of the textbook (Step 1: Developing the Proposal Idea) to complete the worksheet.
Respond fully to each of the six review questions and include the basis for your response. (In other words, what was the source of the information you provided in your responses to the questions?) Use each of the questions as a sub-heading for your assignment.
When responding to the review questions, notice that the questions each pertain to a part of the grant application request that you will be completing in a future unit in the course. You also might find it helpful to review the chapter related to each of the review questions. For example, your response to question 2 will be relevant when you develop your goals and objectives for the project in Unit 3 so you might want to review the chapter “Step 4: Defining Clear Goals and Objectives.”
Step 4
Defining Clear Goals and Objectives
IN THIS STEP GRANTSEEKERS LEARN the concept of writing clear goals and objectives – and the important differences between those two terms. Using the website and following the examples, grantseekers construct goals and a set of objectives for their own proposals.
Purpose of the Goals and Objectives Components: The “So What?” Factor
Once an organization has articulated (in the problem or need statement) the problem to be addressed, the next step is to develop solid goals that define what the organization intends to accomplish through its program, and establish measurable objectives that will indicate the organization’s progress toward its goals. The goals and objectives will allow the organization and its funders to know whether the program is successful at the conclusion of the grant. Poorly defined goals and objectives, or goals without objectives, push projects into missed milestones, overworked staff, unhappy clients, and disillusioned funders. Goals and objectives should be clear statements of purpose that define the end result of the project.1
Definition of Goals and Objectives
Some terms can be confusing, especially if the assumption is made that everyone understands what they mean. So it’s important to keep in mind that goals are what the program aspires to achieve, and objectives “should clarify what changes you expect to see as a result of your work.”2 Don’t confuse the organization’s mission, which is its ongoing reason for existence, with the organization’s goals, which are more narrowly focused on an organization’s programs and projects, and which might change from year to year.
Many foundations ask grantseekers to break down their objectives into smaller pieces, such as activities and outcomes, and some grantmakers use their own particular definitions. For this reason, it is essential to review each foundation’s guidelines and follow their instructions. Other terms some grantmakers might use under the general umbrella of goals and objectives include:
Activities: the work that the organization will undertake in order to achieve its goals.
Outcomes (sometimes used interchangeably with objectives; some foundations call these accomplishments): what will have changed as the result of the organization’s work during the course of this grant.
Outputs: materials or other products the grantseeker’s program will produce, such as a training video.
Measures of success (sometimes called benchmarks): how the organization will know it has achieved its objectives.
Some foundations ask grantseekers to articulate what they expect to achieve within different timeframes. For instance, some grantmakers ask for short- and long-term objectives – and they may define these terms in their own way. To one foundation, a short-term objective may mean what the grantseeker can achieve within the grant period, while another foundation may define short-term as over the next three years. These definitions will be spelled out in the foundation’s guidelines.
An organization may have more than one goal, and each goal may have more than one objective. In the sample proposal, for example, the organization as a whole has one goal and one objective. However, the organization conducts four programs, each of which has its own goal and objective. These four program objectives add up to the organizational objective. A smaller program may have only one goal and two or three objectives. What is important is that both the goals and the objectives are directly tied to the problem statement (Step 3).
Goal: The “thing(s) you’re attempting to accomplish,” which “show the funder that you have a vision for solving the problem.”3 Grantseekers might have goals for their organization as a whole, and/or for their programs. A good approach is to make sure a goal is SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. (Variations of the SMART formula abound: for instance, replacing Achievable with Ambitious, or Relevant with Realistic. It’s a tool – use the SMART definitions that work best for the project at hand.)
Example: (Organizational goal) Reduce hunger in the city of Alyson.
(Program goal – Every Youngster Eats) Reduce the summer school-lunch gap for 1,000 children.
Objective: A “major milestone … or benchmark on your route to reaching a goal.”4 An objective must be measurable.
Example: (Organizational objective) Provide more than 200,000 nutritious meals to children and adults in Alyson who are experiencing or are at risk for hunger.
(Program objective – Every Youngster Eats) 1,000 children will receive lunch five days a week from June through August (12 weeks), for a total of 60,000 meals.
Writing tip
When writing an objective, use verbs (action words), such as increase, decrease, reduce, improve, gain, create, provide, equip, and so on.
Everyone struggles in the beginning with the difference between goals and objectives. Use the side-by-side comparison in Table 4.1 as an aid.5
Table 4.1 Goals versus Objectives
Goals Objectives
Are broad statements
Provide focus, vision, and direction
Can be idealistic and do not necessarily have to be reached during the proposed grant period
Can be nonspecific and nonmeasurable Are realistic steps to achieve the goal(s)
Are active and use strong action verbs
Answer: What? Why? Who? How? When?
Can be validated
Are clear to everyone with a basic knowledge
Are SMART:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time-bound
Example of Strong Goals and Objectives
Goals Objectives
All children have a playground within walking distance Increase the access to playgrounds for children in Eastown by two playgrounds each year for the next five years.
Asthma is no longer the number one reason that children miss school All students in grades K–3 who are diagnosed with asthma decrease their incidents of severe attacks by 15 percent in the first semester.
All adults can read confidently to their children Eighty-five percent of first-time, new parents in the Barrisville section of Anytown can read and have child-appropriate books in their homes within a year of their first child’s birth.
Outcome-Focused Objectives
It is important to ensure that a grant proposal’s objectives focus on outcomes (the change) versus the process (how the change will be made). The “how” is addressed in the next step, which centers on strategies. Outcomes answer these questions: What will be different, improved, or better as the results of an organization’s actions? What can be measured?
An example of an outcome objective: “1,000 children will receive lunch five days a week from June through August.” There is another kind of objective, sometimes called process objectives. These focus on activities, for example, “To distribute ready-made meals to childcare centers, nonprofit day camps, and so forth, to make up for the school lunches that children rely on during the school year.”
Although there is a place for process objectives (see the Reality Check later), foundations are generally more interested in outcomes – in what an organization expects to achieve. In fact, a common error grantseekers make is to confuse activities (“We will conduct a program to distribute ready-made meals”) with outcomes (“1,000 children will receive lunch five days a week”).
As one example of a foundation’s guidelines, the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation in Washington, DC asks four clear and simple questions an organization should answer pertaining to the problem statement and outcomes:6
What problem/need does this project address?
What is your organization’s proposed solution to this problem/need, and how will it be implemented?
What evidence will prove the success of this project?
What results are you committed to achieving during the grant period?
Step 3 emphasized that the problem statement must focus on what the community needs, not what the organization needs; similarly, objectives should focus on what change the organization will achieve, not what the organization will do. The outcome-focused approach benefits an organization by allowing it the flexibility to adjust its strategies and activities as needed to reach its objectives – and ultimately to achieve its goals.
Definitions
Goal is what the program will achieve. Goals are visionary and may not be measurable.
Objectives are how grantseekers will know if their program is meeting its goal(s). Objectives are measurable and time-bound.
Strategies define the activities or methods needed to accomplish the objectives. Strategies are the “how to.”
Because outcomes are considered powerful indicators of success, this workbook focuses more on outcome objectives rather than process objectives. A growing numbers of funders, as well as individual donors, are looking to make an impact with their grants. A grantseeker’s outcome-focused objectives will help funders understand how their investment in the organization will make an impact by creating positive change.
Reality Check: Advocacy
Creating systems change, advocating for a community, group of people or position, and/or enabling community activism takes time, and the path to success is not always clear or easy to quantify. Because of the nature of this work, grantseekers may want to include process objectives as well as outcome objectives. These process objectives are the small wins that allow everyone to measure the progress in moving toward the goals.
Example for Advocacy Work
Outcome: Schools replace high-sugar snacks with nutritious snacks in vending machines on campus.
Process or small win: Have a proposition on the November ballot banning high-sugar snacks in school vending machines.
Process or small win: Collect enough signatures to be on the November ballot.
The following chart contains some questions that may help grantseekers define better outcomes.7
Process-Oriented Questions Outcome-Oriented Questions
What services do you offer? What community results do you hope to accomplish through your services?
What is it that your organization does? What is it that your organization is striving to achieve?
What service needs does your organization or agency meet? What change in condition or behavior are you attempting to effect in the people you serve?
Writing Outcome Objectives
Answering the following questions will help to articulate the results the organization expects to accomplish:
Based on the problem statement, what is (are) the key area(s) the organization is seeking to change?
Who (what segment of the population or community) will be involved in the change?
How will the change be measured (an increase or improvement, or a decrease and reduction)? And by what degree (by how much)?
When will this change take place? How many months or years or by what specific date?
After you have written your objectives, it is helpful to run one last test to see if the objectives are SMART:8
Specific: Do they answer some or all of the five W questions about what change the organization wants to create (who, what, when, where, why)?
Measurable: How will you know if you’ve met the goal? What metrics will you use? What benchmarks will serve as stepping stones to the final goal?
Achievable: This is the reality check. Based on available resources (knowledge, funding, staffing, partners, physical space, etc.) and access to the target population, will the organization be able to make the change it envisions within the defined time? And with the resources requested? It is important to strike a balance between being overly ambitious and aiming too low.
Relevant: Are the objectives results-oriented and rewarding to the organization, its funder(s), and, most important, the community being served?
Time-bound: What is the deadline for reaching the change envisioned?
Reality Check
The SMART system has been in use for many years. The Management Center, which serves as a resource on effective management for social change organizations, has updated this tool with measures that are important to both foundations and grantseekers today.9 Their “SMARTIE” system includes the classic SMART descriiptions, and adds:
Inclusive: Brings traditionally marginalized people – particularly those most impacted – into processes, activities, and decision/policy making in a way that shares power.
Equitable: Includes an element of fairness or justice that seeks to address systemic injustice, inequity, or oppression.
“SMARTIE goals are about including marginalized communities in a way that shares power, shrinks disparities, and leads to more equitable outcomes,” The Management Center explains. This approach can be used for any kind of program, from direct service to arts organizations.
Helpful Hint
Objectives measure a change: an increase or improvement, a decrease or reduction, or the creation of something that didn’t exist previously. Active phrases, like “our objective is to reduce X” are crisper than more passive phrases, such as “our objective is reducing X.” As much as possible, avoid using words that end in “ing.”
Public Funding: Goals and Objectives
Unlike private funders, public funders often provide specific goals and objectives they expect grantees to be able to meet, and applicants should be sure to state that they will meet those projected benchmarks in their goals and objectives. These expected goals and objectives may be tied to laws and regulations that authorize the funding opportunities. For example, many local public workforce development programs derive their funding from the multibillion-dollar, federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). WIOA has specific performance measures related to job placement, job retention, attainment of credentials, and building relationships with employers, among others, that applicants must be prepared to address in their applications.
Public-funding applications may ask for goals and objectives to be stated in specific formats and/or to be presented in logic model format. Be sure to follow formatting directions to the letter.
As described in Step 1, a logic model is a graphic representation of the program and its outcomes. If a logic model is required, there may be a sample provided the RFA. If not, there are many free downloadable templates and sample logic models available online.
Tips for Writing Good Goals and Objectives
Do …
Include at least one goal for the project and one or two outcome objectives.
Make sure that the goals and objectives tie back to the problem statement. This is critical.
Include all relevant groups in the target population in the goal(s). When writing objectives, it’s fine to specify an outcome for a particular population or community.
Allow plenty of time to accomplish objectives. Things always take longer to implement than planned. It is better to undercommit and overperform than to overcommit and underperform.
Don’t …
Overpromise what can be accomplished. Limit the number of goals to one to three per program and no more than three objectives per goal. An organization will need to keep track of – and report to the funder on – all the objectives tied to the goals, so keep it manageable with a small number of the most meaningful objectives.
Confuse outcome objectives with strategies or activities. Running a food pantry is an activity. To ensure that at least 3,000 households reduce their risk of hunger over the course of the year is an outcome objective, as it describes the result expected to be achieved.
Forget to budget for evaluation activities (Step 6) if measuring the objective(s) will have costs associated with it.
Use Worksheet 4.1A to prepare to write proposal goals and objectives by focusing on outcomes. Start by writing down the goal of the program. Then describe the objectives that tie to that goal. Use the filled-out Worksheet 4.1B as a guide. If an organization has more than one goal for its program, use a separate copy of Worksheet 4.1A for each goal. Limit the objectives to no more than three per goal.
WORKSHEET 4.1A: Goals and Objectives Exercise
Grantseekers should complete this worksheet for themselves. For guidance refer to Worksheet 4.1B, which contains sample goals and objectives based on the Eating Is a Right program.
GOAL:
Objective 1 Objective 2 Objective 3
Direction of change
Area of change
Target population
Degree of change
Time frame
Follow this standard form as objective statements are developed: To (direction of change) + (area of change) + (target population) + (degree of change) + (time frame).
Winning Grants Step by Step, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
WORKSHEET 4.1B: Objectives Worksheet Completed for the Eating Is a Right Program
GOAL: To provide access to 144,000 healthful meals for individuals and families in Alyson’s south side.
Objective 1 Objective 2 Objective 3
Direction of change Increase
Area of change Residents of the city of Alyson’s south side
Target population Families who are hungry or at risk of hunger
Degree of change 9,000 boxes of food totaling 144,000 meals will reach at least 3,000 households
Time frame One full year
Winning Grants Step by Step, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2019 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.
When this is completed, go through the Goals and Objectives Review Questions using the same approach you used for the problem statement. Remember, the goal is to be able to answer yes to each question in the review questions.
Goals and Objectives Review Questions
Are the goals stated as results? And do they relate to the problem statement?
Are the outcome objectives stated as results that relate to a program goal? Are they stepping stones to achieving success (the goal)? Can everyone understand them?
Can progress in meeting the objectives be measured and assessed?
Do the objectives describe the population and a specific time frame for change?
The organization’s problem statement is in order, and the “so what?” factor has been addressed in the program’s goals and objectives. So let’s move on to Step 5 where the development of the organization’s strategies, or activities, will help to achieve the program’s objectives, thus leading to the accomplishment of the program’s goals.
Notes
1. Rhonda Goetz, Defining Project Goals and Objectives, January 2010, www.projectsmart.co.uk.
2. Walter and Evelyn Haas, Jr. Foundation Guidelines, https://www.haasjr.org/grants/for-current-grantees/sample-objectives, accessed November 2018.
3. Beverly A. Browning, Grant Writing For Dummies, 6th ed. (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2016).
4. Ibid.
5. Adapted from UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Health DATA, Train the Trainer Project. Performing a Community Assessment Curriculum, 2004. http://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/programs/health-data/trainings/Documents/tw_cba7.pdf.
6. www.cafritzfoundation.org/apply/before-you-apply.
7. Adapted from Robert A. Penna and William J. Phillips, Outcome Frameworks (Albany, NY: Rensselaerville Institute’s Center for Outcomes, Fort Orange Press, 2004), 8.
8. Adapted from Emily Esposito, “The Essential Gide to Writing S.M.A.R.T Goals,” Smartsheet.com, https://www.smartsheet.com/blog/essential-guide-writing-smart-goals, accessed December 2018.
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