Grant Writing Toolkit
The key to a good grant application is careful preparation and planning.
Before you begin grant writing, it can be helpful to write down a description of your proposed project in advance. This would include scope, feasibility, outcomes, timeline, budget, and so forth. You could also consider developing a project logic model to help identify the activities within your project, and how those activities will lead to change.
You can also plan for future funding opportunities by developing your own funding toolkit: putting together key background information and statistics that can be used as strong evidence for the need for your project. Your funding kit will depend on your research and area of expertise, but it could include things like:
Having this information on hand will enable you to plan for those funding opportunities that you know become available every year, as well as be able to respond quickly to ad hoc funding rounds.
This template can help you identify the key components of your project before you apply for a grant.
An insider's (brief) guide to the four grant-seeking stages
The Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal outline for key stages: Preparation and planning; Identifying opportunities; grant writing; and reporting.
3 tips for surviving the grant writing process
Research Impact Academy offer suggestions for planning and preparation for writing grants.
Reading grant guidelines
The Grants Hub explains the importance of reading all the guidelines before you start writing, and offer a list of things to look out for.
Developing a logic model/theory of change
The Community Tool Box website contains a detailed explanation of logic models and includes a self-assessment checklist and examples.
Project planning (7:59 mins)
This podcast by Strategic Grants gives some tips for project planning before you start writing your grant application.
Let's build your grants toolkit! (9:53 min)
Strategic Grants provide tips for building your own grant toolkit which can be used as a foundation for many grant applications.
Developing a project plan (4:17 mins)
The Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal outline 7 key questions to ask yourself when developing a project plan: What? Why? Who? How? When? Where? How much?
Exploring Program Logic (5:28 min)
This animation by NSW Health provides an introduction to program logic. It explains what program logic is, defines the components of a program logic model and what they represent, provides a brief overview of how to develop a program logic model, and explains how program logic can be used when developing and evaluating health programs.