Grant Writing Master Class

Once you come up with a list of everyone who is affected by the problem, narrow your list down to those you think you can affect by your solution. Then describe the need you see primarily in terms of these groups. (But don’t forget to mention how it affects the larger picture as well.) In the case of the refugees, you might narrow your list to the refugees who are reachable in your community.

III. Seeking Out the ROOT Cause of the Need: After we find who is affected and who we can help, we will move onto #3: seeking out the root cause of the need. If we can get to the root cause of the need or issue, we can know how to address the need, and we can show the funder how they can help us address the need.

Let’s jump to a new example. Now we are an organization working with kids who are struggling at school because they don’t eat lunch each day. If we are looking for the root of the problem, we might initially say, “Children at X school are not receiving enough nutrition, which is causing them to struggle in school.” But there are many other factors, or roots to this problem, depending on your organization’s perspective. Let’s think through some of the reasons why these children might not be doing well at school because of poor eating habits:

Perhaps

• Their parents are out of work

• Their parents don’t have the means to provide for the necessities of life

• There aren’t enough jobs in the community for the parents

• The children are spending their lunch money elsewhere (on clothes, drugs, etc.)

• The lunch prices have been raised

• People don’t see the importance of having their children eat lunch each day at school

• The school isn’t providing enough options for the kids, so they would rather go hungry than eat what is offered

• Lunch time is too early and the kids aren’t hungry yet

You can see that the root of the problem that you define, is going to drastically affect your response. You are going to approach the problem of the kids’ parents being out of work differently than the kids who are spending their lunch money on drugs.

IV. Measuring the Scope of the Problem: The fourth aspect of the Need that we are going to discuss is “measuring the scope of the problem.” As you look at the root of the problem, you will also need to address the scope of the problem. Think back to the list we made of people affected by the issue. We then took this list and narrowed it down to those we thought we could affect. This step is a continuation of that idea. We begin by offering data about the big picture and then narrow it down to who or what the funders can actually affect by funding our grant. While you want to show how important the issue is on a grand scale, you also want the funder to see that they can actually make a difference. People aren’t prone to fund something if they are just going to be a drop in the bucket. They want to know that they can really help with the money they are giving.

V. Exploring Who Else is Doing Similar Work: In addition to recognizing and explaining the scope of the problem, you will also need to address who else is doing similar work with the need. Explain how everyone working on this problem fits into the larger picture. Think of it this way: This problem is so large that multiple organizations and groups are working on it. This is what we are doing and this is what we believe we can affect.

VI. Explaining Long-Term Implications: You’ll also want to point out how this need will be affected if you don’t address the situation right now, as well as the long-term effects of what will happen as a result of addressing the issue. This can show the funder the importance of addressing the need or problem right away rather than wait. This is something that is especially important for art organizations, museums, and similar groups because you need to paint a picture for the funder of what life would be like without the new art museum or dance program.

Overall, the Need shapes EVERYTHING in your proposal. It shapes what you are going to do, how you are going to do it, who you are going to approach for support, what kind of grant you are looking for, the scale of the issue, and how you will measure success. Needless to say, it is VITAL that you understand and explain the need, and you really need to do this even before you start the grant writing process.