Grant Writing For Nonprofits And Freelance Writers

Learn how to "grantsmith" winning proposals, think like a funder, draft a solid boilerplate, and build relationships.

Last updated 2022-01-10 | 4.6

- Identify relevant government and private foundation funders
- Draft solid and efficient proposal boilerplate language that can be used for years
- Strategically align funder priorities
- organizational mission
- program design
- program budgets

What you'll learn

Identify relevant government and private foundation funders

Draft solid and efficient proposal boilerplate language that can be used for years

Strategically align funder priorities

organizational mission

program design

program budgets

Use provided sample language as a guide in your own proposal writing

* Requirements

* Writing software and Adobe Acrobat Reader (to view PDFs)
* The homework encourages students to focus on their nonprofit and its programs
* so freelance writers should have a nonprofit / program in mind
* Student should have working knowledge of their organization's goals
* programs
* and priorities

Description

Many nonprofits are worried about tax law changes affecting donations. To be competitive, you need to diversify and build your skills for generating revenue.

This course is designed for nonprofits that want to not only get better at writing successful proposals, but also get better at the process of researching and applying for foundation and government grants. The course is also for grant writers or freelance writers who want to offer their clients a more comprehensive approach to grant writing.

When you’re done with the course, you’ll have assembled one of the most powerful tools a nonprofit can have – a proposal boilerplate.

The boilerplate contains about 75% of the language you’ll need as you’re drafting proposals. Working on the boilerplate outside the pressure of a proposal deadline will result in language that is better-written, as well as more thoughtful and strategic. It will also set you up to be uber-efficient as you’re writing proposals in the future.

Throughout this course we'll be using real examples and real language, and each lesson includes a transcript, so you can kickstart your own boilerplate.

You’ll also be given strategies and tips for finding foundation and government grants, including:

Identifying five relevant local foundations
Gathering information about grants at the local, state, and federal level for you to start pursuing

Finally, we’ll be walking through key strategies for completing solid applications, including:

Letters of intent
The budget
Meeting a funder’s expectations

Each video session includes two downloads: a PDF of the slides in handout format, and a Word document transcript.

Who this course is for:

Nonprofits, particularly small and new nonprofits, or those struggling to develop funder relationships
Freelance writers looking to add grant writing to their skillset

Course content

5 sections • 17 lectures

Introduction 1 lectures

Welcome to the Course Preview 03:08

In this session, you'll get an overview of the goals of the course and how it's organized.

Think Like a Funder 1 lectures

Think Like a Funder Preview 04:31

In this session, you'll learn how to think like a funder and how to plan strategically for grant proposals.

The Boilerplate 9 lectures

Introduction to the Boilerplate Preview 02:07

In this session, you'll learn about the value of creating a proposal boilerplate and the overall structure of a boilerplate document.

Mission & Vision Preview 07:09

In this session, we'll work on your Mission and History statement to create a solid foundation to any proposal.

Philosophy & Approach Preview 07:03

In this session, you'll write language to let funders know your overall philosophy and the specific approach you take in response to that philosophy.

Statement of Need Preview 04:55

In this session, you'll assemble key statistics and conclusions that support your program and approach.

Program Descriptions Preview 08:03

In this session, you'll be creating long and short descriptions of each of your program using a consistent, logical structure.

Accountability Preview 05:27

In this session, you'll be exploring and writing about the mechanisms you use to maintain accountability for quality service delivery.

Sustainability Preview 06:00

In this session, you'll be exploring and writing about your plans to keep your programs sustainable beyond funding.

Partnerships & Volunteers Preview 05:16

In this session, you'll be writing about the different types of partnerships you engage in to keep your programs strong.

Governance, Leadership & Misc. Documents Preview 03:17

In this session, you'll be wrapping up your boilerplate by writing sections about your governance and leadership, than making sure you have the right supporting documents.