Grants can be intimidating. While the search itself can be overwhelming, that process is just the first part of the long and complicated journey of writing successful grant proposals. This article will provide you with a comprehensive step-by-step beginners’ guide to writing compelling grant proposals.
If you're looking for actionable tips on how to choose a grant writing consultant, you're in the right place. From cost analysis and evaluating their experience to asking the right questions—there's a lot of things you should bear in mind.
Curious on how to write a nonprofit strategic plan? Read our step-by-step guide to discover three different planning models, prevent common mistakes, and learn from the best examples of strategic plans.
This post digs deep into the seven steps you need to take to create a successful nonprofit fundraising event.
If you can't tell a story, you can't win grants easily. This post explores how to use storytelling in your needs statement, along with how to use storytelling throughout your grant proposals.
In this blog post, discover the 9 essential components of a good grant proposal and learn the timeless tips and tricks to make yours stand out (along with 4 extra resources).
In this post, we’ll dig into what is a grant, what standard grant lifecycles look like, and how to find grant opportunities for your nonprofit.
This post digs into what is a grant narrative and why are they important, how to write your first draft in five steps, and how long a grant narrative often is.
In this post, we'll explore what are logic models for grants, when you should use them, five simple steps to build your own logic model, and then set you up with tips to help you build your own.
In this article, you'll learn the basics of grant writing, the most common sections of grants, and what to do before and during the grant writing process.
In this post, you will learn how to respond to rejection letters by learning how to move on and improve your proposals. We also include several samples of responses to rejections.
This article explores what a grant report is, what should be included in your grant report, five easy steps to write a grant report, and sample grant reporting templates.
In this article you'll learn what to consider before applying for government grants, how to find US, state, and local grant opportunities, and some common sources of government grants.
This post explores the four common types of grants, how to get started finding the right grants for your needs including local and regional grants, and the best grant database tools to use for your search.
Knowing how much to ask for in a grant can be stressful. This post explores 3 factors to ask when figuring out how much to ask for. We'll dig into tools you can use starting today to know exactly what you should ask for in your next grant application.
In this post, we dig into the ins and outs of effective grant prospect research. We'll explore how to identify funding prospects, how to research your top grant prospects, answer FAQ around grant prospect research and more.
Knowing grant writing best practices can make or break your application. In this post, we explore best communication practices to follow with funders, best grant writing practices for proposals, what to do when updating or repurposing proposals, and more.
Winning corporate grants isn't as hard as it may seem. In this post, we dig into how to know when to apply for a corporate grant, tips to getting corporate grants for nonprofits, FAQ around corporate grants, and more.
In this post, we dig into what is a grant budget and why they’re important, five steps to help you prepare for a grant proposal budget, and cover the differences between different types of grant budgets.
Creating grant application pipelines for tracking can be tedious. In this post, we dig into exactly how to create a grant tracking pipeline, give you a sample grant management template you can use, and tips to managing your grant pipeline.
Finding funders for grants is hard. In this post, we dig into all the fundamentals you need to know to succeed, including what to look for when finding funders, how to find foundation or corporate grants as well as how to find government grants.
No idea where to start when it comes to writing grants for nonprofits? In this guide, we dig into what the different types of grants are, how to find grants for your nonprofit, and how to write a grant proposal in 7 steps.
In this post, we answer what is grant management for both grant makers and grant seekers, why having a grant management process is important, how nonprofits manage grants, and common mistakes nonprofits make when managing their grants.
In this article, we teach you all about Form 990s and how to read them. Learn what Form 990s are used for, how to review the most important line items on Form 990s, and how Instrumentl makes it even easier to interpret funder 990s.
In this post, we dig into what is a letter of inquiry to a foundation, how to write a letter of inquiry that stands out in three simple steps, along with some helpful tips for writing effective LOIs to foundations.
In this post, we dig into answering what are cover letters for grant proposals, what makes a good cover letter vs. a bad one, three examples of cover letters for grant proposals, and more.
Are you ready for grants? In this article, one of our partners, Matt Hugg, details twelve questions you should definitely ask your organization before you start writing your next grant. These are key questions to help you make sure your organization has the best shot of winning more funding.
In this article, we dig into what is grant writing? We answer common questions like who typically does grant writing, basics of what to do and what not to do, and more. You'll get insights into what are some helpful grant writing resources and more.
Wondering how to become a grant writer? In this post, we explore why grant writing makes for a great career, 7 steps to become a grant writer, and answer frequently asked questions on becoming a grant writer.
Are you curious why executive summaries are important? In this post, we explore the answer to that question along with how to write an executive summary step-by-step. You'll leave with clear examples you can reference as well!
This post explores must-dos when it comes to grant management, best practices to adopt when tackling grant management and how to manage a grant.
Not sure how to write a grant report? In this post, we dig into five steps you can follow to write a grant report, templates for grant reports, and other tips for preparing your grant report.
Everyone has asked this question before. How many grants should you apply for? The answer depends. In this post, we dig into how to set a SMART grants goal that your nonprofit can achieve, as well as provide a way to figure out how many grants you may want to apply for.
Wondering how to write an effective needs statement? In this post, we dig into what makes a needs statement powerful, good vs. bad needs statement examples and how to get started writing a good needs statement.
In this post, we'll dig into what general operating support is, give you tips to write an effective general operating grant proposal, and leave you with clear examples of general operating support grant proposals.
In this post, we explore what a grant calendar is, how to create a template for yourself in managing your grants, and how to use Instrumentl as your ultimate grant calendar.
If you're still looking only at FOAs when it comes to finding the right grant opportunities, you need to read this article. In it, we dig into why matching project ideas to grant funder interests is important, how to identify grant funder interests, real examples of how to match your grant application to funder interests and more.
If you're wondering if your nonprofit is grant ready, this article is for you. In it, we dig into what it even means for a nonprofit to be grant ready, signs to watch out for when it comes to readiness, as well as provide you a grant readiness checklist to work through in answering this question for your nonprofit.
In this article, we’ll break down how you can avoid ever missing a grant deadline again. We'll outline for you a range of tools to fit your grant workflow, help you plan a year ahead of your grants calendar, and avoid ever having that feeling of having missed a grant deadline again.
In this post, we break down all your questions around invite only funders, teach you how to get invitations from these funders, and tell you what mistakes to avoid making when approaching invitation-only funders.
In this blog post, we lay out the proven grant writing process — from finding the right grants for your nonprofit to writing a winning proposal in 7 steps.