The person I think of most when writing a grant is the program officer. The reason is that every grant proposal that is written must survive this person in order to be approved for funding. It has been my experience that they are very special people with a very special skill for weeding through an avalanche of grant proposals while remaining relatively same. It is a mind-boggling job that only gets worse around deadline time. Do grant writers just sit around and wait for deadlines to come so they can turn in their proposals? Why do grant writers write their proposals while ignoring the guidelines? As you can see the program officer has a lot of problems to wade through on a daily basis while still remaining calm and helpful for those of us that call them before proceeding to write a grant proposal. Well I have 9 secrets to help you get your grant proposal approved by the program officer so that it can move to the boardroom. The boardroom is were the people that make the funding decision hang out by the way. Now put on your thinking caps because here we go: 1. Before you put pen to paper please call the program officer and ask for updated guidelines and talk with them about your organization. If you are eligible they will be delighted because they're organization is in the business to give grants to organizations that are eligible, creative and professional. You will make a huge impression. If you aren't eligible you just saved the program officer and yourself a lot of time and money. 2. Also make sure you describe in great detail the solution to the social problem that you are trying to solve. Program officers zero in on solutions because they have heard most of the problems a thousand times before. 3. Make sure the program officer reading your proposal is transformed by your mission and is floored by your action, which fulfills every gap in service imaginable in dealing with your particular social issue. It's extremely important to retort your abilities to tackle the social issue you are dealing with on an ongoing basis so that people are driven and inspired to help do something. 4. Very important also is to spell out exactly how your program will work, step by step, so that the program officer can envision for himself or herself how your program operates and that in fact it is a viable and credible solution. 5. Write very simply and clearly so that the program officer does not have to guess what you are trying to say because they won't try and guess. They will move on to the next proposal leaving yours on the desk or worse in the round file. 6. Do not beg in your proposal such as "we may not survive if we don't get this grant". First of all have some dignity; you are after all a professional not a kid trying to talk the program officer out of a baseball. The better way is to say something like "We will succeed in doing this program even if we do this by our self, but we think we can do it better, faster and have a lasting impact on the community as partners". 7. Do not contact a board member or the foundation donor because you know someone who knows them. Remember the program officer is paid to be the gatekeeper and if you try and do an end run they will surely bite your head off. Mainly because it is their job to deal with you not the board member or donor. That's why they were hired dummy! 8. If you are regurgitating a grant proposal such as a boilerplate make sure you don't leave information from the last funder in the document. Edit the proposal 2 or 3 times fool! The program officer will be delighted you did. 9. Last but not least the biggest secret is to turn your proposal in early so the program officer can call with any questions or slight changes so your proposal moves upstairs to the boardroom. Give them the chance to help! Well there you have it some of my biggest secrets to getting winning grant proposals awarded. In 2009 it will get tougher and more competitive to get grants awarded so you have to stand out from the crowd and believe me when I tell you that the program officer can be your friend if you give them reason to be impressed. If you follow this advice you will certainly increase your grant funding percentage and impress your boss or clients. Have a Great day, Matt Lambhoff The Author of "How to Get Free Government Grant." >> www.moneyohmoney.com
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