Grant Writing Best Practices

A Difficult and Time-consuming Process

Obtaining grants can be a difficult and time-consuming process. For these reasons, it is necessary to have a set of best practices that enable grant writers to increase their chances of winning grants. In the article “Grant Writing 2007: Your Guide to Grants” the author discusses the primary practices for obtaining federal grants. The author stresses that there are several areas of attention which must be adhered to in order to win a grant. These areas include: “knowledge, strategy, patience, and attention to detail” (Slanor, 2006). According to Stanor (2006), these areas of best practices allow for grants to be obtained more successfully due to their focus on the requirements of the grantor.

The successful obtaining of a grant will be easier providing that the grant writer understands the various grants, requirements, and availability. The author cites this practice as having knowledge and that this is a necessary area of grant writing because the rules and eligibility, as well as the availability of grants, are constantly changing (Slanor, 2006). Even grants are likely to change at some point and in order for a grant recipient to keep a grant it will be necessary to be mindful of these changes. For this reason, consistent research is necessary in this area in order to have current and relevant knowledge of the different grants.

The article also cites strategy as an important area of consideration for grant writing. This concept is derived from the fact that states and the federal government have specific strategies for dealing with specific problems. In order to create a winning grant proposal, the grant writer will need to create a grant request that closely ties with the state’s strategies for dealing with a problem. This means that grant writers will need to research the state or federal government grants and the intended strategies implied in these grants.

Patience is another factor for obtaining grants. While the article only seems to indirectly touch on this idea it is an important aspect of grant writing. Because of the large number of grants, it is possible to apply for many different grants that serve the same purpose. However, a large number of competitors in seeking grants can make obtaining grants a lengthy process. This is especially true in areas that are extremely specific such as grants for trucking security. A grant of this may only have limited numbers of grantors available and this will mean that many attempts along with large amounts of research must be committed.

Finally, attention to detail is another large consideration for grant writers. This area may be the largest consideration because of the highly competitive nature of grants. Due to a large number of applicants, grantors typically reject grant requests for any number of reasons relating to small details. For instance, all grantors set guidelines for admission and submission of requests which must be adhered to such as dates and times. A submission that is late will automatically be rejected. Beyond these requirements, grant guidelines are also likely to include specific reports and facts such as funds allocation, costs, conflicts of interest, etc… (Slanor, 2006) If a grant proposal is missing any of these required details it will be rejected. For this reason, attention to detail is vital for successfully obtaining a grant.

Slanor makes a compelling case for following specific areas of grant writing practices. Her best argument for following the practices outlined in her article is due to the practical nature of these practices. The concepts and practices, such as knowledge and patience with grant writing, have a fundamental logical basis for their adherence found in the fact that grants are diverse and numerous in nature. It makes sense that a grant writer for a police agency seeking to improve operations would need to have knowledge of the different grants and their strategies. It is also sensible to understand that failure to receive grants or waiting a long time for the grant success is a part of the process. As well, strategy and being meticulous are also considerations as these areas of thought integrate well with finding the appropriate grants as well as fulfilling their requirements properly. This area cannot be overstated in its importance because grants have tremendous diversity. The Department of Justice provides many grants for:

…encouraging and assisting small businesses seeking contracts. Our mission is to ensure that small businesses, including small, disadvantaged businesses, woman owned small businesses, service disabled veteran owned small businesses and HUBZone certified businesses have the maximum practicable opportunity to participate in our work as prime contractors and subcontractors (Department of Justice, 2015).

But also provides grants for:

…research, to support law enforcement activities in state and local jurisdictions, to provide training and technical assistance, and to implement programs that improve the criminal justice system (Department of Justice, 2015).

Due to the tremendous diversity and number of grants, the grant writer should adhere to the concepts of “knowledge, strategy, patience, and attention to detail” (Slanor, 2006). By adhering to these ideas, the grant writer increases his or her chances of success with winning a grant along with maintaining one. As well, the grant writer will save precious time by avoiding many errors made in the grant writing process.

References

Department of Justice. (2015). Business and Grants. Retrieved from United States Department of Justice: http://www.justice.gov/business

Slanor, S. (2006). Grant Writing 2007: Your Guide to Grants. Law and Order , 54 (9).

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