The following excerpts from our 24-page booklet, "Twenty
Steps to Effective Grant Writing", give a brief description of
essential elements and useful techniques in making grant writing
a success.

     Copyright 1997 by Sumption & Wyland.  All rights reserved.

For more information, contact:

Sumption & Wyland
818 South Hawthorne Avenue
Sioux Falls, SD  57104-4537
(605) 336-0244
(605) 336-0275 (FAX)
CompuServe ID: 75162,147
e-mail: 75162.147@compuserve.com



Table of Contents

1.   Know your organization before you write.
2.   Learn everything you can about the funding source.
3.   Keep frequently used information on hand -- and update it
     regularly.
4.   Get the team to commit to the project -- and the
     application.
5.   When developing a grant application, you can work with a
     team, but you must write alone.
6.   Pattern the structure of your grant application -- use clues
     from the funding source.
7.   The Table of Contents is the place to start writing.
8.   The Abstract or Executive Summary.
9.   The grant application Abstract or Executive Summary has many
     uses.
10.  The introduction -- the start of the grant application
     narrative.
11.  Describe your need or problem in compelling terms.
12.  Objectives should be clear and well-defined.
13.  Methods should be realistic and understandable.
14.  The evaluation section -- critical but often neglected.
15.  Future or other funding -- how will your project continue
     when grant funds are gone?
16.  The budget can tell your whole story -- if you allow it to.
17.  Draft and re-draft your application.
18.  Neatness counts!
19.  Follow your application all the way to the Post Office!
20.  The best time to start a new application is right after
          finishing the current application.Introduction


     There are very few full-time grant writers.  Most of us
write grants because it's a relatively small part of our job. 
From time to time, the need to write a grant becomes an all-consuming task.
 Grant writing can be the most frustrating -- and
most rewarding -- work you will ever do.  

     This booklet is designed to give you a handy method to
organize your work, speed up the grant writing process, and
increase your chance of writing winning proposals.  In other
words, we want to help you save time and get more money!

     Each grant application is unique.  Each funding source has
its own special requirements, and it's very important to pay
close attention to their guidelines.  However, the steps in this
booklet are common to almost all grants.  Following these twenty
steps will place you ahead of the competition in the chase for
grant dollars!

     Good luck!1.   Know your organization before you write.


     It's a good idea to ask some hard questions before you start
on a grant application.

     The grant-funded project you're applying for should relate
directly to your organization's mission statement and strategic
plan.  If it doesn't relate to your mission, then you will find
it difficult to make a strong case for your organization in your
application.  It will also be very difficult to secure the
support from your management, board, volunteers, and others to
help implement the project.  After all, they are motivated by the
mission and can't afford to be distracted from it.

     If your organization doesn't have a well-defined mission
statement and strategic plan guiding its operations, it risks
falling into a "soft" or "opportunistic" mission.  You could end
up chasing grant dollars because "it seemed like a good idea at
the time" or "we need support to keep going."  Foundations and
other grant sources can sense this in an application -- and it's
a real barrier to getting funded.

     Other questions: Do we have the time to do a good job?  Do
we need outside help?  Can we identify the gaps in the process
and fill them in time?6.   Pattern the structure of your grant application
-- use clues
     from the funding source.


     The best table of contents is the one the funding source
gives you to work with.  If they send you a document stating how
they will evaluate the application, use that document to fashion
your table of contents.  Use the same section headings and
evaluation criteria they use to format the application, since
that's the format they'll use to accept it or reject it.

     A common structure for a grant application's table of
contents might look like this:

     --   Abstract (or Executive Summary)
     --   Introduction
     --   Problem Statement/Needs Assessment
     --   Goals and Objectives
     --   Plan of Operation
     --   Evaluation
     --   Future or Other Funding
     --   Budget

     Remember, a grant reader's job is hard work.  Make the
reader's job easier -- it never hurts in the evaluation of a
grant application