Grant Application Tips

• Provide local and organizational data (if possible) to demonstrate the opportunity, problem, or community need your program is addressing 
• Share how you partner with the population you’re serving and how they inform and critique your program

• In addition to how your program works, share why you use your approach. We’re particularly interested in approaches that tie strategically to advancing health equity for underserved populations.
• Explain any existing models your project may be based on, including outcomes and why you selected that model.
•  If applicable, identify the organizational partners involved in your project, along with their level of involvement or commitment.
• Spell out any words or titles before using an acronym.
• Avoid using specialist language a layperson may not understand.

• For the life of the grant, identify measurable outcomes and describe the benefits to program participants (improved health status, behavioral change, new knowledge, etc.).
• Outcomes and evaluation metrics will be self-identified and funded proposals will be required to report on them annually. Project realistic outcomes.
• Describe the evaluation and measurement plan you’ll use to capture needed data. If you plan to measure changes in behavior or health you’ll need to identify a plan to measure baseline data.

• Round the request amount to the nearest $5,000. We suggest you request the maximum grant amount if your program will realistically use the funds for the proposed program during the life of the grant.
• We’re now accepting existing program budgets. But it will help to submit a budget that  articulates both revenue sources – pending and secured – as well as expenses needed for this program (e.g., staff, supplies, administrative overhead, etc.).
• The grant proposal includes narrative questions to help us understand your financial reality. Please don’t assume we understand your organizations financial position, along with the revenue makeup of your organization, field, or community.

Once you’ve completed your proposal, reread it to ensure you’ve clearly described the following (each are necessary to succeed in your proposed work):

•  Financial capacity 
•  Human capacity (staff or volunteers needed, including their time and workload) 
• Resources (buildings, supplies, etc.)
•  Social capacity (trust, relationships, and influence)

• If applicable, we consider past grant performance in the application process