Compare funders' grant application cycles with your program calendar. How does your ability to write the grant and fulfill the requirements line up with your staff capacity? Give yourself plenty of time (see link below).
Sometimes, however, a terrific opportunity in the form of an RFP (Request for Proposal) with an impending deadline floats across your desk.
If, for example, you have six weeks to design your program and write a proposal, ask yourself the following questions:
- How much buy-in do you need from your supervisors and your colleagues?
- Is your project shovel-ready?
- How much time do you and your colleagues have available over these next six weeks to develop the program and write the proposal?
Leave yourself a full 40 hour workweek to do the actual writing of the grant, getting the necessary feedback, making suggested edits and submitting.
Online Resources:
Grant Proposal Timeline
Grant Proposal Checklist
BooK Recommendations:
The Only Grant Writing Book You'll Ever Need by Ellen Karsh & Arlen Sue Fox
How to Write a Grant Proposal by Cheryl Carter New & James Aaron Quick
