1. Hayden Fink Consulting
Public Relations & Communications
150 Brittany Place Drive, Ste. H  Hendersonville, NC 28792-7173 USA  Tel. 828 808 0458
hayden.fink1@gmail.com  http://www.linkedin.com/in/haydenfink4consulting
July 2016
Becoming Grant Ready
Introduction
Preparation is the key to success in any enterprise. Grant writing is a precise endeavor that
requires an organization, school, or nonprofit (1) to be fully vested in the grant process, and (2) to
be willing to collect, create, and collate the information necessary (a) to complete the grant
application, and (b) to supplement the grant application with the appropriate materials that
support and define the grant seeker and proposal.
There are three elements of information gathering in the grant writing process that require
preparation:
I. Grant Seeker
II. Proposal
III. Presentation
Essentially, the grant seeker must be prepared to provide well written and easily understandable
information that explains in short, crisp bytes of text, images, statistical charts, graphs, etc., the
answers to the following questions: who we are, what we want to do, where this will happen, why
we propose to do this, and how this will be accomplished with the monies raised upon receipt of
the grant.
Summary
Grant writing is a linear exercise.
The Grant Seeker must have the requisite documentation to prove and exhibit its legitimacy and
sustainability, internally through its leadership, staff and programs, and externally via community
support, partnerships and recognition.
The Proposal documentation spells out in clear and concise terms what the grant seeker intends to
do with the grant money, simultaneously demonstrating the need for the money, and proof that
the community supports the goals and mission of the program to be funded.
The Presentation typically involves a committee-style panel of the funding agency, foundation, or
corporation, listening and asking questions of the designated grant seeker representative(s) during
an oral presentation complete with visual aids, as necessary, which help illuminate and elucidate
the grant seeker’s talking points regarding the nonprofit organization, Proposal, and community
participation, benefits and support relevant to the Proposal.
While these three aspects of the grant writing preparation process are separate and distinct, each
one is inextricably linked to and interdependent with the other two. Thus the grant seeker should
anticipate all three aspects of the grant writing experience simultaneously, as we gather the
information and documentation necessary to become “grant ready.”