The secret to writing successful grant proposals these days is being connected – not to insiders at funding agencies, but to people in your own organization and to resources on the Web.

To begin the long process of getting that grant, you need more than a good idea. You need to know what’s possible and realistic. Who among your colleagues is committed to implementing your program? What institutional resources are available to you? Why is your organization better suited than others to implement your program idea?

Once you have identified a genuine need and determined that it is within your organization’s mission to address that need, you are ready to take the next step: going online to search for prospective funding sources.

It has never been easier to search for information on the Net. Searching “grant proposal writing” on Google, for example, turns up 15,700,000 websites – perhaps a few more than you have time to browse. With that in mind, I recommend you start with a few particularly helpful sites:

The University of Wisconsin’s Grants Information Center. This site provides a list of resources and links. Though it needs updating (some of the links are broken), it’s a good place to start for both general and research grants. The emphasis here is on instruction – online tutorials, primers, handbooks, and sample proposals – rather than funding sources.

The Grantsmanship Center. This resource, which claims to be “the world’s leader in grant information and grantsmanship training,” provides information on training programs, public forums on topics such as faith-based funding and federal grant reform, and grant sources, including federal, state, community, and international sources.

National Science Foundation. A major source of funding for research and education in the sciences and engineering, the NSF maintains a site that provides information on funding opportunities (including an overview of programs and an e-bulletin listing target dates and deadlines), a step-by-step guide on how to obtain funding, and a list of NSF Awards.

Its “A Guide to Proposal Writing” – which describes a “good proposal” as “always readable, well organized, grammatically correct, and understandable” – offers helpful advice to grantseekers in all fields, including the following list of “little things that can make a difference”:

– Use a spell checker before submitting the proposal.

– Proofread carefully.

– Be sure to follow the directions given in the program announcement.  In particular, follow any specific requirements such as page limitations.

– In general avoid abbreviations. For example, use laboratory, not lab, and mathematics, not math.

– The first time you use an acronym, write out what it stands for and put the acronym in parentheses. For example, American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC). After that you can use the acronym.

– Make sure all your references are correct.

The Foundation Center. This site provides information about funding opportunities for nonprofit organizations, a schedule a upcoming proposal writing training programs in various cities around the country, access to an online librarian, a link to the online Philanthropy News Digest, and a description of the FC’s Guide to Proposal Writing, now available in a third edition for $34.95.

In addition, the center’s online “A Proposal Writing Short Course” offers an overview of the components of a proposal (executive summary, statement of need, project description, budget, organization information, and conclusion). Of these, special care should be taken with the executive summary, “the most important section of the entire document.”

Writing a successful grant proposal requires knowledge, commitment, determination, patience, teamwork, writing skills, creativity, and luck. Other than that, it’s a breeze.

Here are some tips – gleaned from several granting agencies – on how to get that grant:

Follow the required format.
If the granting agency does not require a particular format, consider using the six-part approach recommended by The Foundation Center: executive summary, statement of need, project description, budget, organization information, and conclusion.

Take special care in writing the executive summary.
As the National Science Foundation points out, “The project summary (abstract) is the first thing that reviewers and NSF staff read. It should be written clearly and concisely. In the space allotted, it should outline the problem, the objectives and the expected outcomes, project activities, and the audience to be addressed.”

Keep the focus on the need for the proposed project.
Don’t make the mistake of devoting too much attention to the qualifications of your organization. As The Center for Nonprofit Management observes, “A proposal will often sink or swim based on the need for the project and the project methodology, not on the accomplishments of the overall organization.”

State objectives in measurable terms.
According to The Foundation Center, “Grantseekers often confuse objectives with goals, which are conceptual and more abstract. . . . Objectives are the measurable outcomes of the program.”

Ask someone who is not familiar with your project to assess your proposal.
The U.S. Department of Education offers this advice: “Get a sharp (toothed) reader . . . someone unfamiliar with your field, your project. . . . Have them read [the] final draft without taking notes. Then ask them to tell you – from memory – what the project will do, how it will do it, why it is significant, and how it is different. Rewrite [the] proposal if these answers aren’t clear and correct.”