How to Write a Grant Proposal for a Nonprofit

To write a grant proposal for a nonprofit, start with a funder whose priorities match your program, gather the documents it requires, and answer its questions in its order: the community need, your program and what it will change, how you will measure results, how the work continues, what it costs, and why your organization can deliver it. Most foundations ask for some version of those sections, plus a cover letter, executive summary, and attachments. What wins is fit and clarity, not length.

Before you write: gather what every funder asks for

Nonprofits lose time, and sometimes deadlines, hunting for documents at the last minute. Most foundation applications ask for some combination of:

• IRS determination letter confirming 501(c)(3) status.
• Most recent Form 990 and, if you have one, your audited financial statements.
• Current organizational budget and the project budget.
• Board of directors list with affiliations.
• Key staff bios or resumes for the people leading the project.
• Letters of support or partnership agreements, if partners are involved.

If you are missing something a funder requires, contact the funder and ask whether a substitute is acceptable rather than leaving it out. For a broader check on whether your organization is ready to apply, our grant readiness checklist covers registrations, policies, and financial systems.

Choose the funder before you write a word

A proposal is written to a specific funder, not about your program in general. Before drafting, confirm that the funder supports your issue area, your geography, and organizations of your size, and check what it has funded recently. Many foundations want a letter of inquiry first and only invite full proposals from the ones they like; see our guide to writing a letter of inquiry if yours does. For the search itself, see our guide to finding funders that match your mission.

Then build your outline from the funder's guidelines: its section names, its order, its word or page limits. Reviewers score what they asked for, where they expect to find it.

The sections, and what each one has to do

The order below is the one most foundations use. Write in a different order (summary and cover letter last), but present it the way the funder asks. To see the sections assembled into one document, read our annotated grant proposal example.

Cover letter. One page, signed by your executive director or board chair. State the amount requested and the project, explain in a sentence or two how it advances the funder's mission, and mention any prior contact with the funder.

Executive summary. Often the only part every reviewer reads closely. In a few paragraphs: the problem, your program, the result you expect, the amount requested, and why your organization. Our guide to the grant proposal executive summary covers how to write it.

Statement of need. About the people you serve, not your organization's needs. Use recent local data, cite sources, and narrow from the broad problem to the specific gap your program fills. A common mistake is writing "we need funding for staff"; the funder's question is what problem exists in the community. Our guide to the statement of need goes deeper.

Program description. What you will do, for whom, how often, where, and by whom, with a timeline. Explain why this approach should work: prior results, research, or a pilot.

Goals and objectives. One broad goal and a few measurable objectives with baselines, targets, and dates. See writing SMART objectives. Some funders also ask for a logic model; see our step-by-step logic model guide.

Evaluation. Which indicators you will track, how you will collect the data, and when you will report. A small nonprofit does not need a research design; a pre and post survey and attendance records, collected consistently, are credible. See our grant evaluation plan walkthrough.

Sustainability. How the work continues after the grant, with named sources and an honest account of what might scale down. See how to write a sustainability plan.

Organizational background and capacity. Not a history lesson. Show that you can deliver this project: the staff who will lead it and their relevant experience, a comparable program and its results, and the financial and board oversight that will manage the money. Newer organizations can lean on founders' experience, pilot results, and partners with a track record.

Budget and budget narrative. Every cost tied to an activity in the narrative, every major activity paid for somewhere, other funding sources and in-kind contributions shown. Our nonprofit grant budget guide explains the format.

Reusing material without sounding recycled

Most nonprofits apply to several funders for the same program, and keeping a master document of your strongest need data, program description, outcome results, and organizational history saves real time. The risk is submitting it unchanged. For each funder:

• Rewrite the opening of every section to answer that funder's actual question.
• Lead with the outcomes that funder cares most about.
• Adjust length to its limits by cutting, not by shrinking the font.
• Update the budget so the request and other sources match this application.

Some regions and funder groups accept a shared common application form. Even then, read each funder's supplemental questions; they are often where the decision is made.

Final checks before submitting

Compare the finished proposal to the guidelines line by line: every question answered, every attachment included, limits respected, numbers matching between narrative and budget. Ask someone who does not know the program to read it; if they cannot explain what you will do and what will change, a reviewer will not either. Then submit a few days early, because online portals slow down near deadlines.

If you would rather hand the writing to specialists, our nonprofit grant writing team drafts and tailors proposals for each funder you are pursuing. Our guide to what grant writers do and how to hire one compares that with a freelancer or a staff hire.