Letter of Support Template

A complete grant letter of support you can edit, with concrete partner commitments reviewers actually score.

A complete letter of support, prefilled with a strong example you can edit

[PARTNER ORGANIZATION LETTERHEAD]
[Street Address] | [City, State ZIP] | [Phone] | [Email]

[Month Day, Year]

[Program Officer Name]
[Title]
[Funder Name]
[Street Address]
[City, State ZIP]

RE: Letter of Support for [Applicant Organization]'s [Project Title]

Dear [Program Officer Name],

I am writing on behalf of [Partner Organization] to offer our strong support for [Applicant Organization]'s application to [Funder Name] for [Project Title]. As [your title and the role your organization plays in the community], we see the need this project addresses every day, and we are confident in [Applicant Organization]'s ability to deliver results.

[Partner Organization] has worked alongside [Applicant Organization] since [year] on [name the shared work, for example "a joint after-school literacy initiative serving the East Side neighborhood"]. In that time we have come to rely on their professionalism, their data-driven approach, and their deep relationships with the families they serve. Last year alone, our two organizations referred [number] participants to one another and co-hosted [number] community workshops.

The need for [Project Title] is real and documented. [State one concrete, local fact that proves the need, for example "Fewer than 40 percent of third graders in our service area read at grade level, according to the 2025 district assessment."] [Applicant Organization]'s plan to [one sentence describing the project] directly targets that gap, and it complements the services [Partner Organization] already provides rather than duplicating them.

If this project is funded, [Partner Organization] commits to the following concrete support:
- [Specific commitment, for example "Referring up to 75 eligible families per year from our family resource center."]
- [Specific commitment, for example "Providing meeting and tutoring space at our Main Street site at no cost, an in-kind contribution valued at $12,000 annually."]
- [Specific commitment, for example "Serving on the project advisory committee and contributing quarterly to shared outcome reporting."]

These are firm commitments, not general statements of goodwill. We have built them into our own operating plan for the coming year.

[Applicant Organization] has the leadership, the track record, and the community trust to carry this work through. We are proud to stand behind this application and would welcome the chance to answer any questions. Please feel free to contact me directly at [phone] or [email].

Sincerely,

[Signature]

[Full Name]
[Title]
[Partner Organization]

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HOW TO USE THIS LETTER (delete this section before sending)

A letter of support endorses an applicant and, when possible, commits real resources. The strongest letters do three things a generic endorsement never will:

1. Prove a real relationship. Name how long you have worked together and what you have done. Vague praise from a stranger carries no weight with reviewers.
2. Commit something specific. "We support this work" is weak. "We will refer 75 families and donate space worth $12,000" is a commitment a funder can score. A letter that pledges concrete in-kind or cash support is often called a letter of commitment, and it is worth far more than a courtesy letter.
3. Stay on the partner's letterhead and in the partner's voice. Reviewers can tell when the applicant wrote every letter. If you are the applicant supplying a draft to a busy partner, ask them to edit it into their own words and add a detail only they would know.

Keep it to one page. Address it to the named program officer when you have one. Sign and date it, and match the project title exactly to the application.

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The letter of support template above is a one-page letter written from a partner organization to a funder, endorsing an applicant's project and committing three specific resources: referrals, donated space with a dollar value, and a seat on an advisory committee. It is prefilled with a worked example so the partner can see what a strong letter sounds like, then edit it directly in the box, copy it, or download it as a text file. Delete the "how to use" block at the bottom before the letter goes on letterhead.

Who fills it in

In practice, the applicant usually drafts support letters and sends them to partners, because partners are busy and deadlines are not theirs. That is fine as long as the final letter reads as the partner's own. Send the draft with the project title exactly as it appears in the application, the funder's name and program officer, a one-paragraph project summary, and your suggested commitments. Ask the partner to change the commitments to what they will actually provide, add one detail only they would know, and return it signed on their letterhead. Give them enough lead time to route it to whoever signs, often an executive director or department head.

Make each letter in the packet different

Reviewers who read five letters with the same sentences discount all five. Assign each partner a different job before you send drafts:

Partner type	What their letter should prove
Referral partner (school, clinic, agency)	Participants will actually enroll; give a number per year
Host or in-kind partner	Space, equipment, or staff time, with an estimated dollar value
Funder or co-investor	Cash match already committed, with amount and dates
Community or beneficiary group	The need is felt locally and the community wants this approach
Evaluation or academic partner	The data collection plan is feasible and who will run it

A letter that pledges measurable cash or in-kind support is often called a letter of commitment. If the application asks for matching funds, those pledges should match the figures in your budget; our guide to matching funds and in-kind contributions explains how to value and document them, with worked in-kind contribution examples.

Federal research applications have their own rules

Check the funding announcement before collecting letters for a federal research grant. NSF generally does not accept letters of support unless the solicitation asks for them; instead, its proposal guide allows short letters of collaboration that confirm a collaborator's intent to participate, without endorsing the project. NIH applications collect letters in a single Letters of Support attachment, typically from collaborators and consultants confirming their role. In both cases a warm endorsement that ignores the format can be removed or count against you.

For who to ask, when to ask, and how to request letters without straining a relationship, read our full letter of support guide. Letters are one attachment in a larger package, which you can lay out with our free proposal template.

Frequently asked questions

How do I start off a support letter?+

Name your organization, the applicant, the project, and the funder in the first sentence, and state your support directly. For example: 'I am writing on behalf of [Partner Organization] to offer our strong support for [Applicant]'s application to [Funder] for [Project Title].' Reviewers should know who you are and what you are endorsing before the end of the first line.

How do you end a support letter?+

End with a short restatement of your support, an offer to answer questions, and direct contact details such as a phone number and email, then a closing such as Sincerely, a handwritten or digital signature, and the signer's full name, title, and organization. If the letter commits resources, the final paragraph is also a good place to confirm that the commitment is firm.

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