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Cover Letter Writing for Grant Proposals

Guest post by: michelle crossley

Article Overview: The grant proposal is one of the key instruments for a non-profit to seek financial grants. However, a professional presentation of a grant proposal requires a good cover letter be included with it. It may appear to be a small detail, but the devil, as they say, lies in the details.

Cover Letter Writing for Grant Proposals

The grant proposal is one of the key instruments for a non-profit to seek financial grants. However, a professional presentation of a grant proposal requires a good cover letter be included with it. It may appear to be a small detail, but the devil, as they say, lies in the details. The need for a cover letter When you are writing a grant proposal for a corporate organization or a large charity foundation, it is a must to include a cover letter. These organizations work in a professional manner, and they are used to a certain style of functioning. So they expect a cover letter to be there. However, if you are sending a grant proposal for a governmental grant, a cover letter is not mandatory. Here you need to include only such items that have been stipulated by the agencies as a requirement. How to write a great cover letter The cardinal rule that distinguishes good from great: brevity. Keep your letter brief and to the point. Preferably, the length of the letter must not exceed one page, and less than a page could be even better. The letter must not be repetitive. It should not say what the recipient is going to read in the grant proposal anyway. It should be sharply focused on what makes the proposal so compelling that it deserves the attention of the recipient. Cover letter format 1. The cover letter must always be printed on your non-profit organization’s official letterhead. The date of the letter must be the same as the date of the completed grant application. 2. Ensure that you are addressing your letter to the correct person. Double-check on the name spellings, designation, address, and be sure that the person is holding the position at the time you are sending the proposal. 3. The letter must be addressed to a specific individual, and not addressed in general to the organization or a department. 4. The opening paragraph of your letter should provide a brief description of your non-profit and its mission. It should spell out at the outset itself what scale of grant you are looking at to fund your mission, and why that grant is critical. 5. In the next paragraph, you should be able to explain how your non-profit’s mission matches with the funding goals and priorities of the funder’s organization. 6. Close your letter with a brief paragraph that summarizes your view on how this proposed alliance between the non-profit and the funder can create a successful synergy. 7. Sign off with personal signatures in ink, name and designation.

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Article Tags: charity, Cover Letter Writing, foundation support, Grant Proposals, nonprofits



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