Grant writing proposal template

Prepared for [Client Company] by [Your Name], [Date].

Thank you for considering me to pursue grant funding for [Organization]. This proposal covers how I will find the right funders, build a compelling case for your work, and submit applications that respect every guideline, on the ethical fee terms the profession requires.

[Organization] needs funding for [program or general operations], with a goal of raising [amount] over [period] from foundations and grantmakers aligned with your mission.

Today [describe: applications are written in scrambles before deadlines, good prospects are missed, past applications have not landed]. Success means a researched pipeline, professional applications, and a repeatable grants calendar.

1. Phase 1, Case building. I gather your program data, outcomes, budget, and stories into a master case for support: the reusable core that makes every future application faster and stronger.
2. Phase 2, Prospect research. I research funders whose giving history, priorities, and grant sizes actually match your work, and rank them into a pipeline with deadlines, so effort goes where odds are real.
3. Phase 3, Writing and budgets. For each application: a tailored narrative in your organization's voice, a program budget and justification, and every attachment the funder asks for, in exactly the format they ask for it.
4. Phase 4, Submission and stewardship. I manage the submission itself, confirm receipt, calendar the reporting requirements for awarded grants, and log every outcome to sharpen the next round.

• A master case for support, yours to reuse in every future application
• A researched funder pipeline of [number] ranked prospects with deadlines
• [Number] complete applications (or letters of intent) per [period], written, budgeted, and submitted
• Program budgets and budget justifications for each application
• A grants calendar covering deadlines and post-award reporting dates
• An outcome log: submitted, awarded, declined, and what we learn from each

• Government grants above [complexity threshold] (quoted separately; federal applications are a different animal)
• Individual donor fundraising, events, and capital campaigns
• Post-award grant reporting (available as an add-on at [rate])

Prices are placeholders. Set your own before sending.

• A master case for support means application ten takes a fraction of the effort of application one
• Research-first: applications go to funders whose giving history matches your work, not to every open portal
• Ethical fees: flat and hourly only, never a percentage of awards, in line with professional fundraising standards

This proposal is valid for [30] days. A deposit of [amount or %] is due to begin, with the balance due [on delivery / per the schedule]. Work outside the scope above is quoted separately before it starts.

Consistent with the Grant Professionals Association code of ethics, fees are flat or hourly and are never contingent on awards; fees are due regardless of funding decisions, which rest entirely with funders, and no amount or likelihood of funding is guaranteed. Funder deadlines are hard: materials I request (financials, program data, signatures) must arrive by the dates in the grants calendar, or that cycle is missed.

To move forward, approve this proposal in writing and I will send the agreement and the deposit invoice. We can begin as soon as the deposit is received.

Accepted by: ______________________________ Date: ____________