The degree to which funders use forms varies widely. In many cases, the only form involved is a cover sheet that collects the basic contact information and gives broad strokes about the budget (such as a total for expenses and a total for income). These forms are just an adjunct to your full proposal. The forms I discuss here do, in large part, substitute for a full proposal.

Forms give funders a means to ensure that they receive information in a uniform format from every applicant. This can make evaluating the proposals easier. Forms can also serve to decrease the distinctions between proposals submitted by large organizations with considerable fundraising resources and smaller ones with just one grant writer.

When formatting and presentation are made uniform, the quality of the writing, of course, comes to the forefront. This means you have to do an even better job when preparing a grant application form. Having restricted space to make all your points requires everyone who edits your proposal to exercise restraint so it doesn’t exceed the allowable length.

A number of regional associations of grantmakers provide a standardized application that many of its members accept. In most cases, these are little more than a cover sheet, an outline to follow when developing your proposal, and a budget form.

The forms likely will be PDF or MS Word files. The more sophisticated forms will be downloadable with empty fields you fill in. Others will require you to fill in the fields using a typewriter, but these are, fortunately, disappearing as fast as typewriters. Saving your work in a PDF fill-in-the-blanks form usually requires additional software.

Regional associations intend their common applications to make it simpler for the grantseeker as well as the grantmaker. No matter how common the application requirements, you must still take all the care described in this book to customize your proposal for each funder. To their credit, the instructions for the regional associations remind you of this. In the end, I’m not sure how much time the forms save anyone, but the outlines each association offers are useful in organizing your proposal.

This form from the Chicago Donors Forum (donorsforum.org) collects much of the information you’d include in a proposal, but note that apart from the form, you create the narrative using their outline.