It’s unfortunate, but I’ve heard on more than one occasion that funders first look for a reason why they should not fund a proposal. Wow! But yes, that’s how tough this business can be.

With the huge number of proposals funders receive and the limited staff they have to review proposals, they need to do whatever they can to narrow the field of applicants as quickly as possible. This brings me to the number one rule of grant writing: follow instructions. If they ask for three copies on yellow recycled paper in 13-point type, paper-clipped singly and then clipped together, do it. If they are 25 years behind the times and have an application you must type on a typewriter, do it. If they restrict the number of pages or even the number of words, do it.

Funders next look for a match between their funding interests and your proposal. Too often, grant writers send out proposals to a large number of funders, thinking that at least one will be successful. Wrong. Grant writing is not about luck and multiple submissions. It’s about research and focused writing. Not only will sending a proposal to a funder who does not fund your type of project result in a rejection now, but when you later have a project that does meet their interests, they’ll remember you as the one who didn’t do their research the previous time. So the second rule of grant writing is: do your research.

When you’ve passed these two hurdles (which aren’t that hard to cross), the funder will likely give your proposal serious consideration. The funder will, of course, also check to be sure you are a nonprofit (or have a fiscal sponsor) and fall within any other restrictions they have (a geographic area being the most common other restriction).

I discuss the other things a funder looks for when I cover the parts of a proposal, beginning in Chapter 13. For a peek inside the process foundations use to screen proposals, read Martin Teitel’s book Thank You for Submitting Your Proposal (Emerson and Church, 2006).