Grant Proposal Cover Letter: Format and Tips to Get the Grant
Looking to get a grant for your organization. Well, if yes, it’s a surety you must be curious to know where to start. Ideally, you should start with prepping your grant proposal to be in the line of consideration for the grant. But that’s not enough, why you ask? It’s simple, no proposal is complete without a grant application cover letter. Similarly, for a perfect grant proposal, you need a perfect grant proposal cover letter. It’s great if you are done with making your proposal and are here to get some trivia about a perfect cover letter for your grant. If not, our article on how to write a winning grant proposal will surely explain to you all that is required to make your proposal,
Now, let’s get back to making a perfect grant cover letter. This article will explain to you what you need to include in your cover letter. Before we begin, it’s essential to understand why you should always make a cover letter for your grant proposal.
Why is a Grant Proposal Cover Letter Important?
A cover letter is the first glance or introduction of your whole proposal that the viewer will see and probably read. (if you made it the right way).
Just like you, there are more than 100 other non-profit organizations or entities that are looking to get the grant. Practically, no grant organization will go through every proposal they receive.
Generally, the chances of your proposal being even read for consideration are totally dependent on your grant proposal cover letter. In simple words, your cover letter decides the fate of your grant proposal.
This explains the importance of why a cover letter should be made in a correct manner and not mistaken as just a mandatory format obligation given by an organization.
Now that we have an answer on why you should give importance to a cover letter. Let’s understand the ideal format for a proposal letter for funding.
Grant Proposal Cover Letter: Basic Format to Follow
Wondering how to write a grant proposal cover letter? The following format is based on a study of reviewed grant organization statistics that suggest these are the essential basic elements of a successful grant fund cover letter.
Introduce Your Organization
Every cover letter begins with a suitable introduction. Here, for instance, if you are a non-profit organization, you will introduce very important things about your organization that the grant organization should know. These important details are:
- Name of the organization
- Mission statement of the organization
- Values of the organization
- History of the organization (founding date, etc.)
Work of Your Organization
In this section, you will explain what your organization does and how it is relevant or aligns with the requirements and missions of the grant organization. Basically, give a crux of your organization and mention relevant missions or existing campaigns for the same.
Problems Your Organization Targets
Here, address the problems your organization works on eradicating from society. Briefly explain how you plan to address these problems. You may include statistical data to showcase the problem and what your organization has done so far for it.
This section is truly important in your grant proposal cover letter as you have to make sure that the reader genuinely understands the problems you are targeting and how your work is impacting society. This section will somewhat decide whether your funding request will be considered for a grant or not.
Request The Fund
Do not forget to request the funds that you desire for the continuation of your work. Here, it is very important for you to request the right amount, not less or more. Statistics show that many organizations often get shy on asking the right amount and end up requesting a lesser amount percepting that it might be easy to get.
Well, that is never the case, and avoid making such a mistake. If the grant organization understands the work of your NGO, then rest assured you will be granted the right amount. So don’t be hesitant to ask for the right amount.
Closing Statement for Grant Application Cover Letter
Now that you have mentioned every detail that a cover letter must have, there is only one thing left to do. Write a closing statement that leaves the reader with positivity and affirmation of your desire to bring a change through your work. It can be any subtle closing statement such as ‘We look forward to bringing a positive change with our work” or “Our organization looks forward to creating an impact with your kind support.”
Over To You with Some Tips for Your Grant Cover Letter
- Your cover letter should not exceed more than a page.
- Write your cover letter in not more than 3-4 paragraphs, 5 at max. Also, the format mentioned above does not suggest that you make headings in your format, so do not get confused. Ideally, it is better to write a cover letter in paragraphs.
- Always write the grant proposal cover letter on the company letterhead.
- The date on both the cover letter and grant proposal should be the same.
- It is advisable to start your cover letter with a formal salutation such as Dear Mr/Mrs.
- At the end, mention clearly that this cover letter is part of a complete grant proposal with words such as ‘Attachment or ‘Enclosure.’
- Your grant cover letter should be stamped and signed by the designated authority of your organization.
Ideal Software to Design Grant Cover Letter
If you are skeptical about which software to use for making your grant proposal cover letter, then there are many choices in the market. However, we will suggest trying such software that gives you a free trial period to use it. The techwiz x.doc is among the most widely used software in the world. It is truly a game changer in the realm of designing proposals.
Don’t just believe us; try it for yourself and experience a 15-day free trial period with x.doc that also gives you free access to ample business templates for vast proposal needs,
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FAQs
A grant proposal cover letter acts as an introduction to your overall proposal. It contains essential information about your organization, such as an introduction, mission statement, values, fund request amount, etc.
A cover letter should not be more than a page. This is simply because, ideally, a single page is more than enough to write an introductory cover letter.
Technically yes, A cover page for grant letter can be more than a page if a single page cannot be enough to fulfill the purpose of your cover letter.
There are many organizations that are looking to provide funds for organizations that truly need it. Take a look at this article to find a suitable grant opportunity for you or your organization.
