Hello, Sharks

by Jim Jenereaux, Grant Professional

In the simplest terms, a grant proposal is just a sales pitch. I don’t expect everyone to have an MBA or even sales experience, but I’m sure most of us have at least seen a segment from Shark Tank—the Holy Grail of sales-pitch-based media. Every pitch on this show begins with the business owner(s) describing an issue they think is relatable for the panel of Sharks (and the viewers) before introducing their product that solves said issue. The most memorable pitches often use demonstrations, props, videos, and other aids to help paint a vivid picture and convince their audience this problem is so commonplace that the company who solves it could be worth millions of dollars. Once the business owners have established the problem they seek to solve, they proceed to state the amount they’re seeking, describe the solution they’ve developed, and discuss their success thus far. Each of these steps has its counterpart in grant proposals, but today I’ll be focusing on the very first part, or as it’s known in grants, the statement of need. 

Just like in a sales pitch, a statement of need should convince our reviewers that the problem our nonprofit aims to solve is impactful enough to warrant a sizable injection of funds. To accomplish this, we here at Granted recommend utilizing the “inverted pyramid” method, starting with the big picture issue and narrowing it down to the community served. So if our organization/program addresses homelessness in Denver, we’d begin by laying out the issues of homelessness as a whole and its impact on the people affected by it, then we’d show how homelessness is affecting Denver, and finally we’d talk about what our organization does to address it. Through this method, we can effectively “sell” the issue before showing just what we’re doing to fix it.

While I am using the metaphor of a sales pitch to describe the statement of need, we don’t actually need to “sell” anything in the traditional sense of convincing our audience that our product is better than it really is; the issues our nonprofits address are very real, and all we need to do is present the truth of the matter. This is where one of the greatest tools in the grant writing process comes in: data. Where Shark Tank contestants have skits, demonstrations, and other visual aids, grant writers have census data, community studies, investigative reports, and more to help demonstrate the breadth of our target issue. 

With accurate, relevant data, the story tells itself. Returning to the example of homelessness in Denver, we could begin by demonstrating the dangers of homelessness, such as increased risk of drug addiction and health complications, as there is plenty of data on the subject. Once the risks of the issue are clear, we can use local data to show the prominence of the issue in our community. Finally, we can use our internal data to show how our program helps solve the issues we’ve established. In just three simple steps, we’ve illuminated an issue, demonstrated the importance of solving it, and offered our solution. With all of that laid out, we can make our request. 

Though the importance of our target issue is certainly clear to us, it is important to remember that our potential funders see upwards of 100 applications per year, with larger funders receiving numbers of applications in the thousands. With such competition, a strong statement of need can be the deciding factor that moves our application forward. So next time you sit down to write a grant application, imagine you’re in front of five highly critical and influential millionaires… or just read it to a friend and see what they think.