A visionary leader with over two decades of executive-level management experience, Luvina Beckley is the CEO and founder of M.H.M. & Associates Enterprise, Inc. (MHM). Luvina Beckley and her team help clients access needed resources and empower agencies and individuals, (through a proven processes, use of their date driven grants library and best practices) in elevating successes in accessing grants!
Writing a grant proposal can be a complex process. Often, organizations underestimate how much time will be consumed in performing the needed research to find the right funding partners, compose a coherent proposal with relevant and compelling data to support the need for the proposed services, while ensuring the data you find accurately conveys yours program and optimism from the reader/potential funding agency. One of the most important things you can do to create optimism for your readers, is performing meticulous research to find the best partners capable of implementing 'best and proven' practices. These proven practices, often called 'best practice models' have been compiled by MHM in their library which enables any writer to increase their chances for success.
Another key factor in creating optimism is explicit knowledge about how the grant will make an impact on a very distinct population. Your funding agency will also want to know why you are the right person or group to serve the targeted population and receive a grant from them. This will need to be articulated clearly and in such a way that the reviewer/reader representing the funding agency resonates with your idea, your plan, the specified needs and planned impact.
Last, it's key to pay close attention to how you can build public and private partnerships into your overall design and into your planned budget. Often, funding agencies will look at a budget before they even consider the narrative to assess if your request is aligned with their planned allocation. If your budget show promise of collective partners with strong justification for divers roles and responsibilities, and the requested amount is aligned with their planned giving, you can create a level of optimism among funding agencies, even before they read your narrative!.
