There are a lot of local government grants around right now, as well as state incentives a business can apply for. We asked the experts in writing words than win work, Proof Communications for their top tips, and are pleased to have Rosemary Gillespie share with us this great article.
It doesn’t matter whether the tender, proposal or grant application you’ve decided to write is large or small, it’s going to take considerable effort to put together. You can pump up the value of all that effort and supercharge your chances of success by remembering these top tips.
Proofread it
It’s usual for anyone writing grant applications, tenders or proposals to put proofreading at the end of their to-do list. They see it as a last minute, nice-to-have-time-for activity.
No, no, and no again! Sure, an eye-wateringly thorough proofread needs to be done at the end, but you need to factor in time for it at the beginning. An error-free submission is a reflection of your attention to detail. Why would your organisation be a winner if typos and grammatical errors make it look as if you don’t care enough to make an effort? Submit a polished, professional-looking document if you want to be taken seriously.
Be specific
You can make your submission far more specific by doing some serious research. This is a vital step as it means that you can put yourself into the shoes of the organisation that will be assessing your submission. What is the real business or community problem that they want to overcome? Where is their focus – is it on cost savings, efficiency, building community, sharing of knowledge? By getting into their mindset and writing from their perspective, you’ll write a far better tender, proposal or grant application.
In other words, show that you ‘get it’. Always clearly articulate the issue that you are seeking to resolve and what difference resolving it will make.
Be persuasive
Writing a tender, proposal and even a grant application is not an excuse to go into information overdrive. Truly, your reader does not want to know every single fact about your organisation. But what they do want to know is why you think it’s a stellar idea for them to select you. In other words, they want to be persuaded. What value will you bring? What outcomes will you deliver? And very importantly, what evidence do you have to back up your claims? That is, can you demonstrate what you’ve achieved or how you’ve delivered outcomes before. Those assessing your tender, proposal or grant application want to be confident that you’re a risk-free option.
We often get asked for help with writing tenders or business award submissions and have recommended many happy clients to the team at Proof Communications. If you are looking for help with copywriting, proofreading or editing your tenders, proposals and grant applications, contact Proof Communications on 02 8036 5532 or 0411 123 216.
