What's the best way to share your grant results?

1 Know your audience

Before you start writing or designing your grant report, you need to identify who you are writing for and what they want to know. Different audiences may have different expectations, interests, and preferences for how you present your results. For example, your funders may want to see how you met your objectives, used your budget, and delivered your outcomes. Your stakeholders may want to see how you involved them, addressed their needs, and created value for them. Your public may want to see how you contributed to social change, solved a problem, or improved a situation. Knowing your audience will help you tailor your message, tone, and format accordingly.

3 Tell a story

One of the most powerful ways to share your grant results is to tell a story. A story can help you connect with your audience emotionally, illustrate your results with real examples, and demonstrate your value and relevance. A story can also help you overcome some of the challenges of sharing grant results, such as technical jargon, data overload, or lack of context. To tell a good story, you need to have a clear structure, a compelling hook, a relatable protagonist, a meaningful challenge, a satisfying resolution, and a clear takeaway. You can use stories to showcase your beneficiaries, partners, staff, or volunteers, and how your project made a difference in their lives.

4 Use data wisely

Data is an essential part of sharing your grant results, as it provides evidence and credibility for your claims and achievements. However, data can also be overwhelming, confusing, or boring if not used wisely. To use data effectively, you need to select the most relevant and meaningful indicators, metrics, and statistics that support your objectives and outcomes. You also need to present your data in a clear and attractive way, using charts, graphs, tables, or maps that highlight the trends, patterns, or comparisons that matter. You also need to interpret your data and explain what it means, what it shows, and what it implies for your project and your audience.

5 Invite feedback

Sharing your grant results is not a one-way communication, but a dialogue with your audience. You want to invite feedback, questions, comments, or suggestions from your audience, as they can help you improve your project, learn from your experience, and build your relationships. Feedback can also help you measure the effectiveness of your communication and dissemination strategy, and identify the gaps, strengths, or areas for improvement. You can invite feedback through various channels, such as surveys, polls, interviews, focus groups, forums, or social media. You can also acknowledge, respond, and thank your audience for their feedback, and show them how you use it to inform your future actions.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?