Writing a Cohesive Grant Proposal

Alignment is the opposite of disjointedness—aligned proposals win, while disjointed ones fail. As a grant writer, every component of your proposal must work in harmony. Your project goals and objectives should directly reflect the issues outlined in your problem statement. Each objective must contribute to achieving the overall project goals, and every activity should be tied to a specific objective. Furthermore, your outcomes should be the direct result of meeting these objectives, your organizational capacity should demonstrate your ability to implement the planned activities, and your performance indicators must naturally emerge from your objectives.

Reviewers often flag disjointed proposals. For instance, if your problem statement focuses on out-of-school children in Nigeria, but your activities only address out-of-school children in Kano State, the lack of alignment becomes evident. This mismatch can undermine the credibility of your proposal, as you may be describing a national problem while proposing a local solution. The key is to ensure that your focus is consistent throughout—if your solution is local, your problem statement should also be local.

If you found this helpful, comment or share your best tip for maintaining alignment in grant proposals.

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