Writing Tips

Talk to us first
Review our website and contact our Program Director with any questions. We may be able to give you insights into emerging grant interests from our Board, the outcome of requests similar to yours, or other information relevant to your proposed request.

Know the timeline
Our grant process takes about three months from letter of inquiry deadline to the earliest possible funding. So don’t submit a letter in January for a project that will need money in March, because a grant could not be made until April. Grant funds cannot be used retroactively. Nothing can be purchased for a grant project and then reimbursed if grant funds are received.

Make sure to explain your idea in detail
Remember that you’re explaining your organization, its goals, and your program or project to a Committee who may know nothing about you. Make sure to give equal balance in your application to describing who you are as well as what you want to accomplish. If the Grant Committee doesn’t understand your project or why it relates to your organization, they will be unlikely to pursue your grant application. Your program description should detail the steps from beginning to end of how your project will be accomplished.

Support your request with facts and specifics
Make sure to give us data to support your case, not just your own conclusions. For example, writing, “Connersville needs a movie theater” makes less of a case than, “The Center for Movie Theater Neediness cites Connersville as the number two county in Indiana in need of movie theater.”