The grant proposal is one of the key instruments for a nonprofit to seek financial grants. However, a professional presentation of a grant proposal requires a good cover letter be included with it. It may appear to be a small detail, but the devil, as they say, lies in the details.
The need for a cover letter
When you are writing a grant proposal for a corporate organization or a large
charity foundation, it is a must to include a cover letter. These organizations
work in a professional manner, and they are used to a certain style of functioning.
So they expect a cover letter to be there. However, if you are sending a grant
proposal for a governmental grant, a cover letter is not mandatory. Here you
need to include only such items that have been stipulated by the agencies as
a requirement.
How to write a great cover letter
The cardinal rule that distinguishes good from great: brevity. Keep your letter
brief and to the point. Preferably, the length of the letter must not exceed
one page, and less than a page could be even better. The letter must not be
repetitive. It should not say what the recipient is going to read in the grant
proposal anyway. It should be sharply focused on what makes the proposal so
compelling that it deserves the attention of the recipient.
Cover letter format
- The cover letter must always be printed on your non-profit organization’s official letterhead. The date of the letter must be the same as the date of the completed grant application.
- Ensure that you are addressing your letter to the correct person. Double-check on the name spellings, designation, address, and be sure that the person is holding the position at the time you are sending the proposal.
- The letter must be addressed to a specific individual, and not addressed in general to the organization or a department.
- The opening paragraph of your letter should provide a brief description of your non-profit and its mission. It should spell out at the outset itself what scale of grant you are looking at to fund your mission, and why that grant is critical.
- In the next paragraph, you should be able to explain how your nonprofit’s mission matches with the funding goals and priorities of the funder’s organization.
- Close your letter with a brief paragraph that summarizes your view on how this proposed alliance between the nonprofit and the funder can create a successful synergy.
- Sign off with personal signatures in ink, name and designation.
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