Chapter 9

Reviewing and Sending the Application

1. A Five-Point Checklist for Organizing a Successful Grant

Now you’re ready to take the plunge and submit the application. Before you start, let’s regroup and review. See Checklist 2.

Checklist 2: Organizing a Successful Grant

2. The Send-Off

Give yourself lots of time in the lead-up to submit prior to the deadline.

Grant geek that I am, I always find the lead-up to the send-off of a grant an exciting, somewhat stressful time. Check your funder’s deadline date and try to get your grant in at least a week to ten days beforehand in order to avoid stress, and send it through a post office or delivery company that allows tracking.

Check your funder’s deadline date and try to get your grant in at least a week to ten days beforehand in order to avoid stress, and send it through a post office or delivery company that allows tracking.

If you’ve forgotten to send along items or there is something missing in your application, funders tend to be more lenient with applications that come in before the deadline because the askers can still do something about it. Don’t forget, they want you to succeed and are working with deadlines as well.

Some funders don’t require hard-copy packages of the application, so if you’re sending things by email, make sure you request a delivery receipt, and phone to verify receipt if possible.

In addition, if you’re sending files and you think the message might be too large, try sending yourself or a friend the message first. If it’s too large, cut it down into two or three messages and let the funder know that this is, for example, one of three messages, two of three messages, three of three, etc.