Grant Proposals

A grant is the sum of money that is awarded to an agency to assist in addressing the problem the community faces. Hall and Howlett (2003) noted that for an agency to be awarded a grant, the proposal should be precise and be presented in a way that the grantors appreciate their intentions. The general format of the proposal should include: the title, the specific aims of the grant, the background of the issue seeking grant for, the preliminary studies on the issue, its significance, the approaches and methods that will be used, the results and implications therein, and lastly, the timetable (New & Quick, 2003).

A proposal for a grant needs to address a very important issue affecting the community. As the grant is for research, the proposal also needs to have a strong supporting data. This is necessary so as to prepare the hypothesis that is to be tested during the research. The research proposal should also be supported by a clear description of the processes followed throughout the research as well as any other alternative approaches that can be used when dealing with specific aspects of submitted proposal. Another major attribute of a proposal is the amount of funding the agency is seeking to be granted.

Thus, the main function of a grant proposal is to seek grant funding which is meant to operationalize the agency. The grant proposal should be able to identify the needs and problems of the community and propose specific courses of actions (Ward & Hale, 2006).

With relation to the program plan, the grant proposal should suggest some innovative ways through which need to be improved upon, and receive government funding prior to the execution of the program plan or the commencement of the research.