Let’s say you have found a funder’s grant opportunity that is a good match for the project you have in mind. You download the application guidelines or NOFO (notification of funding opportunity) and now you are ready to begin preparing the contents of your application. Most grantseekers take the easy way out by using the application checklist that appears in the NOFO. But this is often a grave mistake.
A checklist prepared by the applicant for completing a fundable and credible grant application is required. By preparing your own checklist you are essentially clearing the land, and fertilizing and tilling the soil to ensure your crop will be successful. When you write out all of the components required to submit a complete application, you will convert all of the statements of instructions (e.g. describe the project’s goals; provide a detail of the methods the project will employ) into questions that will be easier to answer. Having read the entire NOFO before making your checklist, you will have found the criteria for how each application will be evaluated. With this criteria, you will prepare additional questions to be included in your checklist so that reviewers will be assured that your application will address all of their review criteria.
In this thorough manner, you will be able to prepare the container with all of the components required for reviewers to successfully evaluate your proposal. The process of creating a checklist is essentially the guide you will use to compile a complete grant proposal—otherwise known as the container for all the information you plan to share. If the container is compromised in some way then your proposal will likewise be deficient, and will not be able to adequately compete for funding within the pool of applicants.
This is such a fundamental concept. Your container is incomplete or weak in some way; therefore, your proposal also will be deficient and noncompetitive. Your container is absolutely leak proof; therefore, you have a fighting chance to submit a competitive application package.