grant proposal

In my Proposal Writing course, I completed a service-learning project to write a grant proposal for a local Spokane nonprofit organization. Working closely with the director and several board members, my group and I extensively researched and drafted a grant proposal for the Women's Healing & Empowerment Network (WHEN).

WHEN is an organization that supports and educates survivors of domestic violence. Being a nonprofit, they rely on donations and funding from the community. My team and I used our research and writing skills to produce a detailed and well-written grant report that WHEN could use or reference in the future to apply for grant funding.

In completing this project, I drastically improved my skills in several areas:

• Database research – I learned how to use keywords, locations, dates, and other filters effectively to improve my search results.
• Persuasive writing – I developed a strong understanding of my audience’s goals and beliefs (in this case, the mission and values of the M.J. Murdoch Charitable Trust), then targeted those specific components to demonstrate my knowledge.
• Communication + collaboration with clients – I demonstrated my professionalism through prompt email responses, engaged with clients, and asked for client feedback on our group work.

I found this project challenging, as the amount of information my group acquired about the organization and the grant itself was immense. It was difficult to sift through and bring the most important content to the forefront. Sometimes the sections I wrote felt crammed and too busy. Fortunately, one of my teammates was an excellent editor and helped improve my content when I was stuck. This too was difficult for me at first, as I had to relinquish the “but it’s my writing!” mentality and allow others to contribute their ideas.

I specifically wrote the content for the Need Statement, Project Timeline, and Conclusion sections of the proposal. The entire proposal required extensive primary and secondary research, looking into WHEN as an organization as well as the overarching impacts of the domestic violence crisis. Overall, my team and I created a detailed and persuasive 23-page grant proposal for WHEN to potentially submit to the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust foundation. This project taught me so much about creating content in a team setting and learning to welcome feedback and suggestions.