Grant Writing – Five Common Mistakes To Avoid

Many times during grant writing, you’ll find yourself looking back on previous work and cringing. The mistakes that many people make aren’t unheard of, and it’s part of the natural learning curve. However, the Internet age offers you something that many grant writers haven’t had access to before: the ability to learn from the mistakes of other people.
1. Guessing
As a grant writer, you want your numbers to be exact and dead-on. Never, ever guess on information. Why? Chances are good that the costs section is not something the reader is going to skim over. This means they will likely be scrutinizing every estimated cost and more often than not you will receive a “why?” for most of your items. If you don’t know exactly why you have them and why they cost what they do… your credibility is lost. In the world of grant writing, credibility is key.
2. No Proofreading
It seems to be a fairly obvious idea, but a staggering amount of people will write their grant and fail to check for basic grammar, spelling, and accuracy. If your grant writing “includes many mistakes and unexplained choices” you’ll find very quickly that it will be passed over. If English isn’t your strong suit, you can usually hire someone that will happily look over your grant writing and make corrections. Even just asking your teenage daughter, for example, can give you a fresh set of eyes to be sure mistakes aren’t missed. The rule here is check, check, check again, and then proofread.
3. Excessive “IN” language
If you can avoid the use of an acronym, or “jargon,” absolutely do it. Remember that your audience may not always understand what you’re talking about, so you want to make things as clear to them as you possibly can. Always assume that the audience knows nothing about your company or product. If you repeat a term often – such as “Global Change Master Directory,” you can simply include a parenthesis (GCMD). As long as acronyms are kept to a bare minimum, that is an acceptable method. As far as “jargon,” it’s akin to a doctor explaining to you that your metatarsals are spasmodic, when really “you’ve broken your toes” is sufficient.
4. Ignoring Directions
As a grant writer, you want to make your work original and have it stand out from the pack. Some novices mistakenly believe this can be done by ignoring the directions of the grant committee. This is never the correct method. This leaves you looking foolish, makes it clear that you chose not to fully read the instructions, and to some makes it obvious that you are not deserving of a grant that you chose not to take the time to completely understand.
5. Wordiness
A grant writer’s greatest strength is taking a lot, and turning it into a little – or saying everything with half the words someone else might need. The idea in grant writing is to be short, succinct, and to the point. You want to catch the attention of the committee, keep their attention as an effective grant writer, and leave them with positive feelings of the project and usually a “I want to know more” attitude. You can answer their questions in an interview, avoid trying to imagine every scenario and write for each.