Your concept paper should convince grant funders that your project will be successful.
Before submitting a full grant application, you may be required to present a concept paper. When writing your concept paper, the ideas you express to the granting foundation should be brief, concise and clearly stated, says Beata Murrell of the University of Massachusetts Lowell. You will need to discuss your project and draw attention to any statistics that may substantiate the reason why your idea is important and how grant funding will allow you to accomplish goals.
Instructions
1. Develop a strong opening paragraph. Choose and include up to eight sentences that provide an explanation of your organization and the work it does in the community. You will need to incorporate your mission statement in this paragraph as well.
A sample sentence in an opening paragraph in your concept paper might read, "ABC Organization has been providing tutoring services to children who reside in low-income housing, since 19XX."
2. Explain the need for the project you are proposing and use relevant statistics. Include a clear and understandable needs statement. For example, you might write, "We have identified that 25% of students who reside in one city area, are in need of our tutoring services due to low test scores."
3. Include one to two sentences that describe your solution strategies. Your solutions strategies must directly correlate with the needs you have identified. Remember that the concept paper gives you the opportunity to educate grant funders. In order to qualify for grant funding, your organization must show its plan to solve problems.
4. Describe the goals of the organization and any expected project outcomes. You will need to communicate to grant funders your predictions for success. Include one to two sentences that describe your organization's goals. You might write, "ABC Organization will provide quality tutoring services to improve test scores and promote academic motivation." Use bullet points to list your expected outcomes. Here is a sample of an expected outcome, "95% of students will show confidence in the classroom and before testing."
5. Wrap the concept paper up with a conclusion that highlights your organization's experience. A closing statement might read, "With over ten years experience tutoring children from low-income households, we feel that we are highly qualified to take on a project of this magnitude."
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