A board member told me my grant proposals were too long and it stung

I volunteered for a small youth program in Denver and thought I was helping by writing super detailed proposals. After six months of no wins, the board chair sat me down and said, "You're burying the ask under too much fluff." She showed me where funders stop reading after the first page. Now I cut everything down to two pages max with a bold dollar figure up front. Has anyone else gotten harsh feedback that actually improved their hit rate?

2 comments

2 Comments

wade_anderson2d ago

The two page rule is actually standard for most foundations these days.

shanes662d ago

Whoa, hold on there. I think it really depends on which foundation you're talking about, actually. The big ones like Gates and Ford have been pushing that two page rule for years, sure, but a lot of the smaller regional ones are way more flexible. I'd say maybe half of them still take longer proposals, especially if you have a good relationship with the program officer already. Just my two cents (pun intended) from reading the fine print on their websites.