I Have My RFP, Now What Do I Do?

This is one of the most common questions I answer for novice grantwriters.

I have my RFP, now what do I do?

My beginning students LOVE this idea and every successful grantwriter I’ve ever met does this. So, if it’s new to you, implement it as soon as you can. You’ll see these benefits:

You’ll know exactly what the funder wants you to write about.

You’ll know exactly how much of the proposal you have completed, and what is left to do.

You’ll be able to assign proposal writing tasks to others on your team with a great deal of specificity and follow up quickly.

You’ll be able to schedule completion of the proposal to a much greater extent than before.

What is this wonderful technique?

It’s to take every part of the RFP that must be included in your proposal, and put it into one document-creating an outline that shows every detail that must be turned in.

If you put this into a Google Doc or other shareable document platform, your ability to coordinate a coherent proposal is enhanced considerably.

[Grants.gov has a service called Workspace that does this process within its environment, but you can work together before using Workspace.]

Here’s a quick example: The Office on Violence Against Women issued a request for proposals in January 2017 called “Restorative Justice Response to Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, and Dating Violence on Campus Demonstration Initiative Application Guidelines” that runs for 50 pages.

While it’s vital to read the entire RFP thoroughly, this tip says to take it apart to make the actual writing easier. Here’s one example of the actual text:

Who Will Implement the Project (25 Points) The application must identify the key individuals and organizations involved in the proposed project. This section must demonstrate that the individuals and organizations identified have the capacity to address the stated need and can successfully implement the proposed project activities. This section must:

If you break this out, it looks like this:

Who Will Implement the Project (25 Points)

The application must identify the key individuals and organizations involved in the proposed project. This section must demonstrate that the individuals and organizations identified have the capacity to address the stated need and can successfully implement the proposed project activities.

• Identify the organizations and key personnel who will implement the project and describe the role of each.
• Provide the percentage of time each individual will devote to the project,
• and the specific activities in which each individual will participate;

In this case, you might start off with a table you fill in:

Organization or Key Person

Role in Implementation

% of time devoted

Specific Activities

Once the table is set up, it’s easy to fill in because it is specific in what is needed, and it helps get the proposal completed because it comes straight from the RFP. This table also can be used when you review the proposal for completeness. Is EVERYONE represented? Is their role described clearly? Is the percent of time devoted included? Are specific activities listed?

To sum up, breaking out the RFP in a shareable file into the bits and chunks that need to included in the proposal will allow you to more easily finish the proposal without leaving anything out.

Keep up the good work!

Dr. Richard Hoefer

For more information on how to avoid grantwriting disasters BEFORE you even start writing, read this article.