Make your grant proposal stand out from the crowd. 

We know that writing a competitive grant proposal can be challenging, so we’ve designed this free self-paced class to help. In it, you’ll find step-by-step guidance on each part of writing a request for funding. More than a basic introduction to proposal writing, this class walks you through each component of a proposal and provides you with activities and examples that will help you refine your writing to more effectively present your organization and its work to potential funders. 

You can complete the course at your own pace and review any of the lessons. Among the crucial topics covered are how to: 

• Make your need statement reflect who you serve in a clear, readable, and data-informed fashion; 
• Apply an asset-framing approach to reflect the real needs of those you serve; 
• Create a well-structured program description with a focus on achieving measurable outcomes; 
• Connect your evaluation to your activities and objectives in an easy-to-understand way; 
• Align the budget with your proposal narrative so that it accurately reflects the real costs of the effort, with a clear focus on program sustainability; 
• Enhance your proposal’s appeal by including relevant organizational information and attachments; and  
• Customize your proposal to align with the priorities and guidelines of the best funders for your project. 

Our program experts have refined and updated this course to reflect the latest funder emphases on equity, accountability, and trust. It comes with numerous examples, sample proposals and budgets, questions to reinforce key takeaways, and exercises to help you draft a proposal. Sign up today! 

Length: The course includes nine detailed lessons. We estimate that it will take about four to five hours to complete the full course.

Intended audience: All levels of nonprofit professionals who are preparing to write a grant proposal. This course is also a good fit for people who are interested in a career that includes researching and applying for foundation funding.  

How to start your self-paced learning course

Within one business day of your registration, you’ll be enrolled in the program and receive an email from our eLearning platform, Bridge. The subject line of the email will be “Welcome! Learning Awaits”. This email will have instructions on how to create your own online account in Bridge as well as a link to access the course.

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This course replaces the Online Proposal Writing Course that Candid previously offered.