Every grant narrative needs a story.
But this story needs to be tightly focused and organized. All elements work together to serve the overall purpose of the proposal: an awarded grant.
What you don’t want to create is a rambling- maybe interesting, maybe not- narrative that veers into unexpected and colorful byways and off the beaten track, while introducing unexpected (and likely irrelevant) characters before- hopefully- ending in the right place. People do speak this way. But your proposal narrative needs to have more rigorous control, no matter how good your idea and program are.
That’s where the beloved staple of journalism classes comes to grant writing. The 5 Ws- who, what, where, when and why, plus the H- how.
I should mention that while the 5 Ws and H have been around a long time, I was first introduced to them for grant writing through the excellent writers at Seliger and Associates. Please check out their blog at Grant Writing Confidential for additional grant writing tips.
The 5 Ws and H should be- together with your logic model- the organizing structure of your grant proposal. You use them to gather essential information regarding your program that guides you as you write your proposal.
In order to answer your project’s 5 Ws and H, it is important that you, the grant writer, carefully read the RFP or application instructions to understand the funder’s purpose. It’s a very good idea to have the RFP open in front of you as you put this description together.
Your first step is to create a simple sentence, saying what your proposal is about. Let’s do one.
“Project JOBS will provide job training and career development services in the hospitality sector for at-risk youth and young adults aged 18-25.”
Let’s go through each of the six.
Who
This actually has two parts: (1) your organization as applicant, and any partners you will work with, and (2) the clients you serve. Why is your organization and any partners qualified to serve this population and with these services? Next, define who the clients will be. How many are you serving with the grant funds (this is directly impacted by the proposed budget as well)? Sometimes the RFP gives a required number, or you may select it. Once you have this, you can better define your target clients. What is at-risk? Are they formerly or currently justice-involved? Are they currently out of school? Unemployed?
What
You’ve defined this one already above, and likely the RFP provides specific parameters for what you will do, including required project elements. The details of how this will be implemented are discussed in ‘How’ below.
Where
Where are the geographic areas your project will serve and how does the need in these areas reflect the need for this program? Depending on the size of the grant and the funder, this might be an entire city, specific zip codes, or other defined areas. A funder might designate areas for service and invite applicants to bid for them, or you may establish your own high-need service areas in the proposal (this is more common for federal grant RFPs).
When
Generally, the RFP will define a funding period that will become the basis for your project period. For example, it may say a three-year (36-month) period with an allowable six-month period at the start for planning services. Your timeline will become the basis for the ‘when’ and will detail all major activities, such as hiring staff, quarterly partnership meetings, service activities, enrollment completion, graduation, job placement, and follow-up.
Why
What is the need for these funds in your service area? This is your needs statement- the very high number of at-risk youth and young adults in your target areas who are unemployed and in poverty, for example. The lack of current funding to meet the overwhelming need you document in the proposal.
How
This refines the ‘What’ you articulated above with detail that develops it into a full program design. How will Project JOBS provide the job training? How will clients be recruited, enrolled, assessed for services? How will they get introductory education services required before they can complete the training? Will they receive supportive services to help them successfully complete the training? Will they receive credentials upon completion? Is the training provided in partnership with future employers, and does it reflect their input on needed skills for employment? Here’s where you put together the full project design with all services that properly reflect the participant and employer need and the training result to meet this.
So, the 5 Ws and H. They provide an invaluable framework to define critical project components aspects at the beginning and guide the full proposal creation.