Finding a Need

Learning Objectives

• Understand the importance of beginning with a genuine need
• Use key questions to help find and address a need
• Begin the process of writing case statement

The first major step in grant writing is to create a case statement (module 6) that can be used within your organization as a basis for researching a genuine need you would like to meet with a project and for finding sponsors. 

However, before writing a case statement, it is important to explore the core details of the problem you would like to solve or the opportunity that you see. Potential sponsors are looking to fund projects that speak to their interests, which means that grant writers must find a match between their project’s goals and a sponsor’s interests. For that reason, it is best to assess problems and opportunities carefully; trying to create a project with a target sponsor in mind could be counterproductive, especially if the needs you are realistically able to meet do not match those which the sponsor is interested in meeting. As Karsh and Fox (2003) explain, there can be consequences for putting the grant before the need: “Some organizations have learned that chasing grants can take away from their core mission or move an excellent program in the wrong direction. The most successful programs and organizations are not grant driven, they are mission driven” (p. 13). Instead, it is best to identify a genuine need and create a strategy for fulfilling it. After that, a grant writer can find a sponsor whose interests correspond with the project. Beverly Browning (2014) put it this way:

If you're looking for funding . . . the first rule in grant seeking is that you don't write a grant request without first completing a comprehensive planning process that involves the grant applicant organization's key stakeholders: target population members (the people your organization serves), administrative staff, and the board of directors. Without key stakeholder input on what your target population needs and the plan for closing the gap on those needs, you're fishing without the right bait. (Browning, 2014, pp. 11-12)

Note that Browning emphasizes a great deal of legwork within the grant writer’s more immediate circle of influence before reaching out to sponsors. What she means by “the right bait” is that the needs a grant promises to fulfil should match with a sponsor’s interest in meeting those needs. Thus, the target population that will benefit from the grant is arguably the most important stakeholder for two reasons: the first is that they create the possibility for service for the grant applicant’s organization, and the second is because some sponsoring organizations will be interested in serving that population while others will not. Not understanding the target population’s needs or not fully assessing how the grant seeking organization can or cannot meet those needs will lead to failure.

While it may seem tedious or unnecessary at first, beginning with the appropriate legwork in the nascent stages of grant writing will likely lead to the best results in the long run. Finding a genuine need will

• Prevent grant writers from “designing” a problem around funding just because it is available
• Help you clarify the exact problem or need you want to address with a grant
• Help you think about arguments you might make in later stages of the grant seeking process
• Help you find a good match between your project and a sponsor
• Increase the likelihood that sponsors will respond favorably

For grant writing, then, it is always a best practice to begin at the very beginning. And because grant proposal writing is a form of persuasive writing that ultimately asks audiences to take action, questions related directly to needs are the best place to begin. The following questions, adapted from Ramage, Bean, and Johnson’s (2013) articulation of proposal arguments (p. 323), will help you use the stasis theory to begin developing your argument:

1. What problem or need do you see in the community (or communities) that your organization serves?
2. Why is it a problem?
3. Whom does the problem affect or who might be involved with a particular opportunity?
4. How does the problem affect them?
5. Why has the problem not been solved?
6. What will happen if nothing is done?

To begin grant writing in earnest, try writing about (and doing research on) the questions above. Keep these questions in mind and revisit them periodically as your research and writing evolves.

Resources

libguides.gcu.edu/grants

References

Browning, B. A. (2014). Grant writing for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Karsh, E. & Fox, A. S. (2003). The only grant writing book you’ll ever need: An insider’s guide. New York: Avalon.

Ramage, J., Bean, J., & Johnson, J. (2013). Writing arguments: A rhetoric with readings (9th ed.). New York: Pearson.