Federal grants typically follow a structured set of sections and evaluation criteria. Experienced grant writers often begin by developing a checklist of application requirements and drafting a narrative outline based on prior agency solicitations. Yet, even a well-crafted gameplan can be challenged with deadlines merely 1-2 months after an agency’s announcement. Planning ahead—even before a funding opportunity is released—can help you prepare more effectively and strategically.

If you have shortlisted a program or anticipate applying to a recurring opportunity, you can begin drafting an outline in advance that reflects common application components. Two ways to do this include:

• Reviewing past agency solicitations or opportunity announcements available on Grants.gov or the agency’s website.
• Using prior application structures as a guide.

While program structure often remains similar from year to year, priorities, scoring criteria, and compliance requirements may change. Use past solicitations to prepare core sections, but plan to adjust based on updated agency guidance.

Although every solicitation differs, many federal grant applications commonly include the following sections:

• Project Narrative: Tell the story of your community, your project, the impact your project will have, and how additional funding will help. Don’t forget to start with the foundation you’ve already laid with your 2-page project pitch.
• Budget: Identify what components of your project you need funding for and the estimated costs for each component.
• Leveraged Resources: Outline key sources of monetary and in-kind leverage (including staff time and partner support). Note that not all leveraged resources qualify as formal cost-share.
• Project Timeline: Break the project into defined tasks, milestones, and deliverables aligned with the budget. Identify dependencies and be prepared to describe how you would adjust if delays occur. Proposed timelines may be weekly, monthly, or quarterly depending on project scope.
• Community Engagement & Project Impact: Many funding programs include evaluation criteria related to stakeholder engagement, public input, or community impact. Be prepared to document past engagement efforts and describe how your project reflects local priorities and implementation capacity.
• Partnerships & Collaboration: Many programs prioritize strong implementation teams. Start building those relationships and discussing project roles early, as those can take time, and also feel less forced when not built around a grant application timeline overtly. This is especially important to start early if potential partners will need to be selected competitively and plan accordingly.

With enough preparation, it is not unreasonable to have your grant application partially written by the time the agency solicitation is released. Then it’s just filling in the missing pieces and fine-tuning!