Need Grant Writing Help? - Need Statement - Part 2 of 11

So first things first, you are writing a grant proposal and while you need money, that is not the right reason to write a proposal.  The right reason is because your community has a need and your organization is seeking to be able to fill that need.  Need Statement is about the second sentence, not about getting money.

Ask yourself, what is the need to be addressed?  A Need Statement sets the tone for the entire proposal and outlines the essential condition, set of conditions, or social needs occurring at a specific time or place.  Your potential funders must agreed with you that this need must be addressed now so it is important to be persuasive through details and statistics.  In the arts we are typically very good at giving qualitative examples (fantastic stories of great experiences, etc.), but make sure to give quantitative data (statistics, audience counts, etc.) as often as possible.

Here are 5 helpful guidelines for what to include in your Need Statement.

1.  The need you address in the statement should have a clear relationship to your organization's mission and purpose.

2.  (As already mentioned above....) The need statement should focus squarely on those the organization serves and their specific needs, rather than your organization's needs (this is of course unless you are seeking a capacity-building grant).

3.  Any statements you make about the need should be well supported with evidence such as quantitative facts, expert opinions, examples of success of same initiatives by similar organizations with similar surroundings, etc.

4.  You must be able to directly connect the need  you describe with your organization's ability to successfully respond to that need.  (You will fully expand upon this later in the section on Sustaining Strategies.)

5.  The Need Statement must be simple understood and agreeable.  Keep it simple, state the facts, don't add "pretty language."  One of the biggest mistakes on beginning grant writers is to think of a grant proposal as the same thing as an annual fund letter.  In the annual fund letter, you are talking to an individual and you have the flexibility to paint vivid, emotional, detailed, fancy stories.  A foundation wants the facts in a straight forward manner and the facts need to be what are compelling enough to grant your request.  Make sure you have good facts and therefore, make sure you are asking for help with something worth it and something you can deliver on.

6 Tips for things to include in the above:
- Use statistics that are clear and that support your argument
- Use comparative statistics and research where possible
- Quote authorities who have spoken on your topic
- Make sure all data collection is well documented
- Use touching stories of people as examples
- Give it  clear sense of the urgency of your request

Ok, start drafting those Need Statements!  And if you have questions, post them below.  Remember, Blogs are interactive.

In a few days we'll move on to clearly defining your goals and objectives...