Review panelists are instructed to respond only to the application materials they have received. Thus, make no assumptions that reviewers know you, your community, your funding track record, or your artistic reputation.
For on-line course in grant writing click here. In addition, here are some tips from past review panelists:
“Read the guidelines and take them literally. If it says "‘answer all questions," pay attention. Failing to do so hurts you.”
"Answer every part of the narrative question."
"Applicants without high quality artistic support materials are seldom funded. You have told us what your standards are in the narrative; now show us what you mean.”
“Keep the review criteria in front of you when you prepare your proposal. We award points for each criterion, and it’s amazing how often people give us nothing to go on. If there is nothing to go on, we are instructed to give you a ‘0’ score for that area.”
“Choose your support materials carefully and don’t overwhelm us. If there are important things you want to make sure we notice, highlight them somehow.”
“Remember that panelists have a limited amount of time to review and discuss each application. Keep your narrative succinct. Clarity in your proposal is important.”
“The budgets often contained: addition errors ... a failure to understand in-kind ... total expenses not equaling total income. It is also not wise to leave the ‘in-kind’ page blank. ”
“Reviewers strongly favor proposals showing multiple sources of match.”
“Volunteers cannot be included in the in-kind budget. The place to discuss the number of volunteers and the hours they donate is in the narrative.”
“If you say you are working with another organization, provide a letter from that organization that demonstrates how they have been working with you.”
Council staff is happy to provide feedback as you prepare your proposal. However, they can only give advice based on observing past review processes. Advice from staff in no way guarantees funding.
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