Do you know the best way to present information in a grant proposal? In this course, an experienced grantwriter will show you how to research and write winning proposals that get funded. You'll become proficient in the proposal format used by the vast majority of public foundations. Learn what to do--and, more importantly what not to do--on your cover sheet, narrative, background page, and your stakeholder and third-party evaluation plan.

You'll also discover the quickest and most efficient ways to gather the information you'll need to develop your proposal’s attachments, including information on your organization's structure, administration, and finances.

And you'll gain a full understanding of the criteria funders use to determine whether your grant proposal gets funded or rejected. You'll become expert at ferreting out corporate, foundation, and government grantmakers, and you'll know how to tailor your responses to information found in the peer review criteria.

Before the course is over, you will have discovered a number of significant finishing touches that can give your project the edge over others. You'll know the best type of paper to use, which buzzwords to include, which fonts work best, which types of graphics to include, and a variety of formatting techniques that will make your proposal more competitive. You'll also learn about the importance of obtaining community and political support before submitting a proposal to any government agency.

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Recommended Courses:

Students who enrolled in Advanced Grant Proposal Writing were also interested in the following courses:

Get Grants!

A to Z Grant Writing

Become a Grant Writing Consultant

Introduction to Nonprofit Management

Introduction to Microsoft Excel 2007

Writing Effective Grant Proposals

Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

In this lesson, you'll learn the different types of grant proposal formats for corporations, foundations, and state and federal government agencies. This lesson is important because you'll discover who reviews your proposals at each type of funder, what format the proposal review staff expect to receive, and how and why decisions to fund or reject grant proposals are made.

Friday - Lesson 02

This lesson will teach you how to carefully research the funding agencies so you can match your grant funding needs to their interests. You’ll learn how to find and use Internet research sites to identify multiple funders for grant proposal projects. And you'll learn how to spot the funder/project matches that result in a 90 percent or higher funding success rate.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

In this lesson, we'll focus on how to prepare the first section of the grant proposal narrative-the research and major accomplishments section. You’ll learn how to sift through organizational documents and write useful information that will answer the dozens of questions that grant reviewers ask when reading your narrative. Most importantly, you'll learn how to avoid the mistakes that can cause your grant proposal to lose points during the initial stages of the funder’s review process.

Friday - Lesson 04

This lesson will teach you how to develop a current programs and activities section narrative template. You’ll also learn where to find the type of information a grant reviewer needs in this section of your grant proposal. And you'll learn how to stay on your toes to answer all of the questions that funders ask when they read this section of your grant proposals.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

In this lesson, you will learn how to write accurate and magnetizing copy for the target population served section of your grant proposals. You’ll also learn how to conduct extensive research on your target population and how to order, organize, and write the information for this critical section of your grant proposals.

Friday - Lesson 06

This lesson will teach you how to find the most current information on your organization’s partners in the community, region, and nation. You’ll also learn how to identify potential partners when your organization has few or no partners. Most importantly, you'll learn how to organize and present your partnership information in an appealing format for funders.

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

In this lesson, you'll learn how to understand the needs statement section from the funder’s viewpoint. You'll also learn the type of information to collect on the target population and your organization in order to glean language for this section.

Friday - Lesson 08

This is perhaps the most important of all our lessons. You are halfway through the main writing sections for your grant proposal narrative and gaining more confidence in your skills. This lesson will teach you how to show the funder that you have a well-thought-out plan for spending grant monies. You'll learn how to look at the program design section from the funder’s viewpoint, how to collect the right information, and how to spot poorly written narrative in this section.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

In this lesson, you will learn to understand the thinking patterns of grant funders when they read the management plan section. You’ll also learn how to avoid the most common types of errors made by other grant writers when writing this section, and how to cull the right information from your program staff or administrators.

Friday - Lesson 10

This lesson will teach you how to look at the evaluation plan section from the funder's perspective. You'll also learn how to steer clear of the age-old errors that other grant writers make when planning and writing this section. From learning where to find the information needed to write an award-winning evaluation plan to learning the common terms that funders look for in this section, Lesson 10 hits the target.

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

At this point, you're nearing the finish line for Advanced Proposal Writing. In this lesson, you will learn the standard definitions you need to know when it comes to planning your budget line items. We'll also look at examples of award-winning budget sections on the Internet. Most importantly, this lesson will teach you how to recover with the funder when you make a glaring budget error.

Friday - Lesson 12

Our last lesson will teach you how to view your entire proposal package from the funder's viewpoint. You’ll also learn how to use words that work, some final formatting techniques, and how to prepare the supporting documentation for your grant proposal-the attachments. This final lesson will also teach you the ins and outs of signatories, copies, and how to mail your grant proposal the right way. Lastly, you'll learn how to follow up on all outstanding items, such as verification of proposal delivery and checking back with funders. Finally, I'll show you the next step to take when your proposal is either funded or rejected.

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Beverly Browning.

Dr. Beverly Browning has been writing winning grant proposals for over 20 years. She is a full-time grant writing consultant who has helped her for-profit and nonprofit clients, worldwide, to win over $100 million in grant and contract awards. Dr. Browning is a college instructor, grant writing workshop presenter, and author of nearly two dozen books, including Grant Writing For Dummies and Faith-Based Grants: Aligning Your Church to Receive Abundance.

Requirements:

Completion of an introductory grant writing course or equivalent experience. Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader).

Student Reviews:

"Although I have written a few small grants previously, this is the first grantwriting class I have taken. I found the class very informative. Thank you for sharing your knowledge, experience, and resources. I knew there had to be grant sources out there, but until this class, I had no idea where to look for them. Since grant writing is not in my job description, I had to pay for this class out of my own pocket. It was worth every dime!!! I hope to take more of your classes in the future."

"Beverly Browning is a fantastic teacher. This course, of the several grant writing courses I have taken, both online and off, has been the most helpful. I feel confident that my grant writing skills have improved."

"Beverly Browning is a wonderful teacher! Her Advanced Proposal Writing course format was very easy to follow and kept me interested in the subject. Because of this, I fared very well on all assignments and quizzes. I highly recommend Beverly and/or this course to anyone interested in stepping up their knowledge of successful grant writing."

"Beverly, thank you so much for the wonderful wisdom and advice over the last couple of months. I hope with this knowledge, I'll have confidence to try other types of grants so that our organization can branch out into more projects for our community."

"Dear Ms. Browing, Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us. My husband and I are very excited to start our own business and your thorough training has given us confidence. Again, thank you."

"Dear Ms. Browning, Thank you so much for sharing your expertise with us. My husband and I are very excited to start our own business and your thorough training has given us confidence. Again, thank you."

"Dr. Bev and the Advanced Grant Writing Course were phenomenal! When I misunderstood terms in a lesson, she would shine a light on the misunderstanding and give me additional examples and definitions to help me see it in a different way with clarity. She would then ask, “do you see the difference?” This was very helpful in my learning. She positioned me to challenge myself by asking me additional questions. I then did more research and revised my answer. This extra push to dig deeper gave me increased knowledge and confidence in my work. Her teaching is “real time”- [she] responds quickly and the information contained in the lesson is very current! It is because of her teaching and shared information that I am able to sit amongst highly experienced grant professionals with ease. I am beyond grateful!!!!"

"Dr. Bev Browning is a first-rate instructor….I have had her for two classes and would take many more from her if they were offered…So far, I have found nothing but quality learning opportunities from Ed2go.com. Thank you."

"Dr. Beverly, thank you for all your help, your course was outstanding and will benefit me greatly."

"Dr. Bev - I just wanted to let you know that I really learned a lot during the past six weeks. It was unfortunate that my workload increased as we started really getting into the details and I wasn't able to participate as much as I would have liked, but I still took away so much from this course!"

"Dr. Bev is a wealth of information and a wonderful instructor. I've always learned from instructors who are passionate about the material; Dr. Bev taught me a lot."

"Dr. Bev, I, too, want to thank you for this excellent course. It was definitely an in-depth look at the nuts-and-bolts of putting together an effective proposal, and I know I’ll be referring back to my lessons with every application, making sure I’ve avoided the red flags and critical errors and adding all the extra touches you’ve taught us. I hope you continue to bring in millions for the worthy organizations you serve."

"Dr. Bev, I've learned so much in your course, and have particularly enjoyed the discussions. While I look forward to my next grant application with guarded enthusiasm (as I know that more learning will come with the actual writing, and I will make mistakes here and there), I feel more confident that I can now handle bigger ($10K and up) grant applications and widen my search for other funding sources (not just limited to corporations and foundations). Thank you, and I look forward to being in your next online course."

"Dr. Bev, this class far exceeded my expectations! The lessons were tremendously informative. I've printed them out and will refer to them again and again, I am sure. This was the first time I've taken an online course and I was very pleased with the format. You facilitated an environment that was serious about the subject and friendly and supportive at the same time. I feel very fortunate to have had the benefit of your extensive experience. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and wisdom with me."

"Dr. Bev was extremely knowledgeable...The helpful tips are great for foundational grants. Federal grants in which I was working on have strict guidelines - but even Dr. Bev's structure in which to write grants fit in with the federal grants. Thanks - I learned a lot."

"Dr. Browning's courses are excellent."

"Dr Browning, this is the first message I have posted since joining the class in February. I am the director of one of the nation's largest state archives, containing more than 200 million records dating back to 1630. I do not generally take on-line classes or classes in grant making as I have been writing grants for virtually my entire career but your handling of the material has given me many new ideas. Old dogs can learn new tricks. I will be looking for future courses of yours and thank you for such well crafted course content. P.S. I have a $250,000 grant in process and a site visit scheduled next week. Wish me luck."

"Excellent course, and I have compared the samples the instructor taught to actual proposals only to find them amazingly similar. Such a relief to know that this really is being taught in the true form that will be used out in the "real world!" THANK YOU !!!"

"Excellent course. I appreciated the quick responses whenever I had a problem."

"Excellent course! It was thorough, well organized and well written. It has helped me immeasurably."

"Excellent, excellent course."

"First, I want to thank you for the content and manner in which you delivered the information and above all putting up with me. I know I am a better grant writer."

"For someone who is looking to become a better grant writer or is looking for a career change and is self-motivated, I would recommend this online course. I have enjoyed learning how to become a better grant writer with D. Bev!"

"Good instructor, good course. I think I have taken all the ones offered by this instructor, but would continue to take more of her courses if they were made available."

"Great class. So informative and practical! I loved that I could submit actual writing samples and receive feedback. Very knowledgeable instructor."

"Great class, topics were clear and to the point I am leaving this class feeling I have learned a lot. Thank you."

"Great course. Highly recommended!"

"Great course. I was amazed at how well-organized the instructor is and how well-planned the lessons are. I'm really inspired now to emulate her organzational skill and to start writing."

"Great course! I would take anything that Dr. Browning was instructing in the future."

"Great course, now I am confident I have the tools to write great grants that carry an excellent reflection of the organization I am representing!"

"Having completed the course, I now feel ready to write a grant proposal. This course has given me an invaluable template for grant writing. I can do this! Very informative course. I'm sure I will be returning frequently to the course material for guidance when I begin writing grants for my foundation. Thank you so much for your assistance, it was a great class and I enjoyed it."

"I am hoping that the information that I have learned will help me in assisting my church and my church community. Thank you for the opportunity to learn something new and exciting. I am looking forward to my next class."

"I appreciated the knowledgeable and approachable personality of our instructor. I am so satified that now as I am looking over grant possibilites, I have such a better understanding of what the grantors are looking for!"

"I can't believe how much I've learned over the past 6 weeks. This was a phenomenal course."

"I certainly appreciated my instructor's vast knowledge and experience. I learned a great deal more than I expected. But most importantly, I learned how to find and use many resources to learn even more. All in all, it was one of the most motivating courses I've taken in a long while. I already have lined up several situations needing grants. I think I shall be busy for a long while. Thank you!"

"I enjoyed the course a lot. Knowing very little about grant writing, I now am not terrified to try."

"I enjoyed the course and other students' input. I would do it again."

"I enjoyed the course very much. Beverly not only made this course interesting, she also did what she said she would do. She gave me much more confidence to write a proposal through her knowledge, and teaching skills. Thank you Beverly for sharing so much."

"I enjoyed this class very much. I "gleaned" an incredible amount of the instructor's wisdom and insight- thank- you for such an expert instructor!"

"I feel I have confidence to begin submitting grants. I feel fortunate to have had a published author/expert teaching this class."

"I felt I was in over my head when I started since I have no grant writing experience, but found the format easy to follow and easy to learn from."

"I felt the content of the lessons was superb and I learned a great deal."

"I found this course a valuable follow-up to Beverly's Becoming a Grant Writing Consultant course. She is a knowledgeable teacher and a great communicator who is generous in sharing the benefits of her experience."

"I got a lot of information out of this class and I would tell anyone that is interested in grants to take this course. I work and could not take a class at Murray but this was great. Thanks."

"I have enjoyed this course and my instructor is a very knowlegeable person. The teaching tools she used in this course really helped me to understand the importance of grantwriting. She is an expert in this field and I hope one day I will become an expert in this field too. Thanks a lot."

"I have successfully written federal grants for the past seven years. I learned how to do proposals and other grants. I like the format for writing interesting narratives that was presented."

"I have taken courses with this instructor before and will do so again in the future. Excellent!"

"I have taken other grant writing courses and this was excellent in summarizing and clarifying informaton I received from the other courses. This class also has outstanding supplementary material...info I had not seen in the previous courses."

"I just heard that a proposal I wrote in January has been awarded funding. It's my first successful proposal! I am so excited. Thank you, Dr. Bev, for all of the help you have given me."

"I really enjoyed Ms. Browning. The class was formatted and well-developed. It was easy to follow and understand."

"I really enjoyed this course, gave me a better understanding of proposal writing. Thanks."

"I really liked this course. I have already recommended this course to others. The format and layout were terrific! I already have a BA and I can say that this is one class where I know I can use everything that was taught! Keep up the good work Dr. Bev."

"I think the instructor is wonderful. Very knowledgeable. I'd like to see more examples, you can never get enough in this type of course."

"I thoroughly enjoyed this class. The course content was very beneficial. Having completed this course, I feel confident I will be able to write grants."

"I thought Ms. Browning really cleared up what went into a professional grant application. I had already taken the beginning class, and this one gave me more insight as to how to make it cleaner, as well in assisting me in writing the proposal itself. The links are incredibly helpful."

"It was a real pleasure taking this course. The course and the information in it were very helpful. anybody who plans to write a grant proposal should take this course."

"I've been a silent student during this course; that's mainly because grant writing is an area I'm trying to learn after working as an editor for many years. I certainly enjoyed and benefited from your comprehensive, well-organized lessons and the discussion areas. I completed your ed2go Becoming a Grant Writing Consultant course this past summer, and I'm looking forward to applying what I've learned from both courses. In fact, I've already applied a lot of your consulting course information to my freelance editing business! Thanks again. Any chance you may offer a third course at some point?"

"I want to thank you for this course. It is exactly what I've needed. It has allowed me to understand some needs we had not forseen, also put some perspective on how to overcome the obstacles of being a new grassroots organization and pumped us up to continue on with more diligent networking and partnering."

"I was very satisfied with the course and look forward to another."

"I wish this course had been available years ago...very thorough, and a real eye-opener! Thank you to Beverly Browning for sharing her expertise!"

"Just wanted to say thank you for a great course! The depth of info in every lesson really makes this course extremely useful. I sincerely appreciate the clarity of your writing and the insights that you've shared. All of it is invaluable to any grantwriter -- novice or experienced. Thanks, again!"

"More than just theory, this is a hands-on course for those who actually want to write grant proposals and get them funded. Dr. Browning's writing is superb and she gives you the examples and technical skills you need to get started immediately. This confidence-building course is highly recommended for serious grant-writers who want to win grants, or for anyone in non-profit leadership who wants to know the specifics of how to get funding. Dr. Browning has a 90-95% success rate in winning grants-- definitely someone you want to learn from."

"Thanks for a job well done. I am alrady using the ideas expressed in these 12 online lessons."

"Thank you, Beverly, for sharing your wisdom and vast experience in twelve concise, comprehensive and interesting lessons! The research sites were a big help too. I copied everything and hope to wear it out in the future!"

"Thank you, Bev, for another fine course. I also took your Becoming A Grant Writing Consultant course. You explain the steps so logically. I know I will be referring to these materials in my future grant-writing projects."

"Thank you, Bev, for writing (and teaching) an easy-to-follow course format. Of the three different grant writing courses I've taken over the past few months, yours definitely comes out on top! I'm glad I finally decided - at the age of 43 - to learn about grant writing. I've been using this new-found knowledge to assist my nonprofit in getting grants. No federal ones, though......I told you when that day comes I'm going on vacation! Thanks, Bev, I hope our paths cross again."

"Thank you Dr. Bev!!!! This is the second course I have completed with you. You are EXCELLENT and very knowledgeable in your subject matter. I have learned so much from you and am now confident that I will succeed in my endeavor to be a grant writing consultant. Again, thank you for sharing all that you know!"

"Thank you for a great class. I really like your style of teaching - straight and to the point. Wish you did all the classes."

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take this course. It was very informative and helpful to me. I look forward to taking more courses online in the future."

"Thank you so much for this class! I have so much more to learn, my only complaint about this course is that it ended too soon! I enjoyed our discussions and the challenge to find other sites and information. I will be studying longitudinal assessments for the next year! My biggest challenge now is putting it into practice. I hope this season and the upcoming year gives back to you what you have given me...again, Thank You!"

"The course was very informative. This is the third grant writing class I have taken. I have learned a lot about the process. Hopefully it will be of value to me in the future as I help write them."

"The information provided in the course was extrememely helpful. As a grant writer, I continue to seek information that will hone my skills."

"The information you've provided in the class will be used to help us fund a drastically needed project for our teenagers. Thanks for the grant writing information. Lives will be changed because of what I've learned in your classroom."

"The insructor is extremely knowledgeable and eager to assist. I can only imagine what being in a classroom setting with her would be like - FASCINATING!!"

"The instructor and the course were excellent. The course was highly practical and useful, and each week I found myself immediately applying the information and knowledge from the course in my work. The lessons were very clear and concise, and just the right amount of information was provided each week to build practical skills and knowledge, and to keep learning motivation high. The additional resources and links also gave the opportunity for further in-depth research and learning as well as providing valuable and useful information and links to use in my work. The instructor's extensive experience and knowledge, combined with her practical, helpful and encouraging teaching style, all came through very strongly, making this a most valuable and enjoyable learning experience. I feel very fortunate and privileged to have had such an outstanding expert as the instructor for this course. Thank you very much."

"The instructor provided excellent information. I, very much, appreciate being able to take this class in this format - at home, at my own convenience. It is really a great way for a person who works full-time, and has a family, to take a class! Thank you!!"

"This course has been a real eye-opener and a most valuable experience. Beverly is an excellent instructor and I recommend this course to EVERYONE who is thinking about becoming a grant writer. Thank you so very much."

"This course has been very helpful. As I have progressed through the lessons, I have made substantial changes to my proposal. Wish me luck and thanks for the guidance."

"This course helped me a lot. I did have some training in grant writing but the tools and instructions you gave us are truly at the expert level. Also, the course was very clear and easy to understand and to apply, even by someone who’s first language is not English, like in my situation. Thank you very much Dr. Bev!"

"This course really helped my confidence in my existing proposal writing and editing skills, and helped me learn new skills as well. Taking this course was very definitely worth my time."

"This course was exactly what I was looking for, in both substance and scope. Thank Beverly for me!"

"This course was the perfect compliment to the previous course that I had taken, A to Z Grantwriting. This course delved into the minute details of the funder's requirements. I am going to use my skills shortly to try to earn a grant for my school district."

"This course was well organized and easy to follow. I would recommend this class to others and look forward to taking future courses taught by this instructor."

"This is one of the best courses I have taken. My only complaint, it ended to soon...I found the discussion areas very informative and thought provoking and they led to further study areas that enhanced the course. I really enjoyed this, Thanks!"

"This is the best course I have taken so far. The instructor is an expert and presents the material in an organized, logical and clear fashion. Thank you so much!"

"This is the second on-line grant writing class I have taken. I am new to the field and have only been writing grants for 4 months. I definitely liked the instructor's format using the red flags and the "you know you are in trouble" sections. The sections which included a poorly written piece vs. an excellent written piece were of the most help. Thank you for increasing my knowledge in this exciting field."

"This was a very good course and the pace was good. The instructor's excellent writing skills came out in the lessons. I was very pleased."

"This was the third in a series of classes, I have enjoyed them all. Bev provided inspiration, knowledge, and common sense. The class fell in line with my desired intentions and has given me the tools I needed to proceed with my career."

"Very clear writing style, with lots of information that could be put to immediate use. Lessons were organized such that they were easy to follow, and retain. The Red Flags were great."

"Very professional instructor. Highly recommend this brief course that is full of ready to use info! Quck and high impact. Thanks."

"Very useful course. This is my second on-line grant proposal course and they have both been easy to fit into my schedule and extremely helpful. Thank you."

"What an informative and useful course! Many thanks for the expert preparation; clearly much thought went into the subject presentation. I expect the value of this course will prove to be lasting indeed, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have used my time so well. Thanks again!"

"Wonderful Course. I really enjoyed it. I am already registered for another one of her courses. She is a wonderful instructor and the course was very detailed and easy to understand and read. Thank you."