People can learn how to get grants by taking grant writing classes. A grant is a monetary award made by a federal agency to a grantee to aid in the accomplishment of authorized individual or group goals. Grants are also known as bursaries, but this term is more commonly used in the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada than elsewhere. Many different companies and organizations offer grant writing courses in person or online. Grant writing courses come in a variety of lengths and prices.
A grant writing course may even be free, such as the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) The Art and Science of Grant Writing workshops, which have been offered to the general public since 2004. Grant writing workshops can last a single day or a weekend, or they can last several weeks. Grant writing is also known as grant proposal writing because the person or organization seeking a grant must explain how they will use the funds to grant awarding bodies. A grant organization must know exactly how the money will be spent by a non-profit or charity.
One of the most difficult tasks in grant management is finding granting sources, which is covered in the most basic grant writing courses. A grant is not repaid like a loan; instead, it is given to the grantee to use for non-profit purposes. Because the number of grants available is usually less than the number of non-profits seeking them, obtaining a grant can be difficult. As a result, every good grant writing course will stress the importance of being persuasive when writing a grant proposal. Many granting bodies expect marketing materials to be included with proposals in order to promote the non-benefits, profit’s and a grant writing course may include brochure writing.
Grant writing is a type of copywriting that involves persuasion writing with a strong call to action, such as a direct response television commercial that entices viewers to order a product right away in order to get twice the value for a low price. The call to action in grant proposals is to persuade the granting body to award a grant. Grant writing courses also teach the writer how to follow up on grant applications and proposals that have been submitted. Many grant proposal writing courses emphasize organization because the more grants applied for, the more deadlines become an issue.