How to write a successful award or grant application

Details

1 .Seek out opportunities and research the granting organizations.

Through online research, speaking with colleagues, and subscribing to publications that share opportunities, you can assemble a list of organizations that offer grants and awards relevant to you. You will need to keep an eye out for news of the application period. Subscribe to the organization’s newsletters and follow their accounts on social media for information on upcoming opportunities. You can also follow individuals from the organization on social media, including members of the judging panel. You may need to regularly monitor websites or notice boards, as well as engaging with local, national, or international development organizations, where many opportunities will come your way by word of mouth.

Here are some examples of organizations that provide grants and awards specifically for African journalists and broadcasters:

• Africa No Filter
• Farm Radio International
• Mongabay
• One World Media
• International Centre for Journalists
• African Centre for Media Excellence
• Internews
• ICT Works
• Global Investigative Journalists’ Network

For the names of other organizations who offer grants or awards, search FRI’s Barza Wire Opportunities section at https://wire.farmradio.fm/opportunities/

Once you’ve identified an opportunity that you are eligible for, thoroughly research the organization to understand its mission, values, and goals. Identify the people on the grant or award committee and try to gather information about their backgrounds, priorities, and areas of expertise. Determine what issues or areas of interest are most important to the granting or awarding organization. You may find clues in public statements, reports, and in stories about past winners. This information will be helpful in writing your application to ensure you speak to their values and goals. Use their language and terminology in your application—this shows that you are familiar with their work and understand their mission.

2. Read the application guidelines carefully and gather information to support your application.

Once you’ve found a grant or award to apply for, read the application guidelines carefully. The guidelines should tell you everything you need to know, including:

• Eligibility information.
• Deadline to submit the applications.
• Type(s) of award available, including prize money, if any.
• Details of the application process, including length and format of the application and all required documentation.
• Questions that you will need to respond to, including key information about yourself and your work.
• Examples of grants or awards that the organization has presented in the past, or would like to award in the future, including information about past award winners.

Keep the deadline in mind, and start preparing your application early.

Gather as much information as possible to support your application. Basic information about yourself, your programs, and your radio will be easy to come by, but you may also want to find information on the size of audience you reach, demographics of your community, major issues facing your community, etc.

If you are applying for an award, it is a good strategy to think of three to four stories from your experience that highlight how you and your work meets the criteria for the award. Read the application guidelines and questions carefully and reflect on the values of the granting organization. Think of three to four examples of your work that really demonstrate why you are the best applicant. Think of as many details as possible about these examples. If they are stories you have covered, think about:

• How did you come up with the story topic? What formats did you use?
• Who did you speak to? What did they tell you?
• What was the audience’s reaction? Has there been any change in the community as a result of your work?
• When did you do this reporting? What program did it air on? Who does this program reach?
• Did you do any follow up reporting?
• Did you collaborate with anyone to produce this reporting? (Colleagues or other broadcasters, organizations, etc?)
• Were you the only one covering this topic? Did you cover a unique angle?
• What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

If you are applying for a grant, you will likely be pitching a story or project in your application as you seek funding. Think about the following details:

• How did you develop this story / project idea?
• What reporting has been done on this topic, and how will the story advance public understanding of this topic or region?
• Why are you the best person to tell this story / undertake this project? And why does your audience need to hear this story?
• What do you already know about the issue? What do you need to find out?

Who will you speak to? How long will it take to work on this story / do this project?

• Will you collaborate with anyone to get the information you need?
• What formats will you use? On which program will this air? What audience will it reach?
• What challenges do you expect and how will you overcome them?

If you are applying for a grant, you will likely need to prepare a budget to demonstrate how you will use the funds. It can also be helpful to have evidence of managing a budget.

3. Tell your story: Write the application

When filling out your grant or award application, tell your story – the story of why you are the best candidate. Paint a picture of who you are and why you are a great broadcaster. The judging panel will read dozens or hundreds of applications, and you want your story to stand out, so make your narrative engaging. You may find some useful tips on radio storytelling in this guide.

Be sure to read the award and grant application guidelines thoroughly and gather all the necessary information, using the format requested and the application form (if provided). Answer the questions provided, telling anecdotes from your experience and providing details to the questions considered above. Ensure your answers reflect the values of the granting organization.

If there is no application form, prepare a document that provides the information in sub-sections a-g below. Note that most grant applications have a 2,000 to 5,000-word limit. Award applications vary, but are typically a bit shorter—around 500-1000 words.

Note: Requirements vary between organizations, and there is no standard format. So be sure to read the guidelines carefully. However, you may find it helpful to follow some of the guidelines below.

Applications often include the following sections:

1. Abstract (approximately 250 words)

The abstract is a concise summary that serves to capture the reader’s interest and convince them to read the entire application. It is similar to a cover letter for a job application. It should offer the reader a summary of the entire application, including the amount of funding requested, if any. Though the abstract appears at the top of the application, it is often written last—once you have all your other information in place.

Write an engaging lead. This might include a testimonial or anecdote from one of your colleagues or listeners, or powerful language about the impact you or your program has had in the community. Be creative and use your own voice to make your application stand out.

Abstracts for grants should provide answers to the following questions:

• What do you intend to do? (approximately 1-2 sentences)
• Why is the work important? (approximately 2-3 sentences)
• What work have you already done in this area? (approximately 2-3 sentences)
• How are you going to do the work? (approximately 3-4 sentences)
• Why are you the best person to do the work? (approximately 2-3 sentences)

Abstracts for awards should provide answers to the following questions:

• What is your history of media work?
• What are your proudest or greatest or most-recognized achievements related to the focus of the award?
• What skills do you have?
• What are your future work aims?

Introduction (approximately 300-400 words)

The introduction should flesh out some of the information in your abstract.

For a grant, it should establish your experience and qualifications to carry out the proposed project, including your education or training and some brief but interesting details about yourself, your radio station, and the community you serve.

For an award, it should highlight your past experience, training, skills, and achievements, including an important story you have covered or change in the community that came about because of your work. For both grants and awards, it should provide a strong argument and enough details about why you’re a good candidate to win the award or receive the grant.

Problem or need statement (for grant applications onlyapproximately 100 words)

The problem or need statement clearly describes how the grant will meet an important need that has been expressed by your audience, broadcasting staff, or station manager. This could be creating a gender desk at the station, conducting more field visits, buying new equipment, receiving training, or conducting field research for an important story.

Objectives (for grant applications only, approximately 300-400 words)

This section describes the anticipated outcomes of your work. It should provide answers to the following questions:

• Why do you want to do it?
• What will it mean to your audience?
• What will the opportunity mean for you as a broadcaster and for your career, and/or to your station?
• How will you do it? What are the key steps?
• What do you want to learn from doing it?
• How will your work result in meaningful change for your listeners?

Methodology (for grant applications only, approximately 300-400 words)

This section describes exactly what steps you plan to take, who is involved, the timeline, and the evaluation methods you will use to determine whether you’ve reached your objective(s). When describing your or your station’s achievements, experience, capacity, and training, make sure they are directly related to the work you are proposing to do.

For reporting grants, it helps if a journalist is able to provide a letter of support from an editor or program manager who is either committed or interested in publishing or broadcasting their work. This is often acquired from editors or managers the journalist has worked with in the past.

Budget (for grant applications only)

Finally, the budget describes in detail the costs involved in carrying out the activities proposed in your grant application. Transparency is key, as funders need to know exactly what they’re funding, how the funding is being used, and the projected outcomes of that funding. Many grants allow a journalist to pay themselves a stipend, in addition to the rate they are receiving from their media organization.

Example of past work

Award applications in particular will ask for an example of your work that aligns with the award’s objectives. Make sure you select an example of high quality, both technically and with regards to the content. For an award or grant application related to gender equality, for example, select an episode recording or article you have written on an important or sensitive topic, where you had interesting interviewees, and asked interesting questions. But you should also ensure the episode is entertaining, has good quality audio, etc. You will often have to transcribe the audio recording and / or provide a translation into English. This will help the selection committee to review the example of your work and fully assess your application.

Tips for writing a grant or award application:

• Tell a story. Highlight the most important and compelling details that merit a grant or an award. This might include a brief anecdote from a listener about a positive impact of the program, a few facts about a particular episode or series that made a difference in your community, or a brief back story about what inspired you to do rural radio programming. Don't be afraid to insert unique details about yourself, your station, or your community throughout the application to help your application stand out.
• Be specific and include details. A great proposal clearly describes the impact you have had on the local community and the goals you hope to achieve. Include relevant facts and figures. This might include statistics on listener growth you helped the station achieve, figures about the demographics of the community you serve, the number of women involved in your program, and other relevant facts and figures that will strengthen your application. Be clear about what the grant or award would mean to you and why it could help you achieve future goals.
• Use clear and concise language, and keep your application organized with a heading for each section and bulleted lists where possible. Avoid jargon and technical language.
• Answer all of the questions. Don’t leave anything blank—if you are unsure how to answer a specific question, get in touch with the award or grant committee for clarification.

4. Revise and edit the application

Make sure you re-read your application to ensure your answers address the questions and provide information on the skills and criteria of interest to the judges. Ensure you’ve added enough detail for each answer and have included all the components required. Ensure your application follows any guidelines as to word count and formatting.

You could ask colleagues at your radio station, particularly those who work on programs with you, to review your application for spelling errors, factual accuracy, and missing details.

If you are submitting your application as an attached Word document or PDF, make sure your final file name includes your name to make it easier for the judges to keep track of your application.

5. Ask for feedback and try again

Submitting an award application or grant proposal can be highly competitive and challenging. Try not to be discouraged if you are unsuccessful. There might be an opportunity to ask the grant or award committee for feedback that could help you in future applications.

Remember to try again. There were probably hundreds of individuals who applied for the opportunity, and few winners. It can be discouraging to not succeed with an opportunity, but you can always try again. If the questions are similar, you can use your application as the basis for a future application, revising your answers to ensure they are up-to-date, include relevant examples, and build on what you know about past winners.

6. What to do when you succeed

If you are successful, congratulations! You should take a moment to celebrate with family, friends, and colleagues. You should also announce the good news on social media platforms and on your radio program so that the community can recognize you as well. For your personal records, you should keep any documentation and certificates for use in future applications.

Grants: Now the work begins. If you’ve won a grant, you will now have to do the work you outlined in your application. Make up a workplan including timelines so that you can produce the required story or implement the innovation in a timely manner. Communicate with the funding organization your plan and understand any timelines and conditions from their end, particularly around the release of the funds and the publication of the story

It is also a good idea to understand how you will have to acknowledge the funding organization on the story or project.

Awards: Communicate with the organization to understand how the prize will be awarded and any celebrations or acknowledgement they are planning. If they will be sharing a story about yourself, you may need to provide details and photos. Keep an eye out for that story or any publications about the award to save for your records and share on social media.