10 Ways to Immediately Strengthen your Proposals

I’ve spent nearly my entire career writing, editing, and reviewing funding proposals, grant applications, and other documents designed to help organizations raise more money. Based on what I’ve seen, I have come up with ten simple and straightforward things to help nonprofit staff shore up their writing skills and maximize their chances of securing funding. 

Many of these suggestions may feel like picking nits and mincing words, but I’m a firm believer that every grammatical advantage can help your organization succeed. And I certainly don’t think these suggestions could be limited to just proposals and requests for funding. Where appropriate, I’ve also included examples of what to avoid and what to do instead, using the fictitious organization, Feeding Green Valley.

1. A Passive voice makes for a passive case

Writing passively isn’t simply poor form, but it can dampen your messaging (see #7) and after a while, it becomes tiresome to readers. Swap out those passive sentences to more active ones, which will generate intrigue throughout your proposal and keep readers more interested in what you’re looking to accomplish. In an era where brevity is valued more than ever, converting passive sentences into active ones is a great place to start.

Example

Don’t say this: Nutritious food was received by members of the Green Valley community.

Instead say this: Green Valley community members received nutritious food.

2. POV inconsistencies

Switching back and forth mid-sentence between describing your organization as “Feeding Green Valley” and using words like “we” and “our”  may seem like a victimless offense, but it’s poor grammar and should be avoided– at least at the sentence-level. Instead, opt for maintaining a consistent point of view throughout your application or proposal and only switch back and forth if absolutely necessary–and even then, at the paragraph level at minimum.

Example 

Don’t say this: Feeding Green Valley accomplished so much in 2024 and we are excited to build on our success in the year ahead.

Instead say this: We accomplished so much in 2024 and are excited to build on our success in the year ahead.

3. “We” is who?

Speaking of we…not to get too existential, but who is “we”? Is “we” the organization? A group of staff members? The field at large? Members of the board? Don’t assume that readers know who you are talking about when using this prevalent pronoun–unless you've made it explicitly clear at the outset of your pitch. Avoid using “we” (and “our” for that matter) if possible, and if not, then make it clear to readers early on who exactly “we” and “our” is.

Example

Don’t say this: After reviewing Feeding Green Valley’s financial situation, we decided to purchase a new truck to expand our reach. 

Instead say this: After reviewing Feeding Green Valley’s financial situation, the executive leadership team decided to purchase a new truck to expand the organization’s reach.

4. “Unique” is weak…

I have to give the late author Charles Harrington Elster credit for this one. His book The Verbal Advantage is incredible and, as a lifetime lexicon learner, one of my favorites. In it, he explains that “unique has been used so often as an elegant variation for unusual and uncommon that it is no longer unusual or uncommon, and hardly elegant.” There are plenty of far more elegant variations of this entirely non-unique word–with my personal favorite being “inimitable”. Don’t settle for “unique”; try to find a word that better describes what you’re trying to convey instead.

Example

Don’t say this: Feeding Green Valley’s unique approach to addressing food insecurity ensures that services prioritize those most in need.

Instead say this: Feeding Green Valley’s systematic approach to addressing food insecurity ensures that services prioritize those most in need.

5. …And so are other adjectives

Along with “unique,” there are a slew of other words–many of them adjectives–that have been exploited over the years that they’ve effectively lost all value or meaning. These include “transformative,” “impactful,” “innovative,” “underserved,” and many more. If your grant application starts to read more like a game of ad libs gone wild, ask yourself instead how you could prove that adjective to readers using more objective and straightforward language–what about the program makes it impactful? What about the community makes them underserved? Doing so will provide readers with a high-dose of clarity when reviewing your proposal.

Example

Don’t say this: Our impactful mobile pantry program reaches hundreds of underserved households each month.

Instead say this: Our mobile pantry program provides healthy and nutritious food to hundreds of households each month that would otherwise not be able to afford it.

6. Weak verbs and weak action

This is perhaps the most pervasive thing I see when editing grant applications and proposals. Folks, (myself included) often fall into the habit of using ubiquitous verbs like “helps”, “works” “supports”, “advances”, and others, in conjunction with the base form of stronger, more compelling verbs. This diminishes the impact and influence the organization has–not to mention, it adds unnecessary words to your proposal. Avoid falling into this habit and needlessly hedging the work your organization does and the impact it accomplishes.   

Example

Don’t say this: Feeding Green Valley works to address food insecurity by supporting advocacy efforts that provide food assistance vouchers to local residents.

Instead say this: Feeding Green Valley addresses food insecurity by advocating for food assistance vouchers for local residents.

7. Jargon

There’s obvious jargon (think “embodied carbon” and “climate justice” if you’re in the environmental space) and then words that are disguised as non-jargon but are still jargon. These are sneaky things like “capacity-building” and “collaboration” that, without the requisite context, only mean specific things to specific people–and your readers may not be those people. When in doubt about a certain word or phrase, explain it in simpler terms and get specific. What, exactly, are “capacity-building activities” or what does “partner collaboration” actually look like? Don’t overlook these jargony words disguised as innocent terminology. 

Example

Don’t say this: Feeding Green Valley will collaborate with strategic partners to develop a program that will provide nutritious snacks to children after school.

Instead say this: Feeding Green Valley will meet with the local school district and members of the PTA once a month to develop a program that will provide nutritious snacks to children after school.

8. Eliminate redundancies

Ooo this is one of my favorites…and I hope you’re not bored yet. Eliminating redundancies in your writing is yet another simple way to create clean and crisp proposals. For some reason, our society seems to have no issue with redundancies, such as “free gift”, “future plans”, “unexpected surprise”, “brief summary”, and so forth. In proposal writing, however, nouns like these–and many, many others–can stand alone without their accompanying adjective (which is implied already by the noun itself). In the ongoing effort to eliminate wordiness from your writing, removing redundancies is a great place to start.

Example

Don’t say this: The programs team at Feeding Green Valley believes that future plans for the mobile pantry project should include locations in close proximity to the senior center.

Instead say this: The programs team at Feeding Green Valley believes that plans for the mobile pantry project should include locations close to the senior center.

9. Speak the reader’s language–and personalize!

Funders and investors often have a certain lexicon that is ingrained in their goals, strategies, and mission statements. Speak that language! If your organization has a building decarbonization (jargon alert) program, but your reader’s mission is to deploy green technologies into homes–talk about your efforts through that lens (to the best you can). Do your due diligence and learn how your reader’s organization talks and describes their interests and goals. Your pitch should be about how to advance their goals just as much as it is about advancing your own. Bonus points for adding personal touches throughout. 

10. Know when to stop reviewing

Analysis paralysis is an actual condition that impacts tons of organizations and teams. I recall working on a massive report for a previous organization and our team spent 15 minutes discussing a particular sentence fragment. This to say, know when enough is enough. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good and as long as you have put a hefty dose of time and effort into crafting a compelling pitch (and adhering to the rules above!), you’ve already greatly increased your chances of securing funding.