Grant proposals come in many lengths, styles and formats. But all of them share one crucial sentence: the ask.
It’s the most important sentence in a grant request. It’s why we call them requests. Oddly enough, about 17%* of the letters I receive don’t include an ask.
Why not? Putting together an artful ask is as easy as 1, 2, 3:
1. Be clear. This sentence doesn’t cut it: “Any donation amount for our programs would be great.” The ask should share your requested amount and expected outcomes. For example: “We request $X to achieve Y and Z.”
2. Make it short. Most asks are about 30-35 words. Doesn’t seem too bad, until you consider studies about reading comprehension.
Ann Wylie, writing trainer extraordinaire, shares these facts from American Press Institute research:
- “When the average sentence length in a piece was fewer than eight words long, readers understood 100 percent of the story.
- Even at 14 words, they could comprehend more than 90 percent of the information.
- But move up to 43-word sentences, and comprehension dropped below 10 percent.”
The longer the sentence, harder it is for your reader to understand. One of the requests I received used a 60-word ask. Few people will understand it, let alone fund it.
3. Put it first. In a recent post, Lead with the right hook, I suggest putting the ask first. Make it easy for the funder to find. About 43% of the requests I receive put the ask in the first paragraph, which is very helpful. Another 30% hide it somewhere in the middle of the request.
The ask is a key sentence. But remember: a fit with the funder’s mission will always be the most important factor.
Those are my suggestions for the ask. What are yours?
* I used totally unscientific numbers in this post. I scanned about 50 requests for a quick count.
If you liked this post, check out other topics on the Grantwriting Tips page.
Meredith Hilt's Blog 
donordreams
January 26, 2012
I just love your blog, Meredith! I especially like the reader survey data references in this post. You hit the nail on the head. Would you please share your source for this info?
Erik Anderson
http://www.thehealthynonprofit.com
meredithdhilt
January 26, 2012
Hey, Erik –
Thanks for your encouragement!
If you click on “these facts” above you can see where I pulled the data from. I first learned about this study at one of Ann Wylie’s excellent trainings. She might be able to provide more depth if you’re interested in learning more.
As always, I am grateful for your readership and comments.
– Meredith