The need statement is one of the most important parts of your federal grant proposal. This is the where you will make the case for your program or project, describing the problem the grant will address and making an argument for receiving the grant.

A weak need statement, especially in a federal grant proposal, will weaken the rest of your proposal. If it’s not thoroughly researched and well written, the entire proposal may get thrown out.

To set up a strong need statement in a federal grant proposal (and in any other type of grant), you must identify credible sources to back up your assertions. Describe the population you serve. Provide statistics like demographics, poverty levels, or health.

Then, quote scientific studies, and make sure they’re recent. Generally they’ll need to be from the past three years or so, depending on how dynamic your industry is. If you work in health and medicine, any studies cited in a federal grant proposal will need to be very recent or you’ll need to state why they are still relevant. Often, the federal grant proposal guidelines will tell you what rubric is used for determining a study’s relevancy. Cite these studies and sources according to the guidelines, too.

Need more federal grant proposal writing tips? Check out these articles:

• Is your nonprofit truly ready to apply for a federal grant?
• How to start measuring outcomes for your grants
• Five tips for federal grant writing success
• How to register for a federal grant with Grants.gov
• How to write SMART objectives for nonprofit grants
• Three examples of SMART objectives for nonprofits
• What to include in an MOU for a federal grant application
• Write a strong grant proposal by listing successes
• Good communication is key to successful grant writing

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