The Introduction

by Cynthia M. Adams, CEO, GrantStation.com

The introduction to a proposal serves as a way of communicating to the potential grantmaker the social, economic, and environmental context of your organization. It provides the reader with a brief description of your geographic and social situation, which your reader may be unfamiliar with (especially when the grantmaker is from a different region of the country or world).

The introduction is concise and contains information that captures your reader's attention and interest. It introduces the subject matter, setting, and principal players, and provides some background to the issue you will present in your proposal’s project narrative and need descriptions. Sometimes the introduction and the organizational description/history are combined.

It’s often beneficial to write the introduction after drafting the need statement and the goals and objectives. Once those sections are written, you'll know exactly what general information will most effectively introduce the reader to your request.

Be aware that the introduction you write for a private foundation can be significantly different...