How to Write a Grant Proposal in 2026: Step-by-Step Guide

You have found a funding opportunity that matches your work. The deadline is eight weeks away. You know what you want to do. Now you need to convince someone to pay for it.

That is grant proposal writing in a sentence. And whether you are a first-year assistant professor chasing your initial R01, a nonprofit program director responding to a USDA opportunity, or a graduate student assembling your first fellowship application, the underlying process is remarkably similar. You need to understand what the funder wants, explain why your project matters, show that you can execute it, and prove that the money will be well spent.

This guide walks through the entire process from the moment you find an opportunity to the moment you hit submit. It is written for people who have never done this before, but experienced grant writers may find the structure useful as a checklist.

Step 1: Find the Right Opportunity

Before you write a single word, you need to confirm that you are applying to the right program. This sounds obvious, but mismatched applications are one of the most common reasons proposals fail. Reviewers can tell immediately when a project has been shoehorned into a funding announcement that does not quite fit.

Where to Search

For federal grants, start with Grants.gov. Every federal funding opportunity is posted there. You can filter by agency, eligibility, and funding amount. NIH uses the RePORTER database and the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts. NSF posts solicitations on its website organized by directorate.

For foundation grants, look at the Foundation Directory Online (now Candid), your state's community foundation network, and the funder's own website. Many foundations only accept applications by invitation, so pay attention to whether there is an open application process.

Evaluating Fit

Ask yourself three questions before committing to an application:

1. Does my project align with the funder's stated priorities? Read the program description carefully. If they fund rural health interventions and your project is urban, move on.
2. Am I eligible? Check every eligibility criterion. Some programs restrict applicants by organization type, geographic location, career stage, or prior funding history.
3. Can I realistically meet the deadline? A rushed proposal is almost always a losing proposal. If the deadline is three weeks away and you have not started, it is usually better to wait for the next cycle.

Step 2: Read the RFP Cover to Cover

The Request for Proposals (RFP) -- also called a Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), or a Program Solicitation depending on the agency -- is your instruction manual. Everything you need to know about what to write, how to format it, and how it will be evaluated is in this document.

Read it once all the way through without taking notes. Then read it again and highlight three things:

• The evaluation criteria and their point values. If the rubric allocates 30 points to significance and 10 points to organizational capacity, your proposal should reflect those proportions.
• Page limits, font requirements, and formatting rules. Breaking these rules can get your application rejected without review. NIH requires Arial 11-point with half-inch margins. NSF requires specific page limits per section. Follow them exactly.
• Required components and their order. Most RFPs specify exactly what sections your proposal must include and the sequence in which they should appear.

If the RFP offers a pre-application webinar or Q&A session, attend it. If it lists a program officer contact, consider reaching out with specific questions about fit. Program officers generally will not review your proposal in advance, but they can tell you whether your project falls within the program's scope.

Step 3: Write the Abstract or Project Summary

Start here, even though this section appears first in the final document. Writing a one-page summary forces you to crystallize what your project is, why it matters, and what you expect to accomplish. If you cannot do this clearly in 300 words, your full proposal will struggle too.

For NIH proposals, the Project Summary/Abstract has three required components: a description of the project, a statement of its relevance to public health (for R-series grants), and a list of the specific aims.

For NSF proposals, the Project Summary is one page with three sections: an overview, a statement of intellectual merit, and a statement of broader impacts.

For foundation grants, the executive summary or abstract should cover the need, your approach, the expected outcomes, and the amount requested. Keep it tight and jargon-free.

Step 4: Define Your Specific Aims or Objectives

This is the most important page of your proposal. For NIH applicants, it is literally called the Specific Aims page, and many reviewers say it determines 80% of their impression before they read anything else. For NSF and foundation proposals, the equivalent section goes by different names -- objectives, goals, research questions -- but serves the same purpose.

A strong aims section does four things:

1. Establishes the problem. What gap in knowledge or unmet need does your project address? Be specific and cite evidence.
2. States the long-term goal. Where does your work fit in the bigger picture?
3. Presents the specific aims. What will you accomplish during the grant period? Most proposals have two to four aims. Each should be independent enough that the project retains value if one aim encounters problems.
4. Describes expected outcomes and significance. What will change as a result of this work?

If you are writing an NIH R01, the Specific Aims page is where you win or lose. Spend at least a week on it. Get feedback from colleagues, mentors, and anyone who will read it honestly. For more detail on this section, see our guide on crafting the perfect Specific Aims page.

Step 5: Write the Project Narrative

This is the heart of your proposal, and its structure varies significantly depending on the funder.

NIH Research Strategy

NIH R-series proposals organize the research strategy into three sections:

Significance. Why does this research matter? What will it change about scientific understanding or clinical practice? Cite the literature, identify the gap, and explain why filling it is important.

Innovation. What is new about your approach? This does not mean you need a revolutionary method. It could be applying an established technique to a new population, combining methods that have not been used together, or developing a novel tool.

Approach. This is the longest section and the one reviewers scrutinize most carefully. For each aim, describe your experimental design, methods, expected results, potential problems, and alternative strategies. Include a timeline and milestones. Do not oversell preliminary data, but do use it to demonstrate feasibility.

Early-career investigators working toward their first R01 should pay special attention to the approach section. Reviewers need to believe that you can execute the proposed work, and your approach is where you prove it.

NSF Project Description

NSF proposals are structured around two review criteria:

Intellectual Merit. What is the potential to advance knowledge? Describe your research plan, theoretical framework, methods, and qualifications.

Broader Impacts. What is the potential to benefit society or advance desired societal outcomes? This is not an afterthought. NSF reviewers weigh it equally with intellectual merit, and weak broader impacts is one of the most common reasons proposals receive lower scores.

Foundation and Government Program Narratives

Foundation proposals and many government program grants (USDA, EPA, DOE, HRSA) follow a different pattern:

Need Statement. What problem does your project address? Use data -- local statistics, community assessments, research findings. Do not just assert there is a need; prove it.

Goals and Objectives. Goals are broad outcomes. Objectives are specific, measurable steps. Use the SMART framework: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.

Activities and Methods. What will you do, exactly? Who will do it? When? Describe your approach in enough detail that a reviewer can visualize the project in action.

Evaluation Plan. How will you know if the project worked? Define your metrics, data collection methods, and reporting plan. For larger grants, consider an external evaluator.

If you are a nonprofit applying for your first federal grant, the need statement and activities sections are where you should invest the most time.

Step 6: Build the Budget and Budget Justification

The budget is not an afterthought -- it is a substantive part of your proposal. A well-constructed budget tells reviewers that you have thought carefully about what the project requires and that you are a responsible steward of public or philanthropic funds.

Common Budget Categories

• Personnel. Salary and fringe benefits for every person who will work on the project. List their name (or "TBD" if not yet hired), title, percent effort, and institutional base salary.
• Equipment. Items costing more than $5,000 with a useful life of more than one year. Below that threshold, items go under supplies.
• Travel. Be specific about the purpose. Conferences for dissemination, field sites for data collection, and meetings with collaborators are all justifiable.
• Supplies. Consumable materials, small equipment, software licenses.
• Contractual/Subawards. Costs for consultants or partnering institutions.
• Other Direct Costs. Publication fees, participant incentives, equipment maintenance.
• Indirect Costs. Your institution's negotiated rate or the de minimis rate of 15% (for organizations without a negotiated rate).

The Budget Justification

Every line item needs a narrative explanation. Do not just say "$5,000 for supplies." Say "$5,000 for laboratory reagents including antibodies ($2,000), cell culture media ($1,500), and assay kits ($1,500) based on vendor quotes from Fisher Scientific." Specificity builds credibility.

Step 7: Demonstrate Organizational Capacity

Reviewers need to trust that you and your team can deliver. Depending on the funder, this section might be called Key Personnel, Organizational Background, or Management Plan.

For research grants, your biosketch is the primary tool. List your relevant publications, prior funding, and any preliminary work that demonstrates you can execute the proposed research.

For nonprofit program grants, describe your organization's history, mission, relevant experience, and the qualifications of the project team. Include any past performance on similar grants. If this is your first grant from a particular agency, highlight comparable projects you have managed successfully.

Step 8: Gather Supporting Documents

Most proposals require additional materials beyond the narrative and budget:

• Letters of Support. Get these from collaborators, community partners, and stakeholders. A strong letter explains the writer's specific role in or connection to the project, not just generic praise.
• Data Management Plans. Required by NSF, NIH, and most federal agencies. Describe how you will store, share, and preserve research data.
• Biosketches. NIH and NSF have specific formats. Use SciENcv for federal biosketches.
• Current and Pending Support. List all your active and pending funding to show there is no overlap.
• Appendices. Only include what the RFP allows. Many agencies, including NIH, have strict rules about appendix content.

Step 9: Review, Revise, and Get Feedback

A first draft is never a final draft. Build at least two weeks into your timeline for revision.

Have at least two people read your proposal who were not involved in writing it. One should be a subject matter expert who can evaluate the science or program design. The other should be someone outside your field who can tell you whether the writing is clear and the argument is compelling.

Check every claim against the evidence you cited. Verify that your aims are internally consistent with your methods. Make sure your budget matches the activities described in your narrative. Confirm that you have addressed every evaluation criterion in the RFP.

Grant writing is fundamentally different from writing a journal article. Articles report what happened. Proposals argue for what should happen next. Keep that distinction in mind during revision.

Step 10: Format and Submit

In the final days before submission, shift from content editing to production.

• Verify that every section meets page limits.
• Check fonts, margins, and spacing against the RFP requirements.
• Convert documents to the required format (usually PDF).
• Complete all forms in Grants.gov, Research.gov, ASSIST, or whatever submission portal the funder uses.
• Submit at least 48 hours before the deadline. Submission systems crash on deadline day with predictable regularity.

After submission, note the confirmation number and save it. Mark your calendar for the expected review timeline. If the agency publishes reviewer feedback on declined proposals, plan to request it -- that feedback is one of the most valuable resources for your next submission.

Tips for First-Time Applicants

If this is your first grant proposal, a few additional pointers:

Start with a smaller grant. Pilot grants, seed funding, and small foundation awards let you build a track record without the pressure of a major federal submission.

Find a mentor who has been funded. Someone who has successfully navigated the process can review your drafts, share their funded proposals as models, and help you understand unwritten norms in your field.

Use your institution's resources. Most universities have a sponsored programs office that reviews budgets and ensures compliance. Many nonprofits have access to grant writing workshops through their state association or regional foundation.

Do not try to do everything alone. Tools like Granted AI can help you analyze the RFP, organize your response, and draft sections -- especially useful when you are learning the format for the first time. But no tool replaces the expertise of colleagues and mentors who know your field.

Accept that rejection is normal. NIH funds roughly 20% of R01 applications. NSF success rates are similar. A rejected proposal is not a failed proposal -- it is a draft that needs revision. Most funded grants were submitted more than once.

Keep Reading

• The Perfect Specific Aims Page
• Getting Your First R01
• First-Time Federal Grant Tips for Small Nonprofits

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