Adapted from a presentation given by Chris Guzaitis, director of grants and awards at the Poetry Foundation, on September 23, 2025. CLMP members may watch the webinar in the Resource Library.
Contents:
Funding Landscape Overview
Reading Guidelines and RFPs (Requests for Proposals)
Preparing Core Statements Before You Apply
Writing Strong Applications
Breaking Down Your Budget
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Practical Tips for Success
Funding Landscape Overview
There are three important things to consider when navigating the funding landscape: different types of funders, what funders seek, and your organization’s unique strengths as an applicant.
Types of Funders
The majority of funding opportunities fall into one of the following categories:
- Private foundations or organizations with specific missions
- Government grants at federal, state, and local levels
- Community foundations serving geographic areas
- Family foundations with personal interests
- Corporate giving programs
What Funders Seek
Each funder, no matter the type, will be looking for applicants that demonstrate the following:
- Mission alignment with their priorities
- Clear, measurable impact and outcomes
- Financial sustainability and responsible management
- Evidence of community need and support
- Organizational capacity to deliver
Your Unique Strengths
In addition to demonstrating the above, the strongest applicants will establish how their work is unique and impactful. Some examples of strengths to highlight include:
- Innovative approaches to literary work
- Deep community connections and trust
- Dedication to platforming specific voices, serving a specific audience, or focusing on a specific theme
Always make sure that the mission of your organization authentically aligns with the funding opportunity. Remember: while you can adapt parts of your grant application to the funder’s priorities, funders will not change their priorities to fit your organization!
For example, CLMP is a national nonprofit service organization whose mission is to ensure a vibrant, diverse literary landscape by helping small literary publishers work better. CLMP’s grant programs therefore provide funding to independent magazines and presses that contribute to the artistic excellence and diversity of the literary landscape.
Reading Guidelines and RFPs (Requests for Proposals)
When looking at grant opportunities, it’s important to distinguish between the core requirements, which determine eligibility and are therefore deal-breakers for funders, and any additional preferred qualifications listed in the application. Focus your time on applying to grants for which you are fully eligible and whose core requirements align with your work. Funders will not bend their eligibility criteria for you, no matter how deserving your work is, so don’t spend time on opportunities that don’t match your organization’s profile.
Tips for Considering Grant Eligibility:
- Carefully review core requirements—including organizational criteria, geographic restrictions, and program focus areas—to ensure that your organization is fully eligible.
- Look at funding history and recent grantee lists, as understanding the range of past grantees can help you determine whether your organization will be a good fit for the grant.
- Is your organization well-aligned with past grantees in terms of mission, budget, and reach?
- Does the list of past grantees offer guidance on how you can position your application (e.g., emphasizing how your work fits the funder’s grantee profile, or how your application can fill gaps in their list)?
Preparing Core Statements Before You Apply
When applying for grants, you’ll often be asked to describe who you are, what you do, and why your work matters. Having mission statements, values statements, impact statements, and equity statements polished and ready in advance can save you time and ensure consistency across applications. These core statements serve as your organization’s “voice” in the funding landscape.
Types of Core Statements:
- Mission Statement:
A mission statement defines your organization’s core purpose, activities, and vision, showing funders what your work is primarily about. It should be concise (1-3 sentences) and should focus on your unique role in the literary field (e.g., amplifying underrepresented voices, sharing experimental forms, or building literary community), using language that resonates with both funders and your readership. - Values Statement:
A values statement articulates the core principles and ideals that motivate your organization’s work and guide its decisions and actions. - Impact Statement:
Funders want to see outcomes, not just a list of products or programs, and an impact statement elaborates on the tangible results of your work. This statement should emphasize the reach and the ripple effects of what you do (e.g., supporting new voices, influencing cultural conversations, or building literary communities), and should use concrete measures whenever possible (e.g., published twelve debut writers, hosted six writing workshops). - Equity Statement:
An equity statement communicates your commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and access in publishing. Funders often prioritize equity and want to see how your organization is contributing to systemic change in the literary field. A strong equity statement maintains an authentic tone and points to actions your organization has already taken to support this (e.g., submission fee waivers, partnerships, or accessibility in events).
General Tips for Working with Prepared Statements:
- Store these polished statements in a single file from which they can be copied and adapted for specific opportunities.
- Not every grant application will ask for every one of these statements, but having them already written and perfected will allow you to recycle the language for a variety of questions that may appear in a given application.
- Revisit these core statements often to ensure that they reflect your organization’s current priorities and work.
Writing Strong Applications
The strongest grant applications tell a clear and compelling narrative that emphasizes the impact of an organization’s work.
Tips for Writing a Strong Application:
- Tell your story clearly and simply.
Storytelling is a vital aspect of any grant application; it is your chance to guide a funder through your organization’s history, its values, its impact, and its goals. This narrative should be creative and compelling—we’re in the literary arts field, after all—while remaining clear and straightforward. Write for a smart general reader. Use concrete examples whenever possible. Avoid insider language. Combine professionalism with creativity. - Connect to a broader impact.
As you’re telling your story, it is vitally important to convey the impact of your work and build the case for why funding will amplify that impact. Show how your specific work contributes to larger goals the funder cares about (e.g. community building, educational access, cultural preservation, or economic development), using key words that appear in the funder’s mission and values statement when possible. - Answer the questions asked.
This sounds obvious, but many applications fail here. Read any questions in the application closely and address them directly and completely. If the funder asks for three examples, give three—not two, not four. Follow the provided format and word limits precisely. Take advantage of optional additional documents for review—including press, blurbs, citations, or community reviews. If you do not understand a question or what is being asked, reach out and ask for clarification. - Repurpose boilerplate language.
Use language that your organization has previously perfected as much as you can.
Breaking Down Your Budget
Another key element of your grant application is the budget breakdown. A grant application may ask for a project budget, an organizational budget, or both. A project budget should clearly show how the funds you are requesting will be used, including specific line items wherever possible. An organizational budget is the full picture of your organization’s expenses and revenue over a certain period, usually the most recent fiscal year.
When applying for a grant, it is vital that you match the project budget with your actual organizational capacity. Be honest about what your organization can reasonably accomplish, and don’t bite off more than you can chew.
Tips for Telling a Story with Your Budget:
- Communicate your values.
Your budget reflects the values and priorities of your organization. What does your organization invest in? What story does your budget tell about your community impact?
- Show both revenue and expenses.
An organizational budget should always include both your revenue and expenses to help funders understand how your organization sustains its work.
- Opt for transparency.
Always explain the context of a deficit or surplus. Is it planned growth? A one-time expense? A strategic reserve? Transparency builds trust.
- Don’t forget in-kind.
Recording donated space, volunteer time, or pro bono services demonstrates the full scale of what goes into your work. These in-kind contributions show that your community supports you, adding credibility to your application.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Here are some common pitfalls to be aware of when applying to grants.
- Mission Misalignment:
Don’t try to force a fit where none exists. Attempting to reshape your organization’s mission to match a funder’s priorities usually results in a weak application.
- Overpromising Impact:
Be realistic about what you can achieve with the requested funding. Overpromising leads to under-delivery, which in turn can lead to damaged funder-grantee relationships and future funding challenges.
- Vague Language:
Replace generic phrases like “strengthen community” with specific, measurable outcomes. For example, instead of “increase engagement,” say “expand our reading series audience from 50 to 100 participants monthly.”
- Internal Inconsistencies:
Ensure that your narrative, budget, timeline, and evaluation plan all align, as any conflicting information in your application may cause funders to question your attention to detail.
Practical Tips for Success
Here are some more general guidelines to strengthen your grant-writing approach and increase your chances of success with grant applications.
- Build a grants calendar.
Track application deadlines, award notifications, and due dates for reports. Make sure to note exact deadlines, accounting for time zone differences, if necessary.
- Work ahead.
Start applications at least 6-8 weeks before deadlines, and always include time for peer review and revisions in your planning. When possible, submit at least a day early, to allow for any glitches or complications in the application software.
- Peer-review applications.
Partner with other literary organizations to review one another’s applications, as fresh eyes catch errors, unclear language, and missed opportunities.
- Build funder relationships.
Attend funder events and information sessions when invited, and reach out to funders with thoughtful questions before applying. These relationships often prove valuable beyond single grant cycles.
- Consider the advantages and disadvantages of hiring a grant writer.
If you have the organizational capacity and budget to hire a grant writer, consider doing so, as a trained professional can help you hone your application materials further. However, placing your grant applications in the hands of someone outside your organization’s daily operations comes with its own downsides. If you do work with a grant writer, make sure they can communicate fluently and effectively about your organization, and work closely with them to match proposed projects with your capacity and goals.
- Learn from rejections.
Not every grant application will result in funding, and applications are often denied due to funder priorities, limited funding, or other factors unrelated to the application itself. View rejections as data points rather than personal failures, and when possible request feedback on unsuccessful applications to help you continue to strengthen your materials going forward. However, resist the urge to respond in the heat of the moment, as sending an angry or defensive email can damage your organization’s reputation with funders and close doors to future opportunities.
