The trials and tribulations of writing my first grant proposal

 When I first read over the grant proposal guideline document, I felt unprepared. The thought of a close to ten-page long proposal was daunting to say the least. However, as I continued planning for my grant project, the grant proposal seemed less terrifying. In fact, although I was inspired by my grant project idea - a workshop for elementary school students focused on mental health - from the beginning, writing the grant proposal made me more enthusiastic about presenting and possibly executing my project.

I started with the organizational background because I believed it was the most straightforward. I did a deep dive into Young & Healthy's website as I am partnering with the nonprofit for my project. I have been volunteering for Young & Healthy for four years, so I was familiar with the organization before writing this proposal. But, I learned so much more about the organization after some thorough research, and it made me even more confident that my project belongs at Young & Healthy.

Next, I wrote the project background. In this section, I went into detail about the mental health crisis that has arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on the effects on younger children. Although I had plenty to talk about in regards to mental health, this section was the most difficult for me to write because of the personal connection I touched on. I spoke to my personal experience with stress and anxiety during COVID-19 because I wanted to write about what inspired me to pursue this project. It proved difficult, but I persevered because I knew how important this element was in describing my project. 

The last section I wrote was definitely the most detailed: the project description. I had a general idea of how my workshop would be executed, but the project description challenged me to think about the nuances of a program like mine. I talked to my contacts at Young & Healthy several times to nail down some details, but I felt confident about this section overall because I had been planning the structure and activities since the beginning. 

For me, the budget and timeline were pretty straightforward. I did some simple math to figure out the budget, and I set some concrete goals for myself in regards to the timeline.

Overall, I had some difficulty writing the grant proposal, especially when it came down to style towards the end. However, I appreciated the experience because I was forced to persevere even when I wanted to give up, and it has made me significantly more excited about my grant project.