The executive summary is - to use a 4th grade English teacher's analogy - the delicious, buttery, flaky, top layer of a pie crust. A reader's senses should be immediately engaged, they should be eager to dig in and learn more about your organization and the program for which you are seeking funding.
Executive Summary Tips
- Keep it short, obey the foundation's guidelines for word count and formatting
- Be empassioned, don't be afraid of emotion
- But don't go overboard, remember to be clear, concise, and thoughtful
- Avoid using the personal pronoun "we," instead write about "the organization" or "the program"
- And avoid tired modifiers like "really," and "pretty." Go for muscular adjectives.
- Be clear about the program's goals
- Be clear about a timeline
- State exactly who, how, and how many people or what will benefit from the foundation's support
Grant Writing Tools
In general, the organization's grant writer will write the proposal. But he or she is whistling in the wind without the aid of the executive director and program manager. Together they are the "voice" of the organization and of the particular program that is seeking funding.
To write a proposal's executive summary, the grant writer will need to channel this voice and have clarity about the program's goals and methods of approach. Otherwise, the proposal is an optimistic fiction. A foundation's program officer has no interest in fiction, other than what they have on their home bookshelf. On their desk at the foundation office they want facts, data, outlines, outcomes, and an empassioned and well-thought-out request for support. Check out these proposal writing books for more tips.
To write the best executive summary:
- Everyone should be made aware of what an executive summary and a finished proposal looks like. The Foundation Center is a terrific resource.
- The organization's program manager and grant writer should meet frequently
- Edits and drafts don't mean things are going wrong, they mean things are getting more right.
- Be compassionate toward your grant writer
- The grant proposal will flow all the more easily if the executive summary is written first
The executive summary of a proposal is the first indication a foundation has that your organization and program is awesome and fund-worthy, worthy also of attaching their brand name to it. (Yes, foundations work to market themselves.). It should state why is your organization and your program the right fit thought which a foundation can meet a pressing social, cultural, and/or scientific need. And that by working together, you will have a great impact.
