Grant Readiness Worksheet Series | The Grant Project

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Know exactly where your organization stands on grant readiness.

Fourteen tools built for local governments and nonprofits. Save your progress, print to PDF or paper, and reuse them as your organization builds the systems to write competitive grants that get funded.

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10 Interactive Worksheets
4 Financial Foundations Guides
~20 Minutes Per Worksheet

Grant readiness is not a great writer, a solid mission, or a worthy project.

It is the state of your financial house, your policies, your compliance posture, and your application assets before a funding opportunity ever opens. The Grant Readiness Worksheet Series is the same framework The Grant Project uses with consulting clients. Every tool in this library is designed to identify gaps in your organization's readiness and give you the small, actionable steps that move the needle on your results.

Part One: The Grant Readiness Worksheets

Ten interactive worksheets covering the readiness factors that determine grant outcomes. Work through them in order or go straight to where you have gaps. Complete all ten and you will have a clear, specific picture of exactly what to build next.

Worksheet 01
Mission Alignment

Does your project flow directly from your mission, or are you reaching to make a funding opportunity fit?

Worksheet 02
Strategic Fit Map

Your project fits your mission. Does it also fit your strategic plan or community priorities?

Worksheet 03
Capacity Checklist

A brilliant idea is not enough. Can your organization actually deliver if you win the award?

Worksheet 04
Data and Evidence Builder

Reviewers want proof the problem is real. Pair the numbers with the story that brings them to life.

Worksheet 05
Success Story Bank

Credibility is built one outcome at a time. Document what you have done and the lessons you learned.

Worksheet 06
Partnership Planner

A letter of support is a sentence. A partnership is a commitment. Map yours before you need them.

Worksheet 07
Budget Builder

Your budget tells your project's story in numbers. Make sure the two stories match.

Worksheet 08
Sustainability Plan

Funders ask: what happens when the grant ends? Have an honest, specific answer ready.

Worksheet 09
Grant Systems Self-Check

Winning is the start. Managing it well is what gets you the next one. Audit your systems.

Worksheet 10
Leadership Alignment

Leadership without commitment is just permission. Funders can tell the difference.


Part Two: Financial Foundations Guides

Four reference guides that go deeper on the accounting and budget mechanics that help grant personnel understand financial systems, build stronger budgets, and write more competitive applications.

Guide 01
Accounting Basis Cheat Sheet

Cash, accrual, or hybrid? What your organization uses shapes every budget you build and every grant you manage.

Guide 02
Chart of Accounts Conversation Guide

The questions to ask your finance team so grants can be tracked, reported, and reconciled cleanly.

Guide 03
Cost Allocation Starter

How shared costs get distributed across programs and grants, and why grant managers need to understand the basics.

Guide 04
Grant Budget Reality Check

A practical audit of whether your budget tells the same story as your narrative, with the right indirect cost treatment.

$1.25 Billion

The Grant Project has secured over $1.25 billion in competitive grant funding for local governments and nonprofits across the United States. These are the tools behind that track record.

You have been building this on your own. These tools make it faster.

Get access to all fourteen tools, free. You will receive an email with your link to the full worksheet hub.

Hard Work Doesn't Win Grants. Readiness Does.

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