On July 31, 2025, Preservation Leadership Forum hosted a webinar focused on Grant Writing Strategies. While the video of the session is not available, the slide deck (which includes linked resources) and a transcript of the Q&A period are available for all. The material below is an edited transcript of responses given from the perspectives of both a grant reviewer (Nicky Vann, director of grants & awards program) and a grant writer (Haley Powell Kelly, associate director of institutional giving).

Access more resources from the Forum Webinar Summer Series “Navigating the Unexpected: Fundraising and Job Searching Strategies for Historic Preservationists.”

Should you include a letter of recommendation in a grant proposal if it is not required?

It depends. First, check what is required and what is accepted. If it is very clear about what to attach and nothing else, don't throw in a letter. If it's more open-ended, and if you have a letter relevant to the request, then yes, I think that that is worth including when you can.

Also keep in mind that some grantors have been consciously paring back the amount that they're asking applicants because they're trying to right size their applications to the size of their grants. It is an effort to be more generous to the grant writers themselves. That is, they might not be asking for a letter of recommendation because they don't want the applicant to have to spend their time tracking down a letter of recommendation to get their grant.

Note: This response applies to anything you include. Make sure to follow the instructions provided and only include the material requested.

Which part of the proposal components [listed in the slide deck] is the narrative?

If you are writing your own proposal, everything from goals and objectives through the work plan and the evaluation is really all narrative, because that's the meat of the project. Your organizational history and staff background, or the budget are often their own sections. What the project is, why you are doing it and the steps that you are going to take to meet those goals, are the parts that make a traditional narrative. If not filling out a in a grant application portal, I always lay it out with headers. Look at your strongest points and put headers in to draw that out.

When reaching out to potential funders, does it matter if you email or call?

This is likely different funder by funder. At the National Trust we prefer people to email us, but we do have a phone number as well. If you are on a funder's site and they only give you their email address, they want you to email them. They're not looking for you to track down their number so don’t do that.

However, if they do have a phone number listed, and if you feel like you'll have an easier time explaining your project to them by just talking to them, then go ahead and pick up the phone.

What do you do when you ask for feedback on a grant application and no reply is ever given?

Don’t take it personally. Review projects they did fund and determine if it’s worth trying again. Many funders just don’t have the staff to provide feedback. It can also be helpful to have an outside friend/colleague read your proposal and offer feedback to ensure your proposal is clear and easy to understand.

What if your project timeline depends on grants awarded?

Our advice would be to write the application as though you are getting the grant that you're asking for. When we get a proposal, if our source of funding is the primary source of funding, that's how it is read, and we understand that if the funding doesn’t come through then the timeline will be adjusted.

There are different ways of crafting a timeline that don’t necessarily have to be specific (i.e. January 2026). It can be “Month One”, or you can break it out into periods like planning period = three months, implementation = six months, wrap up = one month. If you don't know when the funder is going to get back to you, because it’s unclear as to when the decision will be made, you can break up your timeline so that you're less tied to a specific calendar date. But also make sure to look at what the funder is saying in their guidelines: do they have a completion date included?

If an organization requests an introduction letter before you apply for the grant, what do you put in that letter?

This is an LOI which stands for “letter of inquiry” or a “letter of interest.” If it is through an online portal all you have to do is fill out the initial information they are asking for. If they ask you to submit something, it will likely be short.

LOIs are a great way to introduce yourself, especially for an source that you’ve never gotten funding from or if there has been staff turnover. Two pages is usually the length of an LOI, maybe three if there is a lot to say. This is often written as a business letter, and if there are certain things you really want to cover make sure you keep it at a high level such as (but not limited to):

• What is your organization?
• What is your project?
• Who's going to be executing it?
• What is the timeline for the project?
• How much funding are you looking for? What is the total cost?

What you really want to cover in the LOI is how your specific request aligns with their mission so they get an understanding of who you are, what the project is, and why it's relevant to them.

It's almost like a mini proposal in a way.

How do you approach grant funding if you are not a 501(c)3 – so a 501(c)(13) or a municipal government.

It depends on the funder and their specific programs. Some foundations will fund fiscally sponsored organizations, some will not. Some will fund municipalities in different ways, some will not. Be aware of what your own designation is and if you’re still not sure if you are eligible, reach out to the funder directly and clarify if you're eligible or not.

Where can I see an example of a historic preservation grant proposal? Would it be appropriate to contact a successful grant recipient to ask for a copy of their grant proposal to use as a template?

A well-written application is both an art and a science. And that's true both of grant writing and grant making. One way to get a sense of the kind of projects that an organization funds is to look at their grant announcements. At the National Trust, after every grant round we list who we've funded, and we'll give some examples of the type of funding that we do. We post all of those at savingplaces.org/grants (scroll down to see the stories). So that at least can give you a sense of the project types.

In terms of an example application, there is no perfect format, but we would recommend looking at any book on grant writing which can show you some successful examples. In terms of reaching out to successful grant recipients we would suggest doing that as a last resort and ONLY if you have a prior relationship with that organization.

While we don’t know how the process for federal grants will go right now, some federal agencies have sample successful grants on their website and sometimes larger foundations do as well.

What are your thoughts about grant applications that note that they are applying to multiple open grant opportunities for a specific initiative at the same time? Does that impact or reduce chances of an award?

Funders are going to understand that you're applying to multiple sources, especially if you have a hundred-thousand-dollar project and they do $20,000 grants. They may want to see in your budget where the other funding is coming from. So being clear that you have pending proposals with other funders is fine to share.

If you have the happy problem of getting all the grants and you have more money than you needed for the project, then I would assess what a scope change looks like and have conversations with your funders about things like extending the project so you can do more.

When putting a budget together don’t just share expenses. Make sure to show your income, including if you have pending proposals to cover other parts of the project, to show how that intersects with the proposal you are submitting.

From a grant reviewer’s perspective, they may ask you to show other sources of either anticipated or secured funding. That way they know where other money might be coming from and understand you are requesting other money that may or may not come in.

Is it helpful to share who our current supporters are?

Sometimes funders will ask for a list of your current supporters. That's not uncommon and shows that you are an organization that is receiving funding. It is a little bit like a chicken and egg when you're a small organization and you want to get that first grant, but to get that first grant you need to show all the other grants you got. That being said, it shows a stamp of approval by other organizations, and that you've successfully stewarded other grants before, which gives funders a sense of security of giving their money to you.

Having been both a grant writer and a funder, can you speak to the importance of cultivating a relationship with a funding organization?

Fundraising is about relationships. For some it feels awful to have to talk to people about money. But when you realize that fundraising is really sharing what you're passionate about and getting people on board, and you can accomplish that by inviting people to events, or by having conversations about the work that you're doing. In short fundraising is about bringing people together to get to know your organization better, not just asking about money. It's a way to also have them see the full perspective of your organization where you can introduce them to the people who are doing the work. In the case of preservation, funders want to talk to the people who are out in the field doing the work. So, invite them to talk to the architect or the interpretive guide. After all, at the end of the day, it’s people reading the proposals.

Don’t forget that as a funder, the job is to find the best fit for their money, and cultivating relationships is how you can help the funder do their job as well.

During the presentation you discussed not using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and spellcheck as your sole source of editing and writing your grant proposal. Do you actively try to track the use of AI and see it negatively? I am asking this because this is a tool accessible to everyone and already widely used in many different ways.

It’s not a matter of seeing it as negative or positive. While AI can be a tool to draft or get things started, it also poses challenges when the human being is not an active participant. That is the critical piece of this – so often people use AI as a crutch and forget to fact check and adjust the output based on their own expertise and knowledge and the difference in most cases is obvious to the funder. For more on AI and historic preservation (pros and cons) make sure to check out this recent resource from Preservation Leadership Forum.

Should volunteer staff write the application or employ consulting writers?

That is up to you. If you have a willing volunteer who is a good writer, that is great! Make sure whatever contact information is used (email, phone, etc.) it is associated with the applicant organization, so notifications don’t get lost.