Q: I like the acronym you teach for planning a grant proposal’s priority information: FIRST (Facts & Figures, Importance, Results, Solution, and Track Record). I often get confused between the “results” of my work and the “solution” I’m advocating. Can you clarify?

A: Yes, “solutions” lead directly to “results.”

“Results” are things you envision as the ultimate outcomes of your work. This is one of the most important pieces to most funders. It’s the answer you would give if they were to hear about your program and then ask, “So what?” What difference do you plan to make at the end of the day? What changes or community benefits will we see?

For example, your organization may seek to reduce pollution in your local waterway. One way you do this is by educating and mobilizing young people as volunteers for a clean-up day. This work can immediately result in an educated group and a cleaned up area. The long-term result might be that this work leads to continued involvement of the volunteers, who share the information with their peers and contribute to a less-polluted waterway for years to come.

Your “solution” is the specific way you are working to achieve your intended results (i.e., solve the problem you are addressing). What program or project are you proposing? Your plan should be specific enough that it can be measured and tied to specific outcomes (results). For example, the project with young volunteers cited above would be their proposed solution. How many people will attend, and who will they be? How will the event be both educational and practical? How did the organization decide on this solution to the problem in the first place? For your evaluation of this solution’s results, you will measure how the event has brought about the intended outcomes in both the short-term and the long-term.

(For more information about the FIRST acronym, watch this free webinar). You will also learn to use the FIRST acronym in your own grant proposals in my upcoming Grantwriter’s FastTrack Coaching Program.