Use Data to Write Winning Grant Proposals

How to Use Data to Create Strong Grant Proposals for your Nonprofit

Most of us don’t love data for the sake of data. Nonprofits collect, use, and sometimes embrace data because of what it can do.  The data nonprofits collect about programs and participants can help: 

1. Improve your programs 

2. Measure your success 

3. Understand the people you serve

Data can also help you make money. No, not in a crass “show me the money” kind of way.  Rather, in the “we need $5 dollars from your foundation to provide 500 meals over Thanksgiving” kind of way. 

Grant makers like seeing data that “proves” you are doing a good job, and they want to see data that demonstrates you will do a good job with the funds they (might) give to you.

In this post, we’ll talk about the two types of data you need in your grant proposal (internal and external). We’ll also discuss how each type of data can be used in key sections of your grant proposal.

Types of Data You Need for Grant Writing 

There are two types of data that you need when you write grant proposals:

1. Internal Data

2. External Data

Internal Data

Internal data is the data that you collect about your organization's programs, services, and participants.

It can range from the number of meals you provided (an output), the number of people who obtained an affordable apartment (an outcome), as well as the race, gender, and income characteristics of your participants (their demographics). 

Internal data demonstrates who you serve, how you serve them, and how well you do it. It’s how you make the funder comfortable enough to provide funds to support your programs.  

A grant reviewer might go through a mental (or physical) checklist as they read your proposal, and your internal data will make your case clearer and more compelling.

Who are they serving?   

100 Middle-school girls who are chronically absence....Check  

What are they doing and how much?  

Weekly mentoring sessions during the school year for 100 people X 30 weekly sessions = 3,000 total mentoring sessions...Check 

What do they achieve?   

40% have a more positive attitude about school. 33% plan to go to college. 25% have higher grades than prior to starting the program...Check

Ideally, your nonprofit will track outputs, outcomes, and demographics in every program and service that you offer. This internal data helps you convince funders that your work aligns with their priorities and it matters. 

External Data

External data is collected by other organizations. It reveals the context in which you work; it explains the community you serve; and it highlights the challenges that your participants face.  

External data is comes from two places

1) Statistics from credible sources (e.g. the U.S. Census, your state’s department of education, your county health department, a school district) 

55% of children in the 90210 zip code live in poverty.  

2) Research that explains the causes and the impacts of this condition 

Childhood poverty is associated with ...bad outcome 1, bad outcome 2, bad outcome 3.   

Research can also help you demonstrate that your program design is appropriate

Families that have too little money to meet their basic needs will struggle to plan for the future (Mullainathan and Shafir, 2013). Our direct cash assistance program fills that gap for up to 18 months, so families can something something something...

It can be tricky to find good research.

It should come from a credible source - such as a university professor, a think-tank, or government entity (like the National Institutes of Health) - and the data is timely. Somebody's undergraduate thesis is not a great source, and poverty statistics from 2010 are too old in most situations.

Most people are not trained researchers, so do your best to:

1. Draw from good sources that are likely to produce high quality work (noted above)

2. Find research that is recent

3. Look for multiple sources that generally support a claim or position

How to use Data in Grant Proposal Writing 

Now that we have a grasp on the types of data, we can think about how to use that data in our grant proposals. Grant proposals will typically include several sections where data supports your story, including (but not limited to): 

• Statement of Need/Problem Statement - that is, the problem you are trying to solve 

  • How widespread is it?

  • Who experiences it (e.g. demographic groups or geographic areas)?  

  • Why does it matter? (e.g. So what if 10% of families in your city are homeless?)

• Program Description – what are you doing to address this problem? 

  • What services do you offer?

  • How much? (e.g. number of people you serve.) 

  • What are your accomplishments?

  
  

• Funding Request (amount) and what it pays for

  • How much are you asking from the foundation/government 

  • What will you do with the money? (e.g. provide 500 meals, 25 people will complete college) 

Data for the Statement of Need 

Your proposal must describe a problem that exists in a certain area (e.g. your city, a certain school district, a certain postal code) or that impacts certain people (e.g. veterans, children of immigrants, etc). After all, if there is no problem, then why would we need a nonprofit to provide a solution?

Using External Data in the Statement of Need

In the Statement of Need/Problem Statement, you will spend a lot of time justifying that your “problem" really is a problem, and external data will absolutely help you do that. External data takes a leading role in your Statement of Need because it can show that your program is focused on an issue that impacts a lot of people.

Describe the extent to which a condition exists

• What is the childhood obesity rate in my community?

• How many people are homeless or unstably housed in my state?

• What is the high school graduation rate in the Metro School District?

You'll often want to compare these with something to set the context even more clearly (e.g. the childhood obesity rate in your state as a whole or in similar communities)

Use Research to demonstrate why the condition matters

• How does childhood obesity affect lifetime mental and physical health?

• How much does it cost?

• How does childhood obesity impact average lifespan?

Research is powerful for two reasons.

First, it's focused on people like your participants and it speaks to the challenges that people like your participants face.  

Second, research helps you answer the "so what?" question in your grant proposal.

• Who cares if 50% of seniors in your neighborhood are obese?

• Who cares if schools in your school district have old playground equipment?

• Who cares if the art museum mis too expensive for low income families?

You care. Your community cares. And, you need to convince the grant reviewer to care as well. Research helps you do that.

Using Internal Data in the Statement of Need

Grant reviewers will want to know the people you serve match up with the problem you presented. You use internal data to describe who you actually serve. 

This is especially potent when you can combine internal with external data.  

There are 5,000 children living in poverty in 90210 and our program is only able to serve 100 of them due to resource limitations.  

We helped 50 low-income students in 90210 graduate high school on time and enroll in college.

You'll use internal data in grant proposals to explain:

• Demand for your services

• Demographics of the people you serve

• Focus group feedback about the need for your services.

Data for the Program Description 

Using External Data in the Program Description

You can use external data to describe your target population.

• What is their race and gender?

• Where do they live?

• What is their income?

• Are they homeless?

• What challenges do they experience?

External data can be used to explain the prominence of the target population in your area. Your target population "looks like X", and there are 500 people who "look like X" in Metro City Schools.

External data doesn't describe the actual participants you serve, but it helps you paint a picture about who you intend to serve.

Using Internal Data in the Program Description

Who you serve

Aside from who you are trying to serve, you need to explain who you actually serve.

This might include a breakdown of racial/ethnic demographics, explaining that 85% of your participants are single parents, or that 95% of your participants speak English as a second language.

In other words, you'll answer many of the same questions that you answer with external data, but you'll point the camera at the people in your program.

How much you are doing

Every grant proposal should state the relevant service(s) you provide and the amount.

We served 800 unduplicated families more than 50,000 pounds of food last year in our food pantry.

Our shelter provided 275 bed nights to 65 unduplicated adult males in January 2024.

How well you are doing it

It is incredibly hard for a nonprofit to "prove" that their programs work. However most nonprofits can present data in two ways to address this topic

First, you can show that you have a long track record of "success" in your programs.

In the past 5 years, 750 unemployed adults have completed our IT training program. Over that time, we have increased the number of participants we served each year (now at 240 participants annually). We have also increased our success rate from 55% to 83% of participants who obtain full-time jobs within 6 months of graduation.

Second, you can present success rates

Last year, 200 of 240 participants (83%) in our IT training program obtained full-time jobs within 6 months of graduation. The remaining 17% received additional training and support until they obtained full-time positions.

Using External Data (Research)- to show how well you are doing

Most nonprofits don't have the resources to pay for rigorous evaluations or experimental research to "prove" your programs and services are effective. Fortunately, nonprofits can often use existing research to demonstrate that your program design is appropriate and that it's likely to make a difference for the people you serve.

Perhaps you've found research that shows that the approach you use effectively addresses the problem you described. Or, you might present research that says the intervention you use is likely to lead to certain outcomes that are relevant to your problem.

For example, you might use research to justify why you use a certain reading curriculum in your after-school tutoring program. Or, you might present research that shows the impact of 1-on-1 mentoring on high school completion rates.

Explaining Unmet Needs in the Program Description

It can be powerful to show that you have an existing, successful program that isn't meeting the needs of your target population or community. The program works, and we need more of it.

Internal and external data can be combined to show that there are unmet community needs, and you need to expand your services to meet them.

You might present the following data to make a strong case for expansion:

• There are thousands of families living in poverty in your target zip code, but you can only serve a few hundred (external)

• You have a long waiting list for your services. (internal)

• There is steadily growing demand for your services. (internal)

  you turn away hundreds of eligible people per year for emergency financial assistance because your funds are not sufficient. (internal)

Data for the Funding Request

Somewhere in the proposal, you have to ask for a specific amount of money, and you have to say what you are going to do with it. Of course, data can help you here as well.

Using Internal Data for the Funding Request

Internal data about your programs is essential. You need to understand your program's history, its capacity to provide services, its ability to deliver desired outcomes, and the cost of those services.

• We request $100,000 to support our family homelessness prevention program.

  • With your funding, we will be able to serve 100 additional families in our homelessness prevention program.

  • 80 of those families (80%) will remain stably housed and will not experience homelessness

  • 90 of those families (90%) will complete our financial management workshops series

  • 65 of those families (65%) will save at least $500 for emergencies.

When you show what you want ($X) and what you will deliver with the funder's resources, you help the funder see whether your program is a desirable investment.

Data Makes Grant Proposals Stronger

Grant proposals are much more than just a collection of stats, charts, and tables. They tell a story about what is needed and what you are doing to address that need. But, that story is the strongest when you can combine the data you collect internally and the external data you compile to demonstrate clearly why your work is needed and why it matters.

Reporting your impact is hard when you’re juggling spreadsheets. countbubble makes it easy so you can focus on your mission.

countbubble is case management simplified. We can help your nonprofit master data collection and reporting. Email us contact@countbubble.com  or sign up for email updates on blog posts, useful content for nonprofits, and product updates.

Ryan Brooks 

Founder, CountBubble, LLC

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