Grant writing client intake form
A client intake form collects what a grant writer needs before drafting: the organization's details, the project, its budget and outcomes and the documents funders will ask for. Send it before the first meeting so the call is spent on the project instead of on details someone could have typed into a form. Copy the questions below into your form tool.
The details that delay a proposal are usually documents. A missing audit, an old board list or an unregistered UEI can each hold up a submission for weeks. Asking for them on day one gives the client time to find them. A client who gathers the audit, the board list and the latest 990 in the first week of an engagement gives the writer back weeks for the parts of the proposal that need real thought.
Free to copy and adapt. Square brackets mark what you replace. Nothing here is tied to a particular funder. Read each funder's guidelines for required headings, page limits and attachments before you paste a finished draft into their application form.
The template
Organization
The facts every application asks for. Collecting them once in a single place saves the client from digging up the same EIN and mission statement for every new funder on the calendar.
Legal name:
EIN:
UEI (if registered on SAM.gov):
Tax status: [501(c)(3), government, tribal, for-profit or other]
Year founded:
Annual operating budget: $
Mission statement:
Main contact: [name, title, email, phone]
The project
What the client wants funded, in their words.
What problem does the project address, and for whom?
What will you do, and over what period?
Who will run it? [names and roles]
Where will it happen?
How many people will it serve?
Budget
The figures the budget and justification are built from.
Total project cost: $
Amount requested: $
Other funding secured or pending: [source and amount]
Staff costs: [positions, salary, percent time]
Other costs: [equipment, supplies, travel, contracts]
Do you have a negotiated indirect cost rate? [yes or no, and rate]
Outcomes and evidence
What the project will change and how the client will know.
What will be different at the end of the project?
How will you measure it?
What results do you have from past or similar work?
Any stories or quotes we can use?
Funding history
Who has funded the client and how it went.
Grants received in the last three years: [funder, amount, year]
Applications declined, and any feedback:
Funders you already know personally:
Documents to send
Ask for these with the form.
• IRS determination letter
• Most recent Form 990
• Latest audit or financial statements
• Current board list
• Organizational budget
• Past proposals and reports
• Logos and photos
Skip the blank page
Quillify gives each client its own Data Room. Upload the intake answers and documents once. Every draft for that client then starts from them. On Pro and above, you switch between clients from one login.
Questions people ask
What should a grant writer ask a new client?
Ask about the organization's basics, the project, its budget, its expected outcomes and its funding history. Request the core documents up front.
When should I send the intake form?
Send it before the first working meeting. Give the client a date to return it and tie your draft dates to it in your contract.
Related guides: Is my organization ready to apply for grants?. The documents funders ask for. The parts of a proposal only you can supply. How much does a grant writer cost?. All free templates.
Let Quillify write the first draft.
Browsing and keyword search cost nothing. There's no card to enter.