Statement of Need Template
The most common weakness in a first proposal is a need statement about the organization rather than about the problem. A funder is looking for the condition their money would change, described so it would still be true if you did not exist. This is how that section is built, and how to tell whether yours is one.
See the coursesEverything on this page is yours to copy and adapt. The courses cover the decisions behind it: what to charge, what to promise, and what to put in writing.
What yours needs to cover
- ✓ The problem stated in one sentence, before any context
- ✓ Evidence: the figures, their source, and their date
- ✓ The specific population and place, narrowed to what you can actually reach
- ✓ The consequence of the problem continuing, without catastrophising
- ✓ The gap between what exists now and what is needed, which is where your project enters
How to use it
- Gather the evidence before writing, and note the source next to every figure.
- Write the problem sentence first and keep rewriting it until it needs no preamble.
- Narrow the population until it matches the scale of the project you are funding.
- Cover your organization's name and read it again: if nothing is left, it is an appeal rather than a need.
Statement of Need Template FAQs
How much data does a statement of need require?
Enough that the problem is established rather than asserted, and no more. Two or three well-sourced figures at the right geographic level are usually stronger than a page of national statistics that do not describe the place you work in.
Where do I find local data?
National statistics agencies, health and education departments, and local government reports publish most of what a need statement requires, and many funders accept your own service data when it is described honestly.
Can I use a story instead of data?
Use both. A single case makes a statistic mean something, and a statistic stops a single case being dismissed as an exception. Neither works well alone.
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