The Vocabulary of Grants and Proposals

In describing their work, grant writers can sometimes be imprecise. For example, sometimes they use the word “grant” to refer both to the document from the donor and their own response to it.

That’s confusing.

So, in the interest of clarity, I’d like to define a few key terms.

Donors (usually foundations) issue R.F.P.s, or “requests for proposals.”

Organizations respond to these R.F.P.s by filling out an application. In other words: You write a proposal.

A team of reviewers evaluates your proposal. If your proposal scores highly, you get a grant.