You know this but don’t do it, anyway. You should never send out a grant proposal without first checking it for spelling errors and clarity. Since there is a lot more on the line than your competency at writing, it’s important that you do a thorough job when editing your proposal.

In his book “How to Win Grants,” Alan Silver wrote that you should ask the following nine questions during the review process. These will help you determine whether or not you need to go back to the drawing board.

• Does it make a clear, compelling case for funding?
• Does it respond fully to the grant guidelines?
• How can it be shortened?
• Is jargon used sparingly?
• How can sentence length be varied?
• If the proposal is developed by multiple writers, does it read with one voice and use consistent terminology?
• Does it avoid the passive voice?
• Is there anything in it that might needlessly aggravate the reviewer?
• Does it maximize visual appeal by respecting the funder’s formatting requirements?