How to Write a Concept Note for a Grant

Knowing how to write a concept note for a grant is one of the most useful skills a nonprofit can have, because the concept note is often the very first thing a funder ever reads from you.

Here is the way to think about it, and it changes everything. The full proposal is where you win the grant. The concept note is where you earn the right to write it. It is a short document, usually two or three pages, whose only real job is to make a funder say, “Interesting. Tell us more.” Nail that, and you get invited to submit the full proposal. Miss it, and the door quietly closes before you ever got to make your case.

So let us walk through how to write a concept note for a grant that opens that door, in plain language, one part at a time.

What a concept note actually is

A concept note is the short version of your project idea, on paper, for a donor. Think of it as the knock on the door. The full proposal is the conversation once you are inside.

Funders ask for one because they read a lot of applications and cannot review a full proposal from everyone. The concept note lets them quickly see whether your idea fits what they fund. If it does, they invite the full proposal. If it does not, they have saved you both a great deal of time. So its job is narrow and clear: spark enough interest to earn that next step.

Before you write a concept note: know your funder

Do not write a single word until you have researched the donor. This is the step people skip, and it is the one that sinks most concept notes. What does this funder actually support? Where, and for whom? A brilliant idea sent to a funder who does not fund that kind of work is a wasted effort, however well written.

And if they give you a template or a format, use it exactly. Ignoring a funder’s instructions is read as a sign you will be hard to work with, and that alone can end things. If you are not yet sure which funders genuinely fit your work, that is a Funding Strategy question worth settling first.

What to include, part by part

Formats vary, but a strong concept note almost always moves through these parts, in this order.

• Start with the problem, not yourself. Funders fund change, not organisations. Open with the problem, and make it specific and backed by data. “3 in 10 children in our county cannot read by age ten” lands far harder than “education is a challenge.” Lead with your strongest, clearest line.
• Name the gap. What is already being done about this problem, and why is it not enough? This shows you know the landscape and that your idea is genuinely needed, not a repeat of something that already exists.
• Describe your solution. What will you actually do, who will it help, and roughly over what period? Keep it clear and confident. This is your idea in a nutshell.
• State your objectives and expected results. What will be different because of your project? Be concrete about the change you expect, not just the activities you will run.
• Show why it is you. A few lines on your organisation, just enough to show you can deliver this. Track record, relevant experience, why your team is the right one. Keep it short.
• Give a rough budget. An estimate of what it will cost, not a line-by-line breakdown. Funders want a sense of scale, is this a five-thousand or a five-hundred-thousand idea?
• Add your contact details. Simple, but easy to forget. Make it effortless for an interested funder to reach you.

How long, and how it should read

Short. Nearly always two to three pages, unless the funder says otherwise. The whole point of a concept note is brevity, so resist the urge to explain everything. If a funder sets a page limit, treat it as a hard rule.

And keep the language plain and human. Clear beats clever. Avoid jargon, write the way you would explain your project to a smart friend who knows nothing about your field, and make every sentence earn its place. The people reading these review dozens at a time. Clarity is a kindness, and it gets you remembered.

What happens after you send the concept note

If your concept note does its job, you get invited to submit a full proposal, and that is where the detailed work of winning the grant really begins. Everything in your concept note becomes the skeleton you now flesh out. If you want a step-by-step walk through that next stage, see our guide to how to write an NGO proposal.

And if you would rather have an expert handle the concept note and the proposal with you, that is exactly what Grant Acquisition is for, from finding the right funder to a submitted application. A concept note also leans on a clearly designed project, so our work on program design helps make the idea itself easy to say yes to. For the bigger picture, see our guide to resource mobilisation for NGOs in Africa.

Questions people often ask

Want expert eyes on your concept note?

Start with a $20 strategy session. Bring your project idea, and in one hour we will help you shape a concept note a funder wants to say yes to. Book your session, and earn that invitation to submit.