Grant writing teams lose time in predictable places. Chasing opportunities that don’t fit, drafting before the budget and program scope are clear, discovering late that a required attachment is missing, and trying to “make it work” with capacity you don’t have can all hinder an application.
If you’ve ever sunk an afternoon into a “quick” corporate sponsorship pitch only to never hear back, or watched a team scramble because reporting requirements were far heavier than the award, these questions may help you avoid such dilemmas in the future.
A good intake process doesn’t slow you down. It protects your time.
In a tighter, more competitive funding environment, “write everything” is not a strategy. The teams that win more (and burn out less) are the ones with a consistent, repeatable intake step before they draft. Intake is where you decide whether an opportunity is a pursue, a pause, or a pass.
The Hidden Cost of Skipping Intake
When you skip intake, the consequences usually show up later when you’re least able to absorb them.
- Scope creep (“we can do that too!”) because the program plan wasn’t clarified early.
- Weak budgets because the delivery plan isn’t real yet.
- Last-minute leadership stress for signatures, documents, and approvals.
- Generic narratives because the theory of change and program model weren’t tightened.
And one of the most common breakdowns I see? Evaluation. Many organizations know how to deliver great programming, but struggle to communicate how they will measure success and what success even means for that project. Program evaluation is essentially testing your theory of change. It’s how we get better and do better every day… but it’s not always built into the work from the start.
Intake is where you build evaluation into the plan, instead of trying to bolt it on at the end.
12 Questions I Ask Before I Touch a Proposal
Below is the exact checklist I use. You can run it in a 30-minute meeting or answer it asynchronously, either way, it will save you hours.
Fit and Strategy
- What funder priority does this match (in their words)?
- What’s our “why us, why now” in one sentence?
- Is this a renewal, a new relationship, or a re-apply? What changed since last time?
Program Clarity
- What exactly will we do with the funding (outputs + outcomes)?
- Who is the target population and how do we reach them?
- What partnerships are required (and are they confirmed)?
Capacity and Operations
- Who is the internal owner (program) and who is the proposal owner (writing/ops)?
- What existing systems will carry the work (data, compliance, reporting)?
- What risks could derail delivery (staffing, vendors, referrals, space)?
Budget and Compliance
- What’s the true cost to deliver (including admin/ops, evaluation, indirect/shared costs)?
- Are there restricted cost categories or required approvals we need to plan for?
- What reporting/audit requirements come with the funds (and do we have the bandwidth)?
If you answer these honestly, two things happen:
- You stop wasting time on misaligned opportunities.
- When you do pursue, the proposal gets sharper because the plan is real.
At the end, choose one of three outcomes:
- Pursue: proceed to narrative + budget development.
- Pause: gather missing inputs and set a new internal deadline.
- Pass: document why and move on.
This “decision moment” is where leaders build momentum. It’s also where you protect your team. If your early warning sign is “small award, heavy reporting cadence,” name it. Sometimes the juice really isn’t worth the squeeze.
What Do I Document?
The magic isn’t just in asking the questions, it’s in capturing the answers.
Create a single intake record with:
- The 12 answers
- The decision (pursue/pause/pass)
- Key dates and owners
- A checklist of required attachments
That record becomes your institutional memory. It’s what keeps you from repeating the same painful "almosts."
When the Answers are “We Don’t Know Yet”
That’s okay, just name it and assign it.
Example: “We don’t know the final staffing model.” Assign: Program Director to confirm by Friday. If not confirmed, pause the proposal.
Uncertainty isn’t a problem. Not making a plan to gain clarity is the problem.
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