What your Need Statement needs

Grantmakers all ask their grantseekers to tell them about the Need for their program or project. This is your opportunity to cut through the many other requests they receive, and you want to make your Need statement memorable.

You may be asking yourself: What is a Need statement? How can I cut through and make mine memorable? Let’s talk about that.

1) What is a Need statement?

A Need statement your agency’s answer to the funder when they ask you to “Describe the need you hope to address with your proposed program or project.” 99% of all funders ask the question, so it is in your better interests to have your answer mapped out.

Basically, a Need statement points out the need the people you propose to serve have (economic, housing, education, etc.), and how your program or project will meet that need. It describes who they are, what their circumstances are, and what led them there – their living conditions, job status, economic situation – whatever descriptors tie back to how you propose to fill their need best.

Side note: You may be asked to describe the population you serve separately, at which point you can talk about the people you serve and their demographic detail – their gender, age, country of origin, race and ethnicity, education level, ZIP codes, etc. If you don’t know this information on a micro level, you can use Census data (or other reputable intel) to extrapolate from a macro level. State, county, and MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) data is captured, and you can (and should) drill down as deep as remains meaningful.

A Need statement may contain statistics. In fact, many of them do. A lot of the time, we grant writers don’t know exactly who will be walking through our doors to take advantage of our program or project –their circumstances and what led them there – but we can make some assumptions. And many times, in a grant proposal’s Need statement, you need to make assumptions. Here’s an example to illustrate what I mean:

Example: My program will improve the lives of local veterans by matching them with a canine. There’s not a similar program in my area. But what I know is that there ARE similar programs elsewhere, and I can use stats from those programs, who they served, and their successes. I can also cull stats about what any and all people with PTSD deal with, and what animal companionship does for them. And then I can apply those stats — make assumptions – that the people who will walk through my door and who my program will serve, will share the same characteristics and have the same success rate.

A Need statement may include a story. Many times, grant writers “put a name and a face” on all the stats they spew by pulling out an individual that is representative of the statistical average, and they tell their story. It personalizes and humanizes an otherwise data-heavy Need statement. Stories are great, if there’s room. Try to make room!

Before we move on, I want to make certain we all understand what a Need statement is NOT.

A Need statement is NOT about your agency’s needs. It is NOT about your dire financial situation, or lack of a vehicle, or lack of staff or time. Your Need statement is not about YOU! It is ALWAYS about what the people you serve need.

2) Why is the Need statement so important?

Your Need statement should deliver a real existential reason your agency exists. You established your nonprofit with a sound idea of how much it is needed, and created your mission around the depth and breadth of the need for your agency. You created that nonprofit in response to the need you saw, and you saw that need needed to be filled NOW. Not in 10 years. Now.

In the same way, your Need statement describes the urgency of the need. How colossal is the gap you are trying to fill? What will happen if it is not filled, and filled soon? It should compel the funder to act, and act now! It should back up that urgency with facts, which will work to underline the urgency. This combination is what makes a Need statement memorable.

Expressing the Need of the people you hope to serve to your prospective funder is so important, and you want to get it right! It is the lynchpin upon which your whole application is based. Without a profound need, there would be no need for your agency, no need for your program, and no need for a funder’s support.

State the need and its urgency, back it up with facts and data, personalize it with a story, and you’ve communicated a powerful Need statement.

 For more on this and other grant topics, visit my website.