Step 10 Writing the Proposal Summary YOUR PROPOSAL IS now complete--well, almost! The proposal summary does what its title suggests; it literally summarizes the entire proposal, which is no easy feat. In this step you will learn the basics of constructing a solid and, it is to be hoped, compelling summary. Using a worksheet and following examples, you will also write a summary for your own proposal. Purpose and Content of the Summary When you want to know what a novel is all about, what do you do? You flip to the back or inside cover, and you read the two- to three-paragraph book summary, which either motivates you to want to read the book or sig- nals that the book probably holds no interest for you. Well, the same premise holds true for grant proposals. A proposal summary--also referred to as an executive summary--is a sneak peek at what your proposal is all about. That means it needs to be good in order to stimulate the program officer's interest in your project. All proposals of more than five pages in length should contain a sum- mary, and in most cases funders make a summary a required component of the proposal. The summary is a clear, one- to two-page abstract of the pro- posal. Positioned at the very beginning, it is typically the section written last to make sure that it incorporates all elements of the completed proposal. A proposal summary should contain the following elements: · Identification of the applicant (your organization) · The specific purpose of the grant · The applicant's qualifications to carry out this purpose (the program) · The anticipated end result · The total program or project budget and how much the applicant is requesting from the grantmaker to be used toward that amount 85