How to use previous grant awards to strengthen your application
What past recipient lists tell you about a funder — and what they don't.
They show the real range
A funder's published recipients show the typical award size, the kinds of schools funded and how projects were described. Use that to size your request and pitch your project at the right scale.
They reveal priorities
If most past awards went to rural schools, early literacy or hands-on STEM, that tells you more about priorities than a general mission statement.
They are not proof you qualify
Programmes change their rules between cycles. A school like yours being funded in a past year does not mean you are eligible now — always check the current guidelines.
Don't copy
Learn from the shape of funded projects, but write your own proposal about your own students. Reviewers notice borrowed language.