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Tool 6: Goal Worksheet, the Three Questions

Supports Habit 7 of Ten Habits of Great Grant Writers.

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Take one dream through the sheet. Repeat per goal.

  1. The dream, as you would say it out loud: ___
  2. How many? (people, events, placements, enrollments): ___
  3. What counts? (the definition of success, tight enough that a stranger could verify it): ___
  4. By when? (and, if durability is the point, sustained for how long?): ___
  5. The finished goal, one sentence combining 2 through 4: ___
  6. Container check: can this be demonstrated, not just begun, within the grant period, after realistic startup time? ___
  7. Evidence check (Habit 3): where does the "how many" number come from? ___
  8. Sustainability sentence: what remains after the funding ends? ___

Worked example: "I want to help residents find work" becomes "Train five clients, with all five in permanent full time employment within one year of starting the program, sustained for at least six additional months."

SMART reference panel

The three questions above are the working method; SMART is the name funders and reviewers use for the result. If an announcement asks for SMART goals, check your finished goal against the five letters:

  • Specific: it names exactly what will happen, not a direction. "Reduce plastic waste in the local river by 20 percent within one year," not "improve the local environment."
  • Measurable: it contains the number (question 2) and the definition a stranger could verify (question 3).
  • Achievable: the number traces to evidence about your real capacity and community (Habit 3), not to hope.
  • Relevant: it advances your mission (Habit 1) and matches what the announcement funds (Habits 2 and 5).
  • Time-bound: it carries the deadline (question 4), and the deadline fits inside the grant period (Habit 7's container rule).

Goals versus objectives

Many announcements ask for both, and they are different altitudes of the same plan. A goal is the change you seek; objectives are the measurable steps that produce it. Funders read objectives as the promises they will hold you to, so each objective should pass the three questions on its own.

Example pair:

  • Goal: decrease childhood obesity rates in the community by 15 percent over five years through nutrition education and physical activity programs.
  • Supporting objective: deliver a 12 week nutrition education program to 200 elementary school children in year one, with a 5 percent increase in knowledge of healthy eating habits measured by pre and post program surveys.

Notice the pattern: the goal may need the full five years, but each objective is demonstrable within a reporting period, which is what keeps your annual reports to the funder full of kept promises.