Dr. Liz Shay, Senior Grants Development Consultant
The overarching purpose of a grant application is to convince the funder that your organization’s project is a viable and responsible use of their funds and will help address the goals of the program. A well-developed project with full work plan details will demonstrate that you are ready to move forward and implement the planned initiative. One of the ways that you can demonstrate that your organization is ready and will be effective in your programmatic efforts is to make it clear that you know how to show when your project is successful. A SMART application narrative will provide you with the necessary tools to convey your progress towards outcomes.
What does SMART mean?
The SMART acronym stands for Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Some other sources use other words in this acronym, but the components will be the same. Each of these five items should be addressed for each individual SMART goal and objective (more about that below).
- Specific: The component should avoid ambiguity and give the details necessary to establish the goal or objective within the context of the proposed project.
- Measurable: There needs to be a criterion for demonstrating that the goal or objective has been met. In other words, there should be a number included in the description that indicates when you know the goal or objective has been met.
- Actionable: The description should reflect clear activities that your organization will do to work towards the goal or objective. You should also have clear connections between activities, goals, and objectives (more about this below).
- Realistic: When considering the resources available, the proposed measurement can be achieved by your organization.
- Time-bound: A date or time window within which the goal or objective will be achieved. Consider the timeline of your project when developing your goals and objectives.
Where does SMART apply?
Grant applications include several different components that are necessary to demonstrate aspects of your work plan. Although a full discussion of developing work plans is outside the scope of this article, there are a few key components that should be considered when applying the SMART framework.
- Activities: the things that your organization is doing as part of the project.
- Goals: high-level direction your organization is focusing on for the project.
- Objectives: specific components that you will achieve to work towards your project goals.
- Outcomes: results of your proposed project.
Individual items within each of the categories should all connect to one or more items in each of the other categories. In other words, you should not do any activities that do not work towards your goals and will not be measured in objectives and outcomes.
Differentiating between goals, objectives, and outcomes is one of the trickiest parts of grant writing. In fact, there is a lot of ambiguity in the recommendations shared by various grants experts about the exact definitions of each of these components! However, the important thing to note is that every goal, objective, and outcome should be SMART so that you can clearly show funders when you have been successful with your project.
Although we will not develop a complete proposed project here, examples of some project components for a middle school robotics program might include:
- Activities: after-school robotics club, annual local robotics competition.
- Goals: have fifty middle school students from ABC School District participate in the annual robotics competition in June 2026.
- Objectives: train five parent volunteers in robotics curriculum during the Fall 2025 semester, enroll one hundred middle school students from ABC School District in the after-school robotics club during the Spring 2026 semester.
- Outcomes: forty-five middle school students from ABC School District will pass a robotics basics test given after the June 2026 annual robotics competition, forty students will note an interest in exploring STEM fields during the end-of-year survey.
Why consider the SMART framework for grant applications?
Grant funders want to know that their monies are being spent responsibly and that projects are achieving the outcomes set up in the grant program. A grant application is your opportunity to demonstrate why your project should be funded. Sharing a detailed work plan and a straightforward way to see when your project is successful will show grant makers your organization is ready to proceed with your proposed program. The SMART framework is a way to ensure that every component you are including in your project narrative is well-thought-out and ready for implementation.