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Grant writing is a learned skill. Nobody is born knowing how to do it — and most people who become good at it do so through a combination of reading successful applications, getting feedback on unsuccessful ones, and gradually developing an understanding of what evaluators are looking for. This guide is for people at the beginning of that journey.
Understand the Funder's Logic First
Every grant programme exists because someone — a government, a foundation, an EU institution — has decided that a particular type of activity is worth funding. Before you write a word, you need to understand what the funder is trying to achieve and why your project serves that agenda.
For Erasmus+ Youth, this means reading the programme guide carefully and understanding the EU's youth policy priorities: inclusion, digital and green transitions, participation, intercultural learning. Your project does not need to address all of these — but it should clearly connect to at least some of them. The connection should be genuine, not superficial.
The Needs Assessment: Be Specific
The most common weakness in first-time applications is a vague needs assessment. "Young people in our region face challenges with employment and social inclusion" is not a needs assessment. It is a truism. A good needs assessment names the specific gap your project addresses, cites evidence for it (data, research, consultation with your target group), and explains why this project — and not some other intervention — is the appropriate response.
A funder has limited resources. They are trying to decide which of many competing needs to prioritise. The organisation that can say "we have identified this specific gap, here is the evidence for it, and here is why our proposed response is well-matched to addressing it" is much more compelling than one that describes problems in general terms.
Objectives: SMART or Useless
Every objective in your application must be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. "Participants will develop intercultural competence" is not an objective — it is a hope. "By the end of the exchange, 85% of participants will be able to identify and articulate three cultural assumptions they held before the programme that the experience challenged, as measured by exit survey and reflective journal" is an objective.
The test for a good objective is simple: if someone handed you the application at the end of the project, could they determine whether you had achieved each objective? If not, rewrite it.
Budget: Common Mistakes
- Not using the unit cost tables provided in the programme guide — these determine what you can claim, and deviating from them is a compliance failure
- Underestimating travel costs — real flight and train prices, not aspirational ones
- Forgetting indirect costs like staff time for coordination and reporting
- Not checking what costs are eligible — some items cannot be funded by Erasmus+ regardless of their necessity
The Application as a Document
Write clearly. Use short paragraphs. Avoid jargon. Spell out abbreviations on first use. Be consistent: if you say 12 participants in one section, do not say 14 in another. Check every figure. Read it aloud — if a sentence is hard to say, it is hard to read. Have someone unfamiliar with the project read the final draft and tell you what they think you are proposing to do. Their answer will tell you whether you have written it clearly enough.