The statement of need is where most applications are won or lost. Reviewers are not looking for hardship — they are looking for a specific, solvable gap and a business positioned to close it.
1 . Name the gap, not the wish
“We need $10,000 to grow” is a wish. “Our oven limits us to 200 loaves a day while standing orders total 340” is a gap a reviewer can verify and fund.
2 . Connect the gap to the community
Most funders answer to a mission. Show who beyond the business benefits when the gap closes: customers served, jobs added, a neighborhood kept supplied.
3 . End with the plan, in numbers
Close by restating exactly what the money buys and what changes within the grant period. One paragraph, every figure matching the budget page.
- One sentence: the gap
- One paragraph: the evidence
- One paragraph: the plan and its numbers
