Your Grant Application Needs a Strong Narrative Arc—Not Just a Good Story

Grant funding is never awarded based on a story alone.

Yet, many founders—especially women and under-funded entrepreneurs—are told to “just tell your story.” That advice, while well-meaning, can be misleading. It suggests that a personal anecdote or inspiring background is enough to win over assessors. It’s not.

What does work? A strong narrative—the kind with structure, progression, transformation, and purpose.

This is the same reason movies grip us. It’s not because the character is interesting in isolation, but because we follow them through change. A grant application works the same way. It’s not about being dramatic. It’s about demonstrating movement: from challenge to action to measurable result.

What Filmmakers Know That Founders Often Forget

In screenwriting, narrative arcs are meticulously designed. Whether you're watching The Hunger Games, The Matrix, or Moana, most successful films follow one of two classic structures:

1. Freytag’s Pyramid

This five-part structure dates back to classical drama and includes:

• Exposition – The world before your project begins. What problem exists? Who does it affect?

• Rising Action – What have you done so far? What challenges have emerged?

• Climax – What’s the pivotal insight or intervention? What makes your approach different or bold?

• Falling Action – How will your project roll out? What will it take to deliver it?

• Dénouement (Resolution) – What change will this create? What does success look like?

This model is great for framing a grant narrative because it mirrors the funder’s desire to understand the before, during, and after of your work.

2. The Hero’s Journey (Monomyth)

Popularised by Joseph Campbell and adapted in everything from Star Wars to The Lion King, this model follows a protagonist through a transformative quest. Key phases include:

• The Call to Adventure – Recognising a problem or injustice in your community or industry.

• Crossing the Threshold – Deciding to act, launching your business or project.

• Trials and Challenges – Hurdles faced, mistakes made, lessons learned.

• The Transformation – Your growth or innovation emerges.

• The Return with the Boon – You bring your solution to others, creating impact.

Used well, this framework highlights personal resilience, innovation, and social change. But caution: the Hero’s Journey isn’t universal, and can over-centre individualism. For collective or community-driven ventures, Freytag’s Pyramid may be a better fit.

Why Structure Matters in Grant Writing

In a grant application, you're not pitching a personality. You're presenting a plan.

And assessors—just like audiences—need a narrative arc to follow. Without it, your application can feel disjointed, overly tactical, or emotionally flat.

A strong narrative gives your application:

• Clarity – The funder can see what you're doing and why it matters.

• Flow – Ideas connect logically from one section to the next.

• Emotional Engagement – The problem feels urgent, the work feels grounded, and the potential feels achievable.

• Credibility – Your journey shows movement, not just intent

But Remember: Narrative ≠ Emotion Alone

This is important. Funding is never awarded based on narrative alone.

Your story arc is a delivery vehicle—not the whole cargo.

You still need to:

• Align with program objectives.

• Meet eligibility.

• Present a feasible budget.

• Show measurable outcomes.

• Demonstrate readiness.

A powerful narrative gets you read. It doesn’t get you funded—unless the core elements are also in place.

Where Founders Get Narrative Wrong

Here are some common mistakes when applying narrative techniques in funding:

• Trying to be a tearjerker instead of showing capability.

• Ending with a vague moral (“we just want to help people”) rather than outcomes.

• Sharing a hardship without showing what’s changed.

• Skipping the middle—telling the problem and the solution without showing how you got there.

• Telling the same story in every application, without tailoring it to the funder.

The most powerful grant narratives show movement and learning. They’re specific, structured, and relevant to the funding purpose.

Final Word

If you want your grant application to connect—not just inform—it needs a clear and compelling narrative arc. This doesn’t mean being dramatic. It means being deliberate.

Funders don’t just want to know what you do.
They want to know why it matters, what’s changed, and what comes next.

That’s narrative. And when paired with data, strategy, and alignment—it’s how you get funded.