By Kirsten Reid, Esq.
One of the niches I’ve become known for in my grants career—almost accidentally—is the art of breaking down federal Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) into simple, user-friendly outlines and checklists.
If you’ve ever opened a federal NOFO, you know why this skill matters.
NOFOs can be 40, 60, sometimes 80+ pages long. They’re dense. They’re technical. They’re full of instructions, requirements, cross-references, attachments, and scoring rubrics… and that’s before you even get to the narrative guidance.
It’s no wonder so many teams read only the surface and miss critical details that would have made their application stronger, complete, or even eligible.
But here’s the truth:
Everything you need to develop a competitive grant proposal is already inside the NOFO.
You just have to excavate it.
That’s where breakdowns come in.
A NOFO Is a Treasure Map—But You Still Have to Follow It
I like to think of a NOFO breakdown as creating a map where X marks the spot—and the treasure is a well-aligned, funder-ready, fully responsive federal proposal.
Federal agencies tell you:
- What they want
- How they will score your proposal
- What questions must be answered
- What attachments are required
- What technical formatting rules must be followed
- What the reviewers are looking for in a strong application
It’s all there, baked right into the document.
Writing a grant without dissecting the NOFO first is like trying to bake a cake without reading the recipe. Yes, you may have all the ingredients. Yes, you might even bake something edible. But will it resemble what the judges expect? Will it meet their standards? Will it rise?
Following the NOFO is following the recipe.
And while every baker adds their interpretation—your project, your impact, your voice—the foundation must be consistent. With time, practice, and fidelity to the recipe, your “cake” becomes more polished, more aligned, and more competitive.
Why NOFOs Feel Overwhelming (and Why Most People Skip the Details)
The first glance at a federal solicitation can feel like staring at a wall of text. Many organizations skim it. Others jump straight into writing. That’s when critical details get lost:
- Missing required attachments
- Incorrect page limits
- Misaligned narratives
- Unanswered scoring criteria
- Missing organizational documents
- Improper formatting that gets the application auto-rejected
None of these errors reflect a lack of skill—they reflect a lack of structure.
That’s why the breakdown comes first.
My Step-by-Step Method for Breaking Down a NOFO
After years of refining this process (and maybe thanks to all those law school outlines), I’ve built a system that consistently turns huge NOFOs into manageable, bite-sized tasks for clients.
Here’s how it works:
1. Always Get the NOFO From the Source
Download directly from:
- Grants.gov
- The issuing federal agency’s website
- Or the program office’s official page
Federal agencies update their NOFOs more often than people realize. A single missing addendum or amendment can derail an entire application.
2. Print It Out—Yes, On Paper
There is something powerful about holding the document, flipping pages, and visually tracking structure that digital scrolling can’t replicate.
Paper creates focus.
Paper slows you down.
Paper lets you see patterns and hierarchy.
3. Do the First Read: Just Get to Know It
For the first pass:
- Don’t highlight.
- Don’t analyze.
- Don’t start drafting.
Just absorb:
- What the program is about
- Who it’s designed to serve
- Funding priorities
- What’s unique or new in this year’s cycle
- Eligibility and scope
This pass is about orientation, not extraction.
4. Second Read: Highlighters Out
Now, I go through again and mark everything that needs to be pulled into my breakdown. This includes:
A. Basic Information
- Funding amount
- Performance period
- Eligibility
- Matching requirements
- Mandatory partners
- Required attachments
B. Technical Requirements
- Page limits
- Font, margins, file types
- Submission platform nuances
- Deadlines
- SAM.gov/DUNS/UEI issues
- Contact information for questions
C. The Meat: All Questions and Instructional Cues
This is where your narrative skeleton comes from.
I highlight every instance of:
- “Describe…”
- “Explain…”
- “Identify…”
- “Provide…”
- “Outline…”
- “Who, what, why, how, when” questions
- Any section labeled “Evaluation Criteria” or “Review Criteria”
These are not suggestions. They are requirements.
They tell you exactly what reviewers expect you to address.
5. Build a New Word Document: The NOFO Breakdown
After highlighting everything, I create a new, clean document that becomes our roadmap.
It includes:
- A summary of the program basics
- A list of all technical requirements
- A section-by-section breakdown of narrative questions
- Checklists for attachments and formatting
- A narrative outline that mirrors the NOFO’s structure
- Pull-out questions to send directly to partners or clients
This document becomes the heart of the proposal process—our guide, our checklist, and our quality control tool.
Why This Method Works
Breaking down the NOFO transforms the entire experience:
- Clients no longer feel overwhelmed
- Partners know exactly what’s being asked of them
- Writers stay aligned with funder expectations
- Reviewers can easily see that every question has been addressed
- Nothing gets missed
- The entire proposal becomes more organized and competitive
The federal government is not trying to trick you. They actually tell you the rules of the game upfront. A breakdown is simply the process of listening carefully and organizing everything in a way that empowers your team to deliver their strongest work.
The Bigger Truth: Clarity Is a Competitive Advantage
When you cut through the noise of a long federal solicitation and surface only the essential, you not only improve your own grantwriting—you raise the standard of your entire organization.
At the Levitate Institute, our mission is to help more people write better grants with less overwhelm. NOFO breakdowns are one of the most powerful ways to do that.
Learn from the system we’ve refined through years of mistakes, trial, practice, and success—and let’s rise together.
