Grant guidelines written in plain English aren't simpler — they're more precise. They say what they mean without requiring applicants to decode the intended meaning from formal language, legal phrasing, or sector jargon.
The applicants most disadvantaged by complex language are often the ones you most want to fund: small community organisations, first-time applicants, groups working in communities with lower English literacy, and organisations working on the ground without professional grant writers.
This checklist is designed to be used on a draft set of guidelines before they're published. Work through each section of your guidelines with these questions.
"cessation" → "end"
[ ] Have you removed or explained sector jargon? (Terms that are obvious to programme staff may not be obvious to applicants: "acquittal," "co-funding," "outcomes framework," "incorporated society.")
These tests are more reliable than the checklist questions above, because they reveal how your guidelines actually read to someone unfamiliar with your programme:
The first-time applicant test: Ask someone unfamiliar with your programme — ideally from a target community — to read the guidelines and answer: Am I eligible? What can I apply for? How will I be assessed? What do I need to submit? When is it due?
If they can't answer all five questions clearly after reading, your guidelines aren't doing their job.
The query log test: Compare your draft guidelines against the queries received in your last round. If the same questions are coming up again, they haven't been addressed adequately.
The loud read-aloud test: Read the guidelines aloud. Sentences that are hard to read aloud — because they're too long, too complex, or contain tangled structure — are sentences that need rewriting.
Some of your guidelines' complexity may be driven by legal or compliance requirements — conditions imposed by your funder, statutory obligations, liability management. This language sometimes needs to be there.
If it does, consider separating it from the main guidelines into a supplementary conditions document. The main guidelines should be written for applicants. The legal conditions can live elsewhere, referenced from the main document for those who need them.
When you genuinely need formal language in the main guidelines, provide a plain English explanation alongside it: "You must demonstrate financial probity (this means you need to show your organisation manages its money responsibly, with proper oversight and record-keeping)."
The goal isn't to remove all formal language — it's to ensure that formal language doesn't stand between eligible applicants and your programme.
This article is part of the complete guide: How to Write Grant Guidelines That Attract the Right Applicants.