First, complete worksheet two, letter of inquiry questionnaire. This will help you organize the material that should be included in the actual letter of inquiry. The letter of questionnaire worksheet is on page 27 of your book.

If you want to type directly into the form, the electronic version in MS Word 2007 is supplied in this folder. The disk that came with the book also contains the letter of inquiry questionnaire. Before you begin to type in it, make sure you are able to save the document. If you cannot access the files, simply answer the questions and submit.

The second part of the assignment is submitting the actual letter. There is a sample letter of inquiry in your book. Be sure to include all the relevant contact information for your organization (or fictitious organization).

WORKSHEET 2.1: Letter of Inquiry Questionnaire

1. What is the purpose of this letter of inquiry? To whom is it being sent, and what is the connection?

2. What year was your organization founded? What year was it incorporated?

3. What is the mission of your organization?

4. What are the long-term goals for your organization?

5. What programs does your organization provide that support these goals?

6. What is the need in your community that you seek funding to address?

7. How in your organizaiton's view is the need related to our programs, long-term goals, and mission?

8. What do we propose to do about this need?

9. What outcome do we anticipate after the first year of funding?

10. What is the total cost of our proposed idea for the first year (or multiple years if we plan to request multiple-year funding)? How much do we want from this funder?
11. Who will be contacting the funder to determine its interest and when? Whom should the funder contact for more information?

Now that you have finished answering the questions, you can take the information and build a letter of inquiry. The ideal way to write the letter is to follow this format: opening, background, problem statement, proposed solution, closing. The questions you answered here followed this format.