Securing an educational grant can help you offset some of the costs of your Coordinating Body’s conference, and as part of your application, pharmaceutical companies may ask you to submit a needs assessment.

So - what is a needs assessment? It describes the urgency of a problem. Although this seems straightforward, there are pitfalls you want to avoid. For example, you don’t want to base your needs assessment on a redundant argument like the absence of your solution is the problem. Instead, focus on the people you serve rather than on your organization, then define the problem, make a case for an action to fix that problem, and articulate clear outcomes from this action. Support your argument by citing statistics and topic experts.

A strong needs assessment contains both data and stories because the combination of the two makes your assertions credible and allows your reader to connect with your plea at a human level. It portrays the situation in a way that speaks to the heart of your story and the people you are trying to help. Include a reference list with authors and sources of information and make sure your data is recent. If you use information from the internet be sure the websites are reputable and the links are current. And remember, keep it short and keep it simple.