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My grant-writing students often ask me, “What’s the most important element of a proposal?” They want to know what matters most—the project description? the budget? the cover letter? I tell them: it all matters. If a grantor requests it, then it’s important. You can’t discount any aspect of a grant application. However, if I had to choose one, the most important and most often overlooked element is the work sample.

The work sample is the documentation of your past creations, and it can make or break your application. You can write the most ​beautiful and compelling answers to the questions on the rest of your application, but if your work sample doesn’t live up to the promise of those words or is of poor quality, your chances of landing the grant are slim. A strong work sample will stop the reviewer in his tracks. Your work sample should be of the highest quality and demonstrate that you have the skills and experience to successfully complete your proposed project.

More mundane, but equally important, is to follow the instructions for presenting your work sample. Literary artists have it easiest, because their work samples are usually text. Yet even for them, the granting organization will have specific submission guidelines. For example, if the rules say, “Submit five poems,” then don’t submit three or seven. However, if they say, “Submit up to five poems,” then three or four of your best is fine. They may request eight copies, double-spaced, paper-clipped, not stapled, with your name in the top-left-hand corner. These details may sound irrational, but imagine that you were receiving hundreds of applications; you’d want to make it easy for your underpaid assistant to assemble the three-ring binders for the reviewers too. And you’d want to ensure fairness in the review process.

Visual artists will need to submit digital files by e-mail or on a CD, also called a CD-ROM. (Review the instructions for the exact format. As technology evolves, so does format.) Performance artists may be asked for an excerpt of their work saved to a DVD. The application instructions will list specifics about the excerpt’s length and format as well as the number and types of images. Follow these instructions to the letter.

When you assemble your work sample, put the strongest work first. If you’re a visual artist, find out how the work will be screened during the review process. If several images will be projected at once, order the work so you control which images are viewed together. For example, I’ve heard that the review panel at the New York Foundation ​for the Arts views a total of twelve images, four at a time. In that case, I’d put my four strongest first and make sure that each subsequent grouping contains four images that work well together.

For performing artists, playwright and actor Aaron Landsman recommends shooting the performance more than once and with more than one camera. “I know successful artists who videotape five or six nights of a three-week run. They borrow a camera or get a professional to do it, but they make sure they get really good documentation,” he said. Visual artists doing installation work should document on several days and photograph both inside and outside perspectives of the installation.

Beware of technical glitches. I was shocked to hear that several grant officers have received blank CDs and DVDs. Don’t give the panel an easy reason to disqualify you by not following the application guidelines. One unsuccessful applicant, a printmaker, complained that the panel should have called him regarding the blank CD or have gone to his website to view his monoprints. I also heard of one dancer who submitted an hour-long videotape and told the panel to forward to the last five minutes. This applicant should have submitted a tape containing just the relevant excerpt. It’s not reasonable to expect the panel to do extra work; the applicant is responsible for making sure he has submitted a proper sample in the correct format.

Choose Your Work Sample

“I try to remember that I’m not picking the best work, necessarily, or even my favorite work. I’m looking for the most compelling image of my work,” sculptor Bonnie Collura said. While she works in her studio, she often stops to photograph her work in progress. “I take so many pictures because it helps me to really see my sculpture. When I’m looking at the sculpture on the camera, I can see how it translates as an image.”

Kemi Ilesanmi, director of grants and services at Creative Capital, urges artists to “choose something that draws people in right away. You don’t want a lot of credits at the beginning of a DVD. Then you’ve wasted one whole minute. It doesn’t create anticipation; it creates frustration,” ​she said. “We want the artist to take us into the middle of something so that panel members are engaged in the work right away.”

In addition to gripping the viewer, your work sample must relate to the project you’re proposing. Sean Elwood, director of artist programs at Creative Capital, understands that this may be difficult for applicants because their proposed projects don’t exist yet. However, the sample must relate to what you’re planning in some way. “If you’re normally a painter but now you’re doing a video piece or paintings that will incorporate video, show us some indication that this is not the first time you’ve worked with video,” he said. “We want to see … that you have the chops, that you can accomplish this. If you’re going to do something new and exciting in your artwork and then you just show us stuff that has nothing to do with it, in terms of content and form, it’s harder for us to judge,” he added.

Document It

Submit a work sample description to accompany your work sample. Pertinent information to list here includes your name, contact info, and facts about each sample (title, medium, size, publication, and date, if applicable).

​If the guidelines allow you to include a brief description, use this opportunity to orient the panelists. Remember that they have never seen your work and will need some guidance to understand what they’re looking at. For example, if your drawings are delicate and hard to decipher in a photograph, mention this aspect in the description. Putting the work in context will encourage panel members to look more closely and better appreciate your work.

Spend as much as you can afford on the highest-quality documentation of your work. The work sample that you submit is the only way the panelists will experience your work. If it doesn’t do a fantastic job of showing off what you do, then the panelists probably won’t see your work in all its glory, appreciate it, or fund it.

Photographing Your Work: Advice from a Pro

How do you ensure you capture the best images? If you need to hire a professional, where do you start? For the best advice on photographing two- and three-dimensional artwork, I turned to professional photographer Grace Weston.

Weston has been photographing artwork for twenty years from her studio in Portland, Oregon. She understands that her images are often the first and only time a panel will see the artist’s work. She strives to create a photograph that’s as close to the real thing as possible. Although Weston advises hiring a professional, read on for tips on documenting your own work.

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Block out sixty minutes of uninterrupted time: Silence your cell phone, disconnect from the Internet. Open the file, closet, or storage locker where you stash past work. Read, watch, listen to the creations you’ve made. Note where you feel chills and where you feel most excited. Which pieces speak to the white-hot center of the next project you want to get funded? Make a pile of the work that is the most striking and the closest in tone or style to your next project idea. Contact a colleague—someone smart and generous. Make a date to have him review this pile and help you choose a work sample that will knock the panel members out of their chairs.