In short
The risks section names the problems that could stop your project from delivering, rates how likely each is and how much harm it would do, and explains what you will do to prevent it and how you will respond if it happens. Naming risks honestly builds a funder’s trust.
Every project faces risks. Funders do not expect a risk-free plan; they expect you to have thought about what could go wrong and to have a sensible response ready.
Kinds of risk to consider
- Operational: delays, staff turnover, supply problems, weather and access.
- Financial: price rises, exchange-rate changes, delayed payments.
- Contextual: political change, conflict, natural hazards, public health emergencies.
- Safeguarding: harm to children or vulnerable adults involved in the project.
- Reputational and fiduciary: fraud, misuse of funds, data breaches.
- Sustainability: partners or communities not ready to take over.
How to rate and present risks
- List the five to eight most important risks.
- Rate the likelihood and the impact of each as low, medium or high.
- Place them on a likelihood × impact matrix to show priorities.
- Write a mitigation for each: what you will do to prevent it, and what you will do if it happens.
- Say who monitors the risks and how you will tell the funder about problems.
Risk: instructors leave for jobs in the city (likelihood medium, impact medium).
Mitigation: pay a fair stipend, offer a recognised certificate, and train three reserve instructors who can step in at short notice.
Common mistakes
- Saying there are no risks.
- Listing risks without any mitigation.
- Generic mitigations such as “we will monitor closely”.
- Ignoring safeguarding and fraud risks.
Frequently asked questions
How many risks should a grant proposal include?
Usually five to eight of the most important risks, each with a likelihood, an impact and a specific mitigation.
What is a risk matrix?
A grid that places each risk by its likelihood and its impact, so that the most serious risks, high on both, stand out. The free builder draws one from your answers.
Written by Gachi Foundation, a non-profit in Jharkhand, India. All proposal-writing resources.