Tag Archives: Grant Proposals

Preparing for a grant proposal

8 Essentials You Need To Set Up Your Nonprofit for Grant Success

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I have spoken with untold numbers of people representing nonprofit organizations that really want to get started —  or better at — grantseeking. No wonder! Just think what great work your organization can do with some extra cash.

But wait! There is definitely no “free lunch” and you’d be well-advised to look before you leap. After all, if you’re not really ready to enter the grant world, you will just waste a lot of time, energy, and maybe even money.

If you want to maximize your grantseeking efforts, you need to prepare your organization to be worthy of a grant maker’s investment. That is, you need to be able to show that you are credible, well-run, and effective at carrying out your mission. Not only that, but you have to be set up to use a grant effectively – from their point of view.

Let’s look at the 8 essentials you’ll need at your fingertips. Once you have these essentials set up, you will have a solid foundation from which to travel through the grant world. If you skip this crucial step, you will find yourself wasting precious time backtracking to fill in the gaps. (Or worse, lack the needed information when applying for a grant you want.)

1) Official nonprofit tax status

You will need either your own non-profit status or if you are not yet an independent nonprofit you will need a fiscal sponsor that agrees to administratively sponsor your organization in exchange for a fee.

At a minimum, you will need to have certifications on the federal and state levels, and some areas also require a county or city business license or other documentation.

2) A clear, unique mission

Think about how your organization plays a special or unique role in your field. If your mission statement could describe any other organization that is similar to yours, think again.

You will need to clarify what you set out to do in your community — in terms so clear that anyone can understand. Periodically revisit your mission to make sure it continues to be relevant and inspiring, even as times and circumstances change. (Does that sound familiar in this age of COVID-19?)

3) An active, financially supportive, diverse Board of Directors

Of course, your organization has a board of directors. But do they meet regularly? And do they all contribute financially in a meaningful way? Are they connected to the community you serve?

It’s best to have a good variety of folks on your board who are familiar with the various parts of your organization. If the group includes some current or former clients and is representative of the ethnic and socio-economic communities you serve, you’re already off to a great start.

4) Appropriate financial information

You will need to produce several financial documents: budgets, expense and revenue reports, IRS filings, balance sheets, and the like. Make sure you have the proper systems to do that.

You also need to show that you are on solid financial ground — even if you are just starting out. So, If you are in debt, I strongly encourage you to settle it before seeking new grants. If you have any tax issues, clear them up now.

On a related note, funders want to know that you have multiple sources of support. They are not interested in being your only lifeline. So you need to show a solid history of financially sustaining yourself, and a plan to do so in the future. Even if you are new, you need to be able to show some sort of community support that keeps your head above water.

5) At least 1 priority program with its own realistic budget

You may know that the vast majority of grants are given for specific work for only 1 year at a time. With that in mind, you will need to divide your work into specific units — programs or projects — with realistic expectations for a 1-year period. These bite-sized chunks need to be centered on your strengths or core competencies.

Remember that each program or project needs a realistic budget: the money you will need to run it and where you expect to find those funds.

If you are a new organization, you may only have one “program” you’re working on. I encourage you to think deeply about how you could slice and dice it into smaller pieces.

6) Method of quantitative and qualitative evaluation

Funders will want to know the quantitative results of your work (e.g., how many people you served), and the quality of the impact you made (often in clients’ own words).

Funders often call these “measurable outcomes.” Plan from Day 1 for how your program will measure and demonstrate its results.

7) Track record of success (or at least the right leadership to make that happen)

You will need to be clear on how your organization and/or project has already made a positive difference in your community. That is, what results have you already seen? There are lots of ways to tell the story of your past that can then lead to a bright future.

8) A strategic plan of some kind

Even if you can’t carry out a full-blown strategic planning process, your board and staff can at least envision an outline of where you are headed over the next 1-3 years.

This doesn’t need to be fancy. You just need to demonstrate that your work is coherent and realistic in accomplishing your mission, given the context you’re working in.

Get started

Try your hand at gathering these 8 essential pieces of information, and jot down your thoughts about each. If you see any showstoppers, make sure your organization addresses them before moving forward.

With these pieces of info in hand, you will be ready to go forth and win some grants!

Have grant writing and management questions? Join me, Dalya, at Ask Dalya Live! I answer your grant writing and management questions at 12 p.m. PT every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month on Facebook Live @writingforcommunitysuccess.

This Wednesday, August 11, the floor is yours at Ask Dalya Live! to ask whatever burning grant writing and management question you have.

Ask Your Grant Writing Question

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Beware! Know When a Grant is a Mistake to Apply For

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I know your nonprofit organization is probably eager to attract some grant money to help support your good work. The idea of a funder handing a large check to your nonprofit probably makes your heart flutter. Visions of popping the champagne might come to mind.

And that’s what grants are there for!

But you should know that not all grants are good for you. Before diving in, I suggest that you first get clear about the difference between a grant that can be helpful to your organization and one that actually doesn’t do you any favors.

Pursuing a grant strategy is a major endeavor and you want to go in with your eyes wide open!

Grant Application Consideration #1

Grants generally take up to 6-12 months to be awarded after you apply— and that’s not counting the time it takes to prepare your application. In fact, good preparation (read: grant writing) is quite time-consuming itself!

[Recently, especially with COVID-19 grants, emergency or “rapid response” grants have had shorter turnaround times. But that is rare.]

A waiting period of many months is often too long for an urgent project. Sometimes board members, or even Executive Directors, are unfamiliar with grantseeking and may think that grants offer a quick and easy way to fund the organization. This is generally NOT the case.

Grant Application Consideration #2

Grantmakers often change their priorities and can be unreliable. You don’t want your organization to be dependent on only 1 or 2 grants that could disappear next year! You can protect your organization’s well-being by having many different sources of income in case any suddenly slow down or dry up.

What are those other sources of income? Think individual donors, events, fees for services you provide, or social enterprises you run.

My point: Any grant strategy should be part of a MUCH LARGER fundraising plan.

Grant Application Consideration #3

Grants are only temporary and have no guarantee of continuing. Your organization needs to be sustainable – that is, have a strategy to ensure that you can survive or thrive past the duration of any specific grant.

While grants can and should be part of the mix, you can’t expect them to be anything more than a short-term fix for a year or two. And if they end up being long-term, when then, you will be pleasantly surprised!

Living grant-to-grant is like living paycheck-to-paycheck without a guaranteed job – not a good idea if you can help it!

Grant Application Consideration #4

Grants are actually NOT free money! Sorry if this bursts your bubble.

There is a LOT of work involved in seeking and managing different types of grants.

Your nonprofit organization has to decide if it’s worth dedicating the needed time, effort, and other resources in exchange for the possible cash you could receive in the form of a grant.

In addition, some grants come with strings attached. You have to consider the agreement you’re making to accept money from any particular funder. For example, sometimes a funder demands way too much work in exchange for a grant that will only partially cover your expenses. What would you do then?

Grant Application Consideration #5

Your organization might simply not be ready. If you are not prepared with all of the information, people, and other resources you’re going to need, you will be wasting your time and money pursuing grants. You need to make sure you are able to take this on.

For example, funders may see your organization as not yet organized enough — with the right capacity — to make the best use of their grant. And they might be right!

You may find that a given grant application or proposed project doesn’t fit with your organization’s stage of development right now. Or perhaps you have to address some internal challenges before you can put your best foot forward to a funder.

As you can see, it’s not always the right time for any given nonprofit organization to seek and manage any given grant. I encourage you to carefully consider your options and adopt a clear-eyed perspective about the grant opportunities that come your way. In fact, you might want to share this information with others at your organization who may need to see the larger picture.

When you are sure a grant would be truly good for your organization, you’ll be set to start your grant seeking and grant writing journey.

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Grant-Proposal

How to Assess Return on Investment for Grant Writing and Management

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As someone involved in the grant writing and management process at your organization, you need to know how to best spend your time and money so that you get the greatest “return” on your investment. You don’t want to waste your limited resources on activities that are not likely to be successful. But you also want to avoid being so shortsighted that you miss the bigger picture.

You may be tempted to think that the return on your grant writing investment is simply the amount of money a specific grant application brings in. You might wonder if the time and money you spent to procure that particular grant was worth it. Right? Not so fast …

We need to look at the return on your investment in both the short term and the long term. Yes, the easiest way to assess success is the “check in the mail.” But what else should we consider?

Find Value in the Writing Process

The good news is that the grant writing process itself can be extremely valuable to your organization — and to your own understanding of your organization’s work. For starters, collecting all of the information you need to prepare a strong application can be a great strategic planning exercise. You will have to think through many needs, assumptions, activities, and intended outcomes of your program — including why you think it will work. In a related process, you will need to create a program budget that may shine a light on expenses you might not have otherwise tallied up.

If you are writing a general operations proposal to keep your entire organization running, you may start to see more clearly how the many pieces fit together well and could support each other even more. On the other hand, you may discover some weak, extraneous, or even contradictory parts that previously had gone overlooked.

I have seen many organizations — and staff — benefit in these ways from the grant writing process for nonprofits. And that happens regardless of whether or not they win a specific grant.

Build Once and Tweak Many Times

Another piece of good news: Once you have invested the time and effort in creating a solid, comprehensive grant writing proposal template, subsequent versions take a lot less time. You will have created a document that can be tweaked and updated for months, even years, to come. You’re about to get a lot of traction out of it!

Customization tweaks (additions, deletions, and other modifications) are usually pretty minor. In fact, some funders specifically encourage you to submit applications you have developed for other funders and just customize the cover letter.

Your proposals will also contain valuable gems that can be excerpted and repurposed for many other fundraising or marketing materials. For example, the success stories you collect for your grant proposal can also go on your website or social media. The program information you hash out might also inform a promotional video or show up as talking points for meetings with individual donors.

Learn Lessons from Funders

Sometimes things happen at funding institutions that we can’t control and may not even be aware of. While we do our best to create the most compelling grant proposal packages, sometimes we just have to accept that we can’t win ’em all. (Yup, I know, this is frustrating.)

Funders consider many factors, and (I dare say) the quality of your proposal is only one of them. The organization’s reputation or history in the community, changing funder priorities or staff, limitations on funds, and a perceived mismatch with a proposal’s programmatic emphasis are just a few. Sometimes the sheer amount of competition simply crowds out your proposal!

But an initially declined proposal can actually be a blessing in disguise. Sure, you may just need to try again — especially if the funder gives you an indication of future interest. However, frequent rejection of a proposal often means you’re doing something wrong. It could be a sign that you need to learn more, get better advice, do more research, ask more questions. It might also be a sign that your project just isn’t very fundable right now (for whatever reason). All of this information is very valuable to you (i.e., a good return on your investment).

For instance:

  • Maybe your organization or proposal has some weaknesses that you couldn’t see but the funder could?
  • Maybe you just need a few more years under your belt to get a little better known in your field.
  • Perhaps you’re showing potential, and the funder is able to share nonmonetary resources that are actually more beneficial to you right now?
  • And sometimes funders can connect you to collaborators that will make your proposal more attractive next time.

These are just a few examples of the many lessons you may learn that can lead to long-term grant writing success.

Know Thy Funders

Remember that not every funding opportunity is a good or appropriate one for your organization. I strongly believe that it is NOT a good idea to apply to any and all foundations, corporate grantmakers, government agencies, and other funders you can think of. That “shotgun” approach is a total waste of time, money, and energy — otherwise known as a bad investment.

Instead, you need to look carefully for a strategic role that your organization can play in each funder’s world. If you find it, great! If you don’t, move on to the next one. Make sure that you are doing solid funder research, strategizing, and planning. You are looking for funders whose current priorities and strategies align best with your organization’s work. Identifying them and developing appropriate cultivation strategies will ultimately lead to the grant success you are seeking.

So, while a simplistic (but welcome!) return on your investment in grant writing and management is a grant award right now, don’t discount the long-term value of this work. Both your organization and your ongoing fundraising work will continue to reap the strategic benefits.

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This article is a part of a three-part series, including What Do Funders Look for in a Grant Proposal? and 5 Key Priorities to Include in a Grant Proposal.