Grants

It is clear that foundation opportunities exist, but many FQHCs lack the grant sophistication to identify, target and secure these funds. To mitigate these barriers to funding, relying on grant professionals to prospect for key grantseeking priority areas, develop research-based programs, and submit competitive proposals will be critical to FQHCs' long-term grantseeking success in the post-ACA era.

Does staff size affect grantseeking activities and success? The short answer is "yes," but let's looks at some of the data that are available. Because all-volunteer organizations usually lack personnel dedicated to grantseeking, it becomes a less consistent, ad hoc affair, resulting in few awards. Moving an organization from all volunteer to having one to five employees increases the likelihood of grant funding; moving the organization to six to 10 employees increases that possibility even more.

Stopping a downward spiral is doable — but not without investing time and effort, and enduring some short-term pain.

Organizations require consistent, diverse funding streams to keep vital programming alive. However, many organizations lack comprehensive strategic plans that integrate philanthropic giving and grant seeking as an active component of resource development.

Asha Varghese, director of global health programs at the GE Foundation, discusses her foundation's grant process and shares keys for fundraisers seeking grants.

Look at the big picture and learn from every victory and defeat. And avoid budgeting a large grant when there is uncertainty as to the outcome of the request.

Take heart. The world needs us to be active, connecting with people while we cheerfully, aggressively promote our causes.

Whether you are a professional grant writer or a novice just dipping your toes into the world of grant writing, it is now important to stay abreast of trends that may be able to provide you with that special edge you need to secure grant awards. Two of the most predominant changes are in the area of technology (no surprise there) and attitude on the part of grant makers.

Whole Me began 11 years ago with a grassroots effort. People who worked with deaf and hard-of-hearing children saw a problem. The kids they were interpreting for in school were going home to afternoons of isolation. So they built a solution: An after-school program for deaf students. No one got paid. The office was a dining room table. Over the next decade, Whole Me grew little by little. The budget reached six figures. But it took failure in 2011 for the small organization to find a solid path to financial security.

You may be fortunate enough to have an experienced grant writer on staff, especially if your organization has a developed and long-standing grants program. But for many nonprofits that is not so, and it might make sense to hire a grant professional or consultant, at least for a limited time.

We went to just such a consultant, Jake Seliger of Seliger Associates. We asked him what he thinks the pros and cons are of hiring a grant writer on a contractual basis.