Grants

Like it or not, grants are a necessity for nearly all nonprofits to stay alive and do good work. A couple of years ago, outreach, training and fundraising consultant Stephanie Gerding posted some great, basic grantseeking information on TechSoup For Libraries. As a former nonprofit development director, I know I could have used some short, useful, basic information on the steps to grantseeking to get things going quickly, so I thought I’d alert you to Stephanie’s wisdom.

Nearly half of nonprofit leaders say their foundation supporters are blind to the biggest challenges charities face and could do more to help them meet rising demand for services, train leaders and deploy new technology, according to a poll released this week.

In a survey of 121 nonprofit leaders, the Center for Effective Philanthropy says it found that only 52 percent “believe their foundation funders are aware of the various challenges their organizations face.”

The Google Grants program is a little-known offering by the search giant that is extremely generous and useful for nonprofit organizations. Although the criteria for this are rather specific, it offers qualifying organization up to $10,000 a month in free search advertising to promote their missions and initiatives through the AdWords system. This is a great opportunity for these organizations to get in front of Web-savvy contributors and volunteers. It also presents a golden opportunity to begin the process of reorienting efforts to a more Web-centric approach.

The most interesting fact to emerge from GrantStation's spring 2013 State of Grantseeking survey was that 81 percent of organizations that applied for grants won awards. The really interesting figure, however, was that the number of organizations that received awards increased 6.1 percent. How should this information affect your own grant strategy? First, you want to make sure you keep your grantseeking pipeline full. Second, you should set a goal of increasing your success rate by 5 percent or so over the next six months. How do you do that?

There is no secret formula, no magic bullet, no golden rule to a successful grant proposal. There are, however, a number of tools and approaches the creative grant writer can utilize to greatly increase the odds of success.

In the October 2011 issue, Dr. Bev Browning, vice president of grants professional services at eCivis, outlined "10 Steps to Getting That Grant," and added four others to help grantees manage their money properly.

Good grantwriters have a unique perspective with respect to nonprofit organizations: We know what grantmakers want to hear, and we know what we'd like to be able to put into grant proposals. But when conspicuous gaps begin to show up in proposals, what should you — the grantwriter — do? Here are six elements of a good proposal that often are missing or inadequate, and some resources to help you and your employer/client address the problems they might be hiding.

Having spent time on both "sides" and organizing in the middle spaces, my conclusion is that grantseekers and grantmakers are not so different. I believe we would all be better off imagining each other to be actual people — with motivations, fears, joys and stories — who want to improve our communities by working in different professional functions.

Wanna know a secret? I once ran my own grant-writing business. I loved focusing on one thing and doing it well — a welcome break from the “many hats” conundrum in which development professionals frequently find themselves. Success in this area, however, requires adherence to a well-defined, logical process. Master this and you, too, can be a grant-writing phenom. Here’s my primer.

Getting in the door to community funders isn't always easy, but introducing yourself to someone new never is. The more you reach out to acquaint others with your organization, the easier it will become and the better you'll be at it. In the end, you're increasing the awareness of your mission, building your skill base and making new friends along the journey. A win-win-win for everyone involved.