Improve Your Nonprofit’s Federal Grant Applications With FOIA Requests

Seeking and managing federal grants is hard work, even for the most seasoned professionals. Recent announcements from the Trump administration, a subsequent court ruling freezing the change, and general confusion have added stress to this already stressful (and critically important) arena of nonprofit funding. 

While the exact future of many federal funding programs remains unclear, organizations need to understand how to make the most of the opportunities that they find. 

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests are one of my favorite underutilized ways to strengthen federal grant proposals. Here, we’ll explore why you should consider this strategy, how it works and key considerations to remember during a time of great change in the funding landscape.

What Is the FOIA?

Congress conceptualized the FOIA during the postwar era and enacted it into law in 1966. Following the Watergate scandal, Congress made the FOIA truly enforceable by adding stricter time limits for federal agencies to respond to requests. The act was further strengthened during the Obama administration with the creation of a central online repository to store FOIA request records.

Related story: How Nonprofits Can Protect Financial Stability Amid Federal Funding Changes

FOIA generally allows anyone to request information from any federal agency (with some exemptions). Many state governments have enacted their own “sunshine” laws that serve the same purpose at the state level. 

FOIA is now a fundamental tool for gathering information in law and journalism. As stewards of their organizations’ growth and impact, nonprofits can and should also take advantage of the transparency this tool offers.

Why Add Extra Work to a Federal Grant Proposal?

Federal grants are tough. They often have complicated, confusing or redundant requirements for applicants, and proposals can easily come in at 100-plus pages. Some issues that get flagged in proposals under consideration can be corrected, while others cannot. If your federal grant proposal gets rejected, you may be told why, or you may not. 

It’s the ultimate balancing act: You’re pouring hundreds of hours into creating complex proposals for highly competitive grants that you might win. However, if you win, the funding could have transformational impacts on your mission. 

Is the investment worth it? That depends (partly) on you.

If you decide to pursue a federal grant, take extra steps to make the trade-off more worthwhile for your organization. Do this by finding ways to boost your chances of success, reduce confusion and save time. FOIA requests give you the real examples and details you need to accomplish all three objectives.

How Do You Use FOIA Requests for Federal Grants?

At its core, this strategy allows you to receive copies of past winning federal grant proposals. By looking at the applications and materials that have won funding from the same or similar programs that you’re pursuing, you can see:

• Exactly what those applications contain.
• How they’re structured and organized to adhere to the grant’s requirements.
• Their overall strategies and alignment with the grant’s objectives.

Remember, federal grant-seeking is known for its complexity and opaqueness. The insights you can glean from successful past proposals are invaluable.

1. Research What You Need for Your FOIA Request

Be sure to spend extra time determining the exact details to include in your request. Do this by exploring usaspending.gov to gather specific details for your FOIA request. This site’s advanced search tools can help you find the identifying information for past funded projects of the grant or program you’re pursuing, like:

• The specific agency, office or program that funded a project.
• A project’s Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) number.
• The Funding Opportunity Number (FON) of the grant that funded a project.
• A past grant’s recipient organizations, their Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) numbers, locations and more.

2. Fill Out the FOIA Request Form

Once you have the details, making a FOIA request is relatively simple (though the exact steps required can vary greatly by agency). Visit foia.gov, select the relevant agency and provide details either directly through the website or the agency’s website. 

Now be extremely specific — you’re trying to make friends with this agency, after all. This level of specificity will make it much easier for agency staff to satisfy your FOIA request in a timely manner since it’s much easier for its team to pull one specific document than a vague trove of them. 

As you draft the request, you’ll also need to choose the delivery format of the materials and specify the type of request. Journalists and public interest groups can make requests for free, while fees, which are often calculated according to the pay rate of the federal staffers assigned to them, may apply to requests made for commercial use or for institutions. 

Finally, take a moment to closely check the types of requests and any agency instructions. 

3. Await More Information 

Once you submit your FOIA request, the federal agency should contact you with any fee information and an expected timeline for delivery.

Strategic Considerations for FOIA Requests

When using FOIA to bolster your federal grant-seeking efforts, avoid overusing this strategy. Stay thoughtful in regards to fees and timing.

Fees. I’ve seen grant writers pay $500 for 500 pages of five winning grant applications. As mentioned previously, fees can vary greatly depending on the agency, request and requesting organization.

Timing. When a federal agency receives a request, a staff member is quite literally assigned to handle it. If you know (or can infer) that an agency or program is in the middle of collecting or reviewing applications for a current round of funding, consider waiting. They’ll appreciate it and be less likely to associate your organization with added stress.

Additionally, stay aware of the confusing staffing, budgeting and funding changes impacting federal offices today. Learn about the specific agency or program you’re contacting, and understand that delays may occur.

In fact, FOIA requests have been notoriously backlogged in many agencies for years under all recent administrations. Outstanding FOIA requests reached a million for the first time in 2023, and many predict this number will increase dramatically under the second Trump administration. Looking ahead, experts assume that FOIA is unlikely to see dramatic changes or rollbacks since organizations and think tanks across the entire political spectrum favor the agency. However, scarce agency resources and bottlenecks are always a concern, especially when agency budgets are in the spotlight.

FOIA requests will remain a useful tool for nonprofits if you know how to navigate them effectively. Don’t overlook their ability to reveal invaluable insights for your most important grant proposals.

The preceding post was provided by an individual unaffiliated with NonProfit PRO. The views expressed within do not directly reflect the thoughts or opinions of NonProfit PRO.