Don't Let Grants Stress You Out
Grant writing is not a creative writing exercise. Writing grant applications is like writing research papers for a college class. Each professor has their own set of instructions and requirements. If the student does not follow those instructions and requirements, the paper is marked down. Same is true for grantmakers. They each have their own set of instructions and requirements for their grant application. Some…
School is coming to a close in Northern New York, so children are getting excited for summer vacation (even those that like my two daughters love school, because really, who doesn’t love summer vacation?!). When you are in elementary school, your teachers often recognize the learning styles of their students and they support those individual learning styles as best they can. Yet, we as individuals aren’t…
As Mother’s Day was approaching and I paused this past week to prepare with my two daughters for what they wanted to send my mom, Grandma Elaine, I reflected on the countless lessons she has taught me. In addition to all the years of patient advice and guidance related to growing up, raising daughters, and never settling when striving for my personal goals, she also…
In Diversify Your Nonprofit’s Revenue back in April, I laid out why your nonprofit should have diverse forms of revenue. Diversifying your nonprofit’s revenue will make your organization more sustainable and ultimately more competitive for grant funding. Now, let’s talk about diversifying your program’s revenue specifically. When reviewing your grant application, grant makers will ask, “Is the project/program solely dependent on grant funding and specifically…
What do you think about our analogy that: A new nonprofit organization needs to build its “credit score” for grant seeking to show they are not a risky investment as a potential grantee, just as a young adult needs to build their credit score to they are not a risk investment for thinks like a car or home loan. We often receive inquiries from organizations…
*Note from Diane: We are thrilled to have a guest post today presenting a point of view directly from a grant maker. I am honored to be a part of the LEAD Council for the Northern New York Community Foundation and to be a part of their work in Northern New York. Our guest post today stemmed from the great dialogues Max and I have when…
Grant funding is ultimately awarded to nonprofits that are sustainable. Grantmakers don’t want to fund a sinking ship. When reviewing your grant application, a grantmaker is going to be assessing whether your nonprofit is capable of withstanding major and minor changes in funding. Is the project/program solely dependent on grant funding and specifically our funding? Does the nonprofit have a diverse revenue stream? Revenue is…
*Note from Diane: I am excited to announce that I am now blogging for Nonprofit Pro, which has a magazine, website and daily e-newsletter, NonProfit PRO Today. You’ll find Diane’s posts on grants in the NonProfit PRO Today e-newsletter. This post was originally published on Nonprofit Pro on April 4, 2017 (read full post here). I never guess. It is a capital mistake to…
They say it takes a village to raise the child; in the case of a non-profit with visions of growth, it takes that village (or Board of Directors) to raise the funds. While a non-profit’s Board of Directors plays a vital role in an organization’s fundraising success, their ability to positively influence the grant process is often overlooked. Here are a few ways to engage…
If you joined me for my free webinar on CharityHowTo last week about Why It is Important to Build Relationships with Grant Makers (the recording is available here if you missed it!), you heard me talk through why relationships are important in grant seeking. I talk about relationships in grant seeking frequently as the key to relationship building that many grant seekers miss is not how…