Don't Let Grants Stress You Out
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…
How many times have you submitted a grant application and right after you hit submit you see several mistakes? We have all been there. It happens to the best of us. “Writing without revising is the literary equivalent of waltzing gaily out of the house in your underwear.” ― Patricia Fuller 5 Tips for Editing Your Full Grant Proposal Be grant ready: You…
Happy International Grant Professionals Week, and an early Happy International Grant Professionals Day! What is this professional holiday you ask? The Grant Professionals Association launched #IGPD three years ago and states that “International Grant Professionals Day and Week is the annual celebration to recognize and show appreciation to all grant professionals.” Last year, I challenged everyone to think about how you as a grant professional think about…
Weaving through what seems to be mysterious threads of geographic funding, there is always a history and a story behind the funding trail. One key to receiving funding from a national funder is to learn the story of its interests and build a relationship with it. Below are some ways to learn about a potential funder. 7 Tips to Research National Foundations Find 5-6 national…
Prospecting for grant funders is a time-consuming task for nonprofit organizations. Yet it is essential. Many nonprofits begin by finding and building relationships with local funders, then regional, then national. If your nonprofit has a solid record of receiving, utilizing and reporting well with local and regional funders, it can be time to extend your prospecting reach. There are several reasons to look at national…