According to The Balance, about 20% of all nonprofit income was derived from grants as of 2020. This figure is astonishing, with many non-profit organizations relying solely on grant funding to empower their mission. Consequently, the ability to write professional, clear, concise, and compelling grant applications is among the most important skills your organization can have.
When writing a grant application, the thing to keep in mind is the focus of your organization. One of the biggest mistakes is that organizations apply for grants and funding without a clear vision and focus for your organization. Not only is this a huge turn-off to funders, but can be problematic for your organization as well. Clarity in your application can reflect clarity in your organization’s mission and vision, helping bolster your group’s focus and mission.
First
Know your core programs and don’t change your organization’s focus over a grant. Stand strong in what your organization is fighting for and foundations will commend your passion.
Start with writing a single page description of every program your organization runs, addressing the following things.
Problem – What is the problem at hand.
Solution – Suggestions on how to fix the problem
Purpose – What is the type and purpose of your program
Who Benefits – Whos is the target population your program helps? Why?
Program Specifics – How will the program meet the needs you’ve laid out?
Goals – SMART Goals
Success – What does success look like, and how do you measure success?
What other things are needed?
Having a program primed will allow you to be ready to tackle any grant application.
Where to look for grants
There are many places to start looking for grants, and the more you learn about what grants you are looking for the better your searches will become. When you are first getting started I would recommend checking out the following places: Foundation Center, GrantScape, GrantStation, as well as your county foundation, other regional associations, and state associations.
Do you have a team that works on this?
It is an important part of the process to have someone who is tasked with looking for additional funding for the organization. Sometimes that person is the executive director, other times, it’s spread out over several members of staff. We recommend having one person who is spearheading the effort to ensure that nothing is messed up and that there is a process for finding these grants and applying.
What do you need to apply?
When it comes to applying for grants there will often be a need for different requirements. Many requirements will be easy to meet. You will be asked to provide proof of your 501 status, and briefs on the overall work that is being done. One of the other requirements is often that funders will often ask for the overall budget as well as program budget to enable them to see how much of your organizational funds are derived from their funding. This will enable them to see where their funds are going and see if there is funding diversification (which we will talk about more in the future).
Takes money to make money
As with anything in the work that we do, it takes resources, and your time is a resource. So you will have to spend resources on searching and applying for funds. Resources will have to be acquired and reports will have to be created. As well as all the accountability measures and reports that will be used once grants are awarded
Don’t let this scare you. If you have a process and if you have good programs you can put together robust grant applications that will ensure that you can be prepared and successful in grants.
Want to learn more?
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