May: Grant Myths and Mistakes
One of my first jobs as a professional fundraiser was writing grants. Honestly, my only qualification was that I could write well. I honed my writing skills while working in radio and television where I wrote commercials and scripts.
After working and writing in that environment, a grant proposal was easy, just follow the instructions, right?
Grant Readiness Checklist
Yes, following the instructions is part of a successful grant proposal submission, but as we know there is more to it. My clients get a Grant Readiness Checklist. This is a list of documents that any grant writer will need to produce grant applications. It includes basic items such as program descriptions, the organization’s history, budgets, board roster, and other documents. All the information is maintained in a shared document platform.
Pipeline
Another basic tool for a grant writer is a pipeline or list or spreadsheet or CRM report. This will help you keep track of due dates, report dates, contact information, areas of funding interest, and anything else that will help you along this path.
Research
Spending the time to do the research and build your list of potential foundation funders is worth the time. Research will tell you which foundation is a good match because you will be familiar with their areas of interest and their restrictions. If you run an after-school program in a rural community, then you would not apply to a funder who supports after school programs in urban communities. Foundations usually provide guidelines for what they want included in a proposal. Sometimes there are word or character limits, other times there are none. You must be prepared for both. That means having program narratives of different lengths, like 100 words and 300 words. Both need to have the same basic information; the longer version is simply more detailed.
Also, having grant proposal deadlines at your fingertips will help you schedule your time and set priorities.
Tips
Here are some things to keep in mind after you do your research and identify a foundation that matches your mission:
- If possible, contact the foundation and let them know you are interested in submitting a grant application. There may be information they will share with you that’s not on their website.
- Read all the instructions carefully. I cannot stress this enough. Not following the instructions is the number one reason applications are turned down.
- Clearly state the problem or challenge your organization seeks to address. Include relevant data, do not use jargon or acronyms.
- How will you address the problem? Clearly state the action your organization will take, staff roles, and how long it will take to do the work.
- How will you evaluate your program or organization? What will you achieve?
- Your budget should align with your narrative. For example, if you talk about hiring new staff, your budget should reflect that.
- If possible, use headings, bullet points and leave white space (margins).
- Never submit the first draft! Ask someone you trust who is not part of your organization to read it for clarity.
- Have all relevant support documents, such as financial documents, IRS letter, in one place ready to be submitted with the proposal.
- Submit proposal two-three business days early, never at the last minute.
- First-time proposals are seldom funded. Keep trying.
- Consider joining a professional association such as https://grantprofessionals.org/.
Check out the next episode of my podcast, “About Fundraising: The Podcast” where I will go deeper into the myths and mistakes of grant writing. Tune in to About Fundraising: The Podcast on Spotify or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
At DMGroupConsulting, our goal is to help you achieve your goals. Schedule a free 30 minute consultation.
