Ncfa Craig Asano Jan 8 equity and funding presentation
Effective Grant Research
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Editor's Notes
This is Derek Link from Creative Resources + Research and I’ll be talking to you today about how to conduct effective grant research. I’ll be focusing today mostly on doing research for Foundation grant makers. If you want to learn a lot more about writing grants, visit our web site at http://grantgoddess.com.
In 2007 there were over 75k grant making foundations that gave over $44 billion in grants Even within a well-organized and searchable database you need to have a plan for how to search so you can rule out unlikely sources of funding. We are going to talk about 8 key factors including 1) geographic location, 2) funding priorities, 3) funding amount, 4) timelines, 5) populations, 6) special requirements, 7) Applications Open, 8) Accountability Requirements We’ll finish up this webinar with some additional grant research tips.
The key here is that the funder does not always do what they say they will in terms of geographic restrictions. A quick glance at the 990 will tell you how closely they follow this guideline. Restrictions – Often a funder states openly that they will give to a specifically defined geographic region such as a state, county or city. Drill Down – Look at the 990 form to see if they follow their stated restriction. Sometimes they give more broadly and don’t advertise that fact.
Your mission is your guide here. What you do is what you want to fund right? So don’t apply to grant makers who fund stuff you don’t do. That’s called “chasing the money” and it leads non-profits off in weird and unpredictable directions and usually away from their mission. You’ll lose your stakeholders if you start chasing the money because they will never know what you’re really about. Topic Areas – These can be broad and therefore misleading. Animal welfare does not always mean kitty cats, it can mean only aardvarks. Drill Down – Review recently provided grants to make sure that they give to the sub category you need to fund. Don’t waste time applying to an Aardvark grant maker if you need spay and neuter funding for cats.
Be sure to have a budget for the program you want to fund before you start looking for grants. You don’t want to go and ask for a 200,000 grant from a grant maker that only gives out its money in 5,000 chunks. Likewise, if all you need is 5,000, don’t waste time asking for a grant from a grant maker that only gives out grants in huge amounts. Pay attention to the guidelines and the their funding history. When in doubt make contact with them and ask the question. Too High/Too Low – Often a grant maker states a floor and a ceiling for grants they wish to give. Your request should fall between these amounts. Drill Down – It is critical to review previous grants, especially when a grant maker does not set parameters for grant amounts. Previously funded grants help you understand how much they are willing to give.
Start your grant writing process with plenty of time. Don’t underestimate the time it takes to do mundane things like filling out forms, making copies and finding all of the back-up that may be required as appendices to the narrative. Writing is never finished which is why grant deadlines seem to creep up on you before you feel like you’re done with it. Always, always make the deadline. A grant that ends up in the trash because it’s late is never going to bring in a dime. Deadlines and Cycles – Often non-profit organizations find it is easier to say that funding decisions are made at Board meetings and then set grant submission deadlines in advance of those meetings several times a year. At other times, the Request for Proposals will specify the deadline. Drill Down – When uncertain, call the foundation. A late grant is a dead grant.
Sometimes the population is stated and at other times it is implied by the grants that are actually given out. It’s important to be sure that you serve a population of people, wildlife, plants etc. that are within the fields of interest of the grant maker. Who’s Getting the $ - Often Foundations seek to remedy an issue within a certain community or that afflicts a certain population. Drill Down – Review the Foundation website and examine records of grants given in previous years. A grant maker that gives funding for medical research may only fund cancer research and not diabetes research.
If you don’t have a CPA on the Board it’s time to recruit one. Fiscal Auditing – This is an increasingly common requirement for funding. No matter what size non-profit you are, raise enough money to conduct an annual audit and then implement the results and recommendations to stay fiscally accountable. Drill Down – When was your organization’s last audit? Do you have an CPA on your Board?
Volunteers are not usually considered staff although I’ve answered questions about the numbers of volunteers for certain grant applications. Sometimes a corporate grant maker will want to know if some of their employees are volunteers at your organization so think about going to the big corporations in your area to recruit. This can help you to leverage their time into a corporate donation as well. Staffing Requirements - Some Foundations limit grants to organizations with a certain level of staffing so read their guidelines to see if there is such a requirement and whether you meet it. Drill Down – I sound like a broken record but read the guidelines carefully and don’t fudge on the truth, your organization either meets the staffing requirements, or not.
I don’t think that foundations refuse to fund non-profits that get United Way money because there is some prejudice against United Way, I think it is more a matter that they already give to United Way and therefore it may be seen as a duplication of effort.
It is amazing to me that even Board members of non-profits may not be aware of the type of non-profit they are serving. I’ve been asked to write grants for organizations that swore up and down they were a 501(c)(3) and when I got their IRS Certification letter from them for a grant I was preparing, it turned out they were actually a 501(c)(4)!!! That made them ineligible for the grant I was preparing to write.
Communication of results is critical, marketing is critical, evaluation of results and reporting the data out is critical. If nobody knows what you’re doing then how can they possibly get behind your effort? It takes concentrated work and effort to get the word out and into the right ears and hearts in order to promote your cause and get the mony to accomplish your mission.
You may already be tired of us talking about accountability but this is the name of the game in getting grants and in fund raising in general. You must evaluate results and report the information to your stakeholders. Information is the key to generating support, commitments, and loyalty to the good work you’re doing.
Research helps you avoid wasting a lot of time developing applications that have no or very little chance of being funded in the first place. It also helps the Foundations because you’ll limit the number of grants they get that make them go “huh? Why would they send me a save the whales in Alaska application when our web site clearly says that we only give money to save wild Shetland ponies in Ireland?” Good research saves everyone time.
Review each grant for A) amount, B) type of organization, C) location of grantees, D) length of commitment Try to locate grantees that are similar in mission, size, location Assess the range of grants given for that year and the frequency of grants given in the amount that you want to make a request for. Drill Down – You may want to visit the web site of grantees to see if what they actually do matches your assumptions based on the 990.
Thanks for attending this webinar produced for you by Creative Resources + Research.
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