Grant Writing 101
- 2. Grants and Granters A grant is a financial award given by a foundation or other entity to a recipient to carry out a program or project to benefit greater good. Government Family/trusts Corporate Community
- 3. State of Foundations 93,000 foundations in the U.S. 59% are family-run and account for 7% of total foundation giving Giving was up 1.8% in 2011 - $41.67 billion 14% of all giving - Giving USA
- 4. Grant Pros Once a recipient, often a recipient again Once you have a system in place, can be adjusted for multiple grants One of the biggest sources of funding for nonprofits Great ROI in comparison to other fundraising strategies
- 5. Grant Cons Extremely competitive Lengthy period of time until rewarded Majority of granters want pilot programs Not enough money to go around
- 6. How to Find Foundations
- 7. Two Important Resources Local corporation and community websites Companies in your area of expertise
- 8. Grant Writing is Like Dating
- 9. Research Like You’re Prepping for a Date Former grantees Grant interests
- 10. Who Can Be Your Wingman? Corporate funders want some kind of employee connection Volunteer Board member Someone who has been helped
- 11. What Does the Granter Expect on the Date? Timelines Guidelines Application directions Additional information
- 12. How They Want to be Wooed
- 13. What If There’s Not a Perfect Match? Tailor your idea to an RFP carefully Ex. Show benefits from an educational standpoint as opposed to blindness prevention Don’t waste your time – or your granter’s time if no appropriate fit Restructuring your program to meet a funder’s needs can hurt in the long run
- 14. Your Proposal
- 15. The Pieces of Your Proposal Cover letter Summary/abstract Needs assessment Program/project description Budget Evaluation Sustainability Supporting materials
- 16. Summary/Abstract Elevator speech Main highlights of your program, the issue to be resolved, and your end goals Brief mention of funding request The woo-hoo factor
- 17. Needs Assessment Outlines the issue, why it exists and why it hasn’t been solved. Community analysis Target analysis Gaps in service Statistics Put a face to the program
- 18. Program/Project Description Outlines your plan of action to solve the problem Expected outcomes
- 19. Good/Bad Outcome Examples Bad: 1,000 youth between the ages of 12 & 16 will have participated in a 6-week education program on violence prevention (this is actually an output) Good: 1,000 youth between the ages of 12 & 16 will increase their knowledge by 40% in conflict resolution & anger management by June 30, 2012 - Fundamentals of Grant Writing, TICUA.org
- 20. Program/Project Description Cont. Goals – qualitative, abstract, long-term Are they SMART? Objectives – quantitative, measurable, specific, short-term Activities to put your plan into action
- 21. Evaluation How the results will be measured Evaluation methods
- 22. Sustainability How will the program continued beyond the funding period?
- 23. Supporting Materials Letters of support (if applicable) IRS letter 990’s Financial audits Board list
- 24. Why Grants Fail Not enough money to go around Program not right at this time Exaggerated results Complicated or jargon-filled application Lack of alignment with granter’s interests Guidelines not followed Unrealistic budget or cost greater than goal
- 26. Pull at the Heartstrings
- 27. Collaboration
- 28. Partnership Build relationship with granter Volunteer opportunities Keep them informed of developments Ask for feedback
- 29. Spread the Word Thank you letters Press releases Social media Announcements in marketing materials
- 30. Stay on Top of Grants Keep a calendar Running files of grants Supplement file Grant Friday
- 31. The Results 40% of grant writers have a 75% success rate 30% have a 51-75% success rate - Research Associates
- 32. Questions?