Fundraising Tip: Never Apply for a Grant Without Contacting the Foundation First

BDPA Education and Technology Foundation (BETF) spends a good deal of time writing grant proposals. Our success rate isn't very high. I think that the following fundraising tip may be helpful to us as we move forward in our grant-writing campaign.

Never Apply for a Grant Without Contacting the Foundation First:

---

As much as you might want to believe that grants are awarded simply due to the fit of the program and the excellence of the application, it simply isn't true. In fact in our experience, the odds of getting a grant that you send in without contacting the foundation are about 5 percent-10 percent. Just as in individual (and all!) fundraising, developing relationships is critical. There are people at these foundations, called program officers, who are directly responsible for deciding who gets money and who doesn't. They care deeply about the work they are funding, and consider it an advantage to be able to scope out potential grantees. In-person meetings with program officers are ideal, but even a short phone call with a grant manager or administrator can still yield the basic information you need as well as getting your name in the mind of someone at the foundation.

Sometimes these initial conversations can save you valuable time in applying for a grant program that was not a fit -- always do your homework on their funding goals ahead of time! But often, they are valuable knowledge-gathering sessions: use the call or meeting to identify the funder's key priorities and desired language, which many times cannot be found on the organization's Web site; figure out which of your programs or initiatives is the best fit;, and determine how much money you should request.

Finally, go out on a limb and ask if they would be willing to preview your LOI (Letter of Intent) or proposal before you submit it officially. This advance look will give them a sense of ownership over your request and provide you with valuable feedback. Start today by calling the offices of your top foundation prospects and seeing if you can get on a relevant program officer's schedule.

---

I must admit that the two largest grants that BETF received in the past year came after face-to-face meetings with the funding source.

This tip is inspired by Darian Heyman's new book, 'Nonprofit Management 101: A Complete and Practical Guide for Leaders and Professionals'.

Does this tip seem like one that you might use for your local chapter or nonprofit? If not, do you have a fundraising tip that you would like to share with us?

Fundraising Tip: 8 Steps to Writing a Good Grant Proposal

BDPA Foundation blog welcomes guest blogger Heather Johnson. She writes on the subject of California teaching certificates. We are pleased that she agreed to share information about grant-writing with us.

---

Writing a Good Grant Proposal

The art of securing funding does not come easy to everyone; it takes a lot of painstaking work and an eye for detail to be able to come up with a grant proposal that’s a winner in every way. While each funding source has its own set of standards and guidelines that their grant proposals must conform to, there are general rules and principles that apply to grants as a whole.

1. Take care to ensure that you understand the mission and objective of the funding agency, be it government or private. If your aims do not correspond with that of the agency, there’s no point in applying for a grant.
2. Your proposal must be the result of intense research and enormous effort rather than a half-hearted appeal put together in an hour or two. You must believe that your proposal is the only way you’re going to get the money you need, and that no external influences are going to help you in this issue.
3. Start preparing the proposal even before you identify a potential funding source. Rework the specifics to cater to a particular agency once you identify which sources you want to apply to.
4. Do not waste time preparing proposals for every agency that offers funding; make sure that your needs and the organization’s match and that you stand a decent chance of being considered seriously for the grant.
5. Even though a grant is a sum of money that need not be paid back, make sure you do your homework when mentioning the tentative budget for the project you want the grant to sponsor. Be specific about amounts and break down the budget into smaller and more specific expenses. Include an estimate of the overshoot you expect if the project will span a long period of time.
6. Your project proposal must include a short summary of the project, a brief introduction to your organization, its members, goals and achievements, the problem that will be tackled with the money you get, the objective of the project at hand, the methods you’re going to adopt in order to achieve those objectives, the time frame in which you hope to reach those goals, and the methods of feedback and evaluation you will adopt in order to ensure that your project is on track and on time.
7. Make sure that all the information you include is authentic and true to the best of your knowledge and supported by relevant documentation.
8. Include any other documents or forms that are necessary including your resume detailing your qualifications, achievements and accomplishments.

Money on the Table

If you’re not writing grant proposals for stimulus dollars, you’re leaving money on the table; it’s as simple as that.

Communities across the U.S. stand to lose significant money when it comes to building a broadband infrastructure. There is no national game plan, which means regions must craft their own – and the regions that strike first are likely to win.

Here’s what’s at stake: $7 billion in stimulus funding earmarked for broadband expansion.

And that is not counting other initiatives that could affect broadband projects. Business interests such as Intel, Google and Qwest are planning accordingly. Public interests should do no less.

Here is the rest of the article.