Winning Grants in six steps
You know your cause matters, but you also know that funders don’t just materialize out of thin air with cash in hand. Funders want to give, but with finite resources and a plethora of worthy causes, decisions are not easy. Grant writing is the vehicle between your nonprofit and the revenue you need to achieve your mission.
At Nonprofit Navigators we want to share with you a central concept to remember: grant writing is about more than just writing. To illustrate, below we will take you through the seven key phases of the grant writing process—and how we can help.
Phase 1: Determining Fundability
Do you know who you are?
Fundability is a simple concept, with a complicated reality: Are you able to get funding? Unfortunately, passion alone does not ensure every start-up nonprofit should be supported. Just as longstanding institutions in poor financial health will not necessarily be trusted with more resources. Here is a brief checklist to help you kick off this initial step:
☐ Do you have a 501(c)3 letter?
☐ Is your mission focused and achievable?
☐ Do you have a clear sense of your funding needs?
☐ Are your programs producing measurable results?
☐ Does your organization have healthy business practices?
Phase 2: Foundation Research
Getting you ‘in the room’ with the right people.
Foundation research is all about making sure your work is placed in front of the right kind of funders. Maybe you are a faith-based organization unsure of how your mission might be received by some secular foundations and whether you can successfully compete for government grants. Perhaps you feel that despite your impressive datasets, your niche cause is struggling to find aligned donors.
Nonprofits must ask the right kind of questions: Does this funder share in my cause? Do they donate to organizations in my area? Are they exclusionary of general operating requests or capital campaigns?
Phase 3: Managing Opportunities
Planning, planning, planning (and more planning)
Managing opportunities is more than just putting deadlines on a calendar. Maybe you have applied for grants before and can’t help but notice that every due date seems to be tomorrow? Someone must schedule and track each of the deadlines throughout the process and communicate with the funders when necessary.
Phase 4: Drafting & Revision
Now, for the writing…
Drafting and revision is where you finally get to tell your story! Whether a daunting 50-page government application or a two-page letter of interest, you want every word to count. Winning proposals should describe your organization in clear terms, be supported by evidence-based research, and woven with the rich stories of the people you help. Your final proposal should communicate with integrity the work you do in the best possible light for funders to see why they should partner with your nonprofit.
While there are common threads in almost all grants—contact information, organizational history, program descriptions, budget narratives—there are also nuances that make a difference.
Phase 5: Attachments
Time to prove yourself
Attachments are simple for some, but for others… budgets and tax forms are not what you signed up for. Have you ever sent an email and attached the wrong file—or maybe not even attached it at all? Oops, that was a little embarrassing. But, when applying for grants, a missed attachment can mean lost points in the review process or even disqualification. Funders want to be able to trust that an organization is who they say they are, and that you know how to communicate with them efficiently.
Phase 6: Submission
Almost there!
Submission is a click of the button, sometimes… Submitting on time and in the right way is make or break for your proposal. It may require a simple email to the potential funder or a complicated portal login.
Nonprofit Navigators can help you through every step! In the past five years alone, Nonprofit Navigators is proud to have mobilized over $17 million in funding at a 621% return rate for our clients. We did this through successful grantsmanship that generates a landscape of abundance and helps your organization become poised for opportunity. We have a detailed and proven process that guarantees details and deadlines aren’t missed and takes that worry off your plate. We ensure your nonprofit thrives with less stress and more success!