The Top Five Grant Writing Techniques of Successful Fundraisers
If you are growing a grants program, it can be tempting to just submit as many grant proposals as possible. But, when it comes to winning grant funding the most important thing isn’t how much you write. Instead, it’s finding grants that really align with your work.
The reality is that most first-time grant proposals are not funded. In fact, first-time applicants can expect about 20% of their proposals will be funded. This is often because:
They don't have enough funds to accept every request.
The request falls outside of the funder's giving interests.
The applicant didn't follow the application guidelines.
The application is missing key information or required attachments.
Building a successful grants program does take time. But it’s not an insurmountable task, and there’s no secret that you need to know. The key is to make sure that you know how to find the right grant opportunities for your work! So, how do we find the right grants?
One: Know Where to Look for Funding
One of the most common questions I see is “where can I look for grant opportunities?” While a quick Google search will yield dozens—if not hundreds —of opportunities that might at first seem aligned, you may want to get more savvy with your research.
Foundation Directory Online (FDO) is a powerful tool and can help you quickly find and vet grants. But it’s expensive. Before you jump into paying the $200/month subscription fee, check with your local library or university and see if they have access to a subscription. I’ve spent my fair share of afternoons camped at the Austin Public Library drinking coffee and searching for grants!
GrantStation is another (less expensive) subscription, with the perk that TechSoup often runs specials on the software.
Look for newsletters that publish both national RFPs and local opportunities. Philanthropy News Digest is a great national resource that sends frequent emails with grant opportunities!
Check with your state and city government! There are often targeted RFPs available that might be a good fit. Here’s an example of how Washington, D.C. shares their open RFP’s.
Put on your Sherlock Holmes hat, and see who is funding similar organizations. Pull their Annual Reports and/or 990’s to make a list of institutional funders, then qualify each funder to see if they are a fit for your work.
Read More: How to Write a Grant Proposal Need Statement That Gets Funded
Two: Know How to Determine Which Grants are Good Fit
Your grants calendar is meaningless —and I really do mean meaningless —until you determine which grants are really a good fit, or qualify them as prospects. Look at each grant opportunity and assess:
What is the grantor’s funding focus, and does it align with your work?
Where do they fund? Are there geographic limitations?
Do they accept unsolicited proposals or do you need to be invited to apply?
Do they fund similar work to yours?
As you are assessing each opportunity keep in mind what you do:
Where are you located? Be specific! Many grantors may invest in specific states, cities, or even neighborhoods.
What do you do, specifically? Broad terms like “education” or “youth empowerment” may start your search, but you’ll find there’s a big difference between a nonprofit that works with Kindergartners versus one that offers after-school programs for high schoolers. Animal welfare can mean anything from dog rescue to saving the whales. Health can range from mental health services to mobile dentists. Get specific!
Who do you serve? Again, get specific! “Youth” is not descriptive enough in making sure you align with a funder’s focus areas, nor focused enough to show them why your work matters. If you work with children, what ages are they? What challenges do they face? What support do they need? Similarly, if you are an animal welfare organization, do you work with dogs? What kind of dogs, and why?
Read More: Show Grantmakers Why Your Work is Worth Funding
Three: Dig Deep for Relevant Information
We like to tackle prospect research in four steps:
Search for grant opportunities like we discussed above. When you find a grantor that you think might be a good fit.
Review the funder’s website for all available information. Sometimes there may be information that isn’t readily apparent, such as new funding priorities, processes, or even tips on how to be successful when you apply!
Search for the funder’s 990 form (Guidestar often has them available). You’ll be able to see what organizations and projects were funded, how much each grant was, and we're the grants were disbursed.
Check the application itself to make sure that you can submit all the information and required attachments.
At any point in this process, you may realize that the grant isn’t a good fit, or that now isn’t the right time to apply. Whether the funder’s focus areas don’t really align with your work, they only accept proposals by invitation, or you’re not ready to get them all the information they need, it’s much better to know that before you put time and energy into writing a proposal that won’t get funded.
Read More: The Secret to Writing Goals and Objectives that Captivate Donors and Win Grants
Four: Review All The Grant Requirements Before You Start Writing
A funder’s website—and even their 990 form—can only tell you so much. It’s not uncommon for the actual grant application to be full of surprising data requirements and requested information that can be time-consuming to gather, and that you might not even have!
Before you put a grant opportunity on your grants calendar, pull a worksheet of all the questions and required attachments. Do this by actually creating a log-in with that funder, copy and pasting all the narrative questions into a Word document, and creating a list of all attachments they request. You may find that you need letters of support, specific program budgets, workplans or logic models, and other sneaky requirements that can derail you at the last question.
One last tip: click all the boxes in the online application. Sometimes a “yes” or “no” checkbox can yield another question! Sneaky, I know...
Five: Pick Up the Phone
Lastly—and this is the closest I have to a secret weapon — reach out to the foundation before you start writing, particularly if you have questions about if you are a good fit or how you should shape your application.
Grant officers are there to help you. Their job is to make sure that a foundation can invest its resources wisely, so they want to find nonprofit partners that align with their goals. Often, grant officers can help you determine if you’re a good fit, notify you if there are shifts in their giving priorities, and help you answer any questions you have about the application process.
That’s not to say that all grant officers will spend time with you. It’s not uncommon to get a canned email back saying to check their website, but more often than not that outreach can yield clarifying information that will help you write a kick-ass proposal.