How to Get a Grant Award
Guidelines for Non-Profits Applying for Grants
Grants are an important source of funding for many non-profit organizations. Follow these guidelines to increase the chances that your grant proposal will get funded.
Estela Lopez has written and received dozens of grants, including a 4-year, $2.5 million award, so you can say she has experience with grant-writing. But she still learned some new ideas when she became a member of two Hartford-area foundations. Here she shares her wisdom.
Every good idea is not fundable
“You have to make sure your proposal addresses the grantors’ areas of interests,” recommends Lopez. “The project has to be written in terms of what the agency funds.” For instance, if a foundation’s stated funding areas include education and the arts, you are wasting your time and theirs asking them to sponsor a 5-K run for homeless pets, however worthy your grant proposals. In other words, don’t go for every pot of grant money available out there; instead, target your grant to a fund-giver whose mission matches yours.
Do one thing and do it well
“A successful project will piggy-back on the existing strengths of the organization,” says Lopez, “whereas carrying out 30 different activities does not necessarily make your organization better.” Think about ways your non-profit can build on programs – increasing your reach, providing additional training, collaborating with other community organizations – before starting on something new. Your track record will make your organization shine in your grant proposals.
Think about program sustainability
“Most grantors want to know they are making an impact for the long-term,” explains Lopez. “Think about what will happen to your project once the grant monies you are seeking go away in a year or two.” Some grant applications specifically request that you include your plans for sustaining the project, but even if they don’t, it’s a good idea to mention how your non-profit expects to carry the program on after the grant runs out (“membership dues are expected to cover 80% of operating costs in two years” or “the city has agreed to budget X amount yearly starting in 2008”).
Trumpet your successes
Modesty does not bring in money. Send out press releases about the grant awards you’ve received and activities you carry out; offer to talk about your project at a funder’s annual meeting; appear at local PTA, city council, or meetings of any other appropriate venue. Says Lopez, “Having your name out there makes it easier to attract future funding.”
Cultivate your funders
“From asking potential funders for advice regarding your proposal, to thanking them and giving them credit, to making sure you submit reports on time, to offering opportunities for your funders to do on-site visits,” Lopez suggests anything you do to create goodwill between your nonprofit and the funder will add to your reputation and make receiving grant support easier the next time around.
