Grant Proposal Rejection Letter: Take the Sting Out of Denial

"A rejection is nothing more than a necessary step in the pursuit of success."

Bo Bennett 

If I were going to write a proposal rejection letter, I'd want it to say more than "Thanks for your application. Better luck next time". This is not helpful feedback or ideal communication between a funder and a potential grantee. These unhelpful letters exist and give me a bad feeling about the the foundation and their practices. If funders want quality grantees and applications, then I believe they should provide quality feedback. Right? A solid, thoughtful and personal denial letter can take the sting out of the rejection and improve the quality of future applications.

Sometimes you have the opportunity to followup with a funder after rejection and ask deeper questions. Sometimes, you don't.You always get a letter and in that case, what I want to know from a funder is:

1. Did you take the time to review my proposal and all 5 pages, plus attachments, that I wrote to answer each and every one of your criteria?

2. How did you determine that our proposal was not a good fit for your foundation?

3. Can we apply for future funding in the future? Should we stay in contact with you?

4. How can we demonstrate that our project is is a good fit?

I crafted a short, but sweet version of my own rejection letter. What would you want the funder to tell you?

Dear ABC Executive Director,

The XYZ Foundation reviewed your request for the Arts Access Program at our March 2011 meeting. It was met with great interest and we thoroughly discussed the merits of this project as it aligns with the goals of our Community Development Initiative.

While we deeply value the amount of time, thought and resources spent in preparing your proposal, we must respectfully decline the opportunity to partner with your organization at this time. We do not feel like this project is a successful match for our criteria and does not meet our requirements for grantees.

Our trustees used specific criteria to guide their decision making and while you have strong potential, we felt that there were other organizations more worthy of funding. It is our goal to serve as many low-income families as possible in the coming year. As such, we would hope to learn more about the impact that your project will have on all low-income families living in our community and not just at-risk youth served by your organization.

The trustees of XYZ Foundation would be happy to consider a proposal from you in the future and asked me to encourage you to consider applying again in the fall. You have our best wishes for success, and we trust that you will understand our decision to refrain from funding at this time.

If you would like to discuss the merits of your proposal or the possibility of applying again in the future, please contact me directly at 212-555-1234 or programofficer@xyzfoundation.org.

Sincerely,


Program Officer
Community Development Initiative

What do you say foundation officers? Can you take a few extra minutes and give us a little something to make sure we get you better proposals? We promise it will be worth it! Thanks!

~Cheers!