Grant Savvy’s Top 5 Tips for Winning Grants

I was invited to share a guest post with Digital Library Consulting about the "Top 5 Tips for Winning Grants." Compiling only 5 tips was a bit of a challenge because I easily could have created a list of 100+! At any rate, all of these tips are friendly reminders that I use every day when writing, coaching or engaging with nonprofits. Enjoy!

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Top 5 Tips for Winning Grants

Grant writing and proposal development can seem overwhelming. Some days, it is. However, when you take the time to educate yourself about the grant process, you’ll be one step ahead of your competition. Here are 5 tips for success:

1. Do your research. Make sure you have a fit with your potential funder.

Knowing whether or not your potential funding partner is interested in your project is important—very important. If you decide to approach a foundation that has a focus on animal habitats in Africa and you are a library looking for new books, you probably aren’t a good fit. Know what makes the funder tick. What is their mission? What are they interested in? You can access financial information, past giving history and guidelines through their website and online databases. If you submit something that isn’t a good fit, you are wasting everyone’s time.

2. Read the instructions. Read ALL of the instructions.

One of the most obvious and overlooked tips for success is to know what is expected of your application. Every funder has different guidelines, so know what they need from you and make sure you can provide it. A few quick tips for formatting:

• Complete the entire application and answer every question completely and to the best of your knowledge.
• Don’t give half-answers or false information.
• Follow word limits. They are not suggestions.
• Apply all required formatting (12 pt., Times New Roman, 1” margins, etc.) to the entire document.
• Use letterhead whenever possible.  

 

3. Begin with a relationship in mind.

Creating a relationship with a program officer before you submit a proposal is the ideal way to do things. It’s good to have someone to bounce ideas off of and who can be an internal advocate for you. Sometimes that isn’t possible, but reaching out in any way is a good idea. If the foundation accepts phone calls, pick up the phone and introduce yourself. Ask questions about what the funder’s goals are for this year. Clarify any technical questions that you may have about the submission process. If you can’t make a phone call, see if you can reach out via email. You want your funder to be a partner for more than one year and they want to be more than just your bank account.

 

4. Don’t rush the process.

Give yourself time to prepare your proposals. On average, a proposal will take 4-8 weeks to develop. Know exactly what you are asking for and know how you want to describe your work. Give all of your team members enough time to gather information, share their feedback and add to the process. You will also need time to secure signatures from leadership, define budgets, create letters of support and finally, package all of the materials accordingly. 

 

5. Measure your success.

Any investor or funder wants to see that you will be successful with their money. Wouldn’t you? Be thoughtful about your evaluation plan. Funders will usually have a question related to evaluating success and measuring your results. Think it through and stick to your response. Are you increasingly literacy rates? Decreasing school dropout rates? By how much? Why does this matter? How many people are you serving now? How many will you serve in 12 months? Usually 12 months after you receive funding, you will be required to report back on the progress of your program.

 

6. Bonus Tip: Ask for help.

It’s okay. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Seek out resources in your local community such as the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and Grant Professionals Association (GPA). Find free classes, tutorials and workshops that can help you improve your grant writing. There are also a host of reputable resources online including The Foundation Center’s GrantSpace. Never stop learning!

One of the great myths of grant writing is that there are only a handful of large, national or international funding opportunities. The truth is that there are many small, locally-focused grants that are available to nonprofits and community organizations. The more you develop a process to create a winning grant proposal, the more proposals you can submit and the better your chances will be that you see the funding in the bank!

~Cheers!

*In respect to full-disclosure, I was not paid to write this post for DL Consulting, I was not paid to endorse them and did not receive any form of compensation for my mention of their site. Thank you.*