The bad news about grant proposal writing is that grantmakers will never fund what you want them to. They only fund what they want to fund.
They fund projects that further their mission.
They fund initiatives that meet their priorities.
They don’t award grants because they have money to give away. They award grants because they have goals to attain.
Which means the biggest mistake you can make as a nonprofit organization seeking a grant is asking grantmakers to fund something they will never fund. Doing so wastes a tremendous amount of your time and little of theirs because your proposal will land in the shredder without delay.
Here are a few of the reasons that grantmakers have given for why a grant proposal failed to meet their criteria:
- “The organization does not meet our priorities.” Avoid this one by researching what the grantmaker’s priorities are.
- “The organization is not located in our geographic area of funding.” This rejection is easy to avoid. Read the guidelines before applying.
- “The proposed budget is not within our funding range.” Avoid this rejection by examining the size of grants that the grantmaker has awarded to similar organizations.
The majority of sources for grants (governments, foundations, corporations and individuals) know who they will give money to and who they won’t, and they’ve done you a favour by putting their bias in writing. A little homework (or a lot) will tell you:
- who can apply for funds
- how to apply
- how the money must be spent
- how the grantmaker will evaluate your proposal
Remember, just because a funder has money to give away in grants doesn’t mean your project or organization will get any. Your project, however innovative or necessary, will not receive a penny of funding from a funder whose interests and goals do not match yours.
Alan Sharpe, copywriter, author and workshop leader, is president of Raiser Sharpe, the direct mail fundraising agency that helps nonprofit organizations worldwide to raise funds and build relationships. Sign up for his free weekly newsletter: Raiser Sharpe Focus, at www.RaiserSharpe.com.
