Understanding donor objectives

Followers of this blog know that I am all about matching the most closely aligned mission objectives when researching possible grant or donor profiles.

How can you do that if the grantor or donor profiles aren't specific?

Anyone who has ever used resources such as the Foundation Center database is familiar with the categories or fields of interest filters. Youth, education, human services etc. are a good place to start. but they are overly broad.

To drill down to specifics, try these things:

·         Go to the grantor's website, and look beyond the obvious.  Who are they supporting, and just as important, who is supporting them? Research those people or entities too.

·         Don't overlook the obvious. Check out their grant application requirements and note the exclusions.

·         Do a general search for mentions of the prospect on the 'net.

·         Research the board members. Their particular interests and passions may drive the grantor agency's policies.

·         The same holds true for the grantor's largest partners or donors.

·         When possible, connect with them before you ask for money. Go to an event they sponsor, or attend functions where board members are likely to be present and listen to them speak about their interests.

·         If you get the chance for one-on-one contact, even just a brief introduction, be prepared.  Perfect your 30-second elevator speech and have business cards available.

Yes, all of this is time-consuming. In fact, grantor research is the single most often-requested service I offer.

Still, why would you spend two hours each writing ten grant proposals that have no chance of being funded, when the same time could be spent on one or two qualified prospects that you may have an 80% or greater chance of landing?

Work smarter, not harder!

How do funders pick award winners?

Successful grant proposals illustrate these key points.

·         Your proposal delivers an important idea relative to the grantor's mission by addressing a significant issue.

·         You show that you understand the grantors mission by providing an innovative approach to that issue.

·         You set reasonable objectives and present a detailed plan, including a budget, to achieve them.

·         You can provide proof to the funder that you are capable of success.

·         You can explain how the project will advance the funder’s mission.

·         You can show that the project is sustainable beyond any support the grantor may provide.

·         You don't apply if you aren't qualified.

Grantors receive from dozens to hundreds or even thousands of proposals when they announce an open application period.

You have to stand out. One of the best ways to do that is to provide documentation of your success in addressing the issues even if it is through a pilot program or another type of program that is still mission-centric.

Sometimes that simply means presenting your program differently.

Homework is the most important part of any grant proposal. You already know about you and your needs. Your assignment is to find out what the funder needs or wants.

Get to know everything you can about the funder. Who have they funded in the past? What type of programs do they fund? Who is on the board? Do they fund the same organizations every year? Is there an opening to present a new twist that those other grantees haven't explored? Don't be afraid to look at those other grant winners and discover their strengths and weaknesses.

 For instance one nonprofit that worked to provide transitional safe housing for domestic violence victims presented their program as "Safer homes mean better educations" and landed a $25,000 grant from a grantor that normally supports early childhood education.

The trend toward online applications that began a few years ago is not your friend. Learn to condense your narratives and program outlines because you may not have several pages to elaborate on your planning and goals.

The last bullet point above is important. Don't apply if you can't qualify. Aside from making you look incompetent, you might very well leave such a bad impression that you hit the funder's blacklist (and yes, virtually every funder has one).

It is rare for a smaller nonprofit to have dozens of potential funder matches. If you can align with a handful each year, you are doing far better than average.

Grantors don't typically fund organizations that have few or no other resources, which is why they almost never fund start-up organizations. New programs are often okay, new organizations, not so much. Grantors are looking for impact potential, and it's hard to have impact if you can't pay the light bill.

On the other hand, if you have managed to grow your organization using financial resources from avenues other than grants, that's a definite plus.

That said, if you have a truly outstanding angle and an ironclad plan of action that offers a new twist on an old problem it might not hurt to try.

Consider these tips and you are likely to connect on more proposals.

Next week – Collaborate and conquer. 

Are you over-connected and under-noticed?

There comes a point in every business where you simply hit a development wall. Nonprofits are no different.

In many ways, the internet connectivity we all prize (or maybe despise!) contributes to that sudden stop.

The internet of today is a cacophony of digitized noise. Try following a few Twitter feeds and see how much real thought goes into them and measure how much value you are getting from them.

   

In the rush to have the most likes, followers, retweets or comments it's easy to lose sight of the real purpose of all those connections.

In a business sense, connections are supposed to be about interactive communications that provide value for both sides.

Take a look at your own favorite sites. What keeps you clicking on them?

Is it just to kill time?  To keep score to see how many of your own comments are being commented on?  To have some sort of social life?  Because everyone else is doing it?

If your connectivity isn't producing value, why are you still doing it?

Case in point. I recently reconnected with a person I had known fairly well at one time; not a BFF exactly but we had a pretty close acquaintanceship until she moved away. This was a while ago…before Twitter even existed.

I ran into her at the grocery store, and while we were trying to do the whole catching up thing, she never took her eyes completely off her phone. Twitter was scrolling the whole time. At one point she did mention she was looking for work, but when I asked for particulars, she was busy re-tweeting something and didn't answer.

It didn't take very long for me to see that our face-to-face meeting was only occupying about 10% of her attention, and I did the "well, it was nice to see you…call me sometime" thing.

That's sort of what happens when you focus on just one outreach strategy. You get so busy trying to build a broad audience, you forget that you need to develop real focused relationships.

For instance, let's say one of your grantor targets or a major donor prospect doesn't accept LOI's and you have no contacts in common. Think about something you have or can create, like a white paper or case study that has value to them. Drop them an email and offer it to them, no strings attached.

 Your email might read like this:

I noticed that you are seeking information on X.  I (we) have a case study on X that may help you.  I (we) would be happy to forward it if you are interested."

All of a sudden you are connected. Will that always result in an invitation to apply for that $100K grant or a $1 million endowment? Maybe, maybe not. The purpose is to get on their radar, but by offering something of value, there is an upside for them to notice and contact you.

It gives you a chance to present your organization, prove that you have value to add to their mission, and gives you an excuse to connect again to get feedback on the offering.

This works. One nonprofit that tried this strategy received program funding for three years as a result of this kind of outreach.

     

If you don't have any material that you can offer, it could be time and money well spent to develop a case study, white paper, manual or other outreach material that goes beyond the typical brochure, tweet or Facebook posting.

If you or someone you know would like more information on implementing this strategy, give me a shout at rightwords@ida.net.

The creative side of grant writing

In business writing, there is a category that deals with sales copy. It used to be called copywriting, but the new terminology is "creative content".

To put it succinctly, the people that call themselves "creative content providers", including me, craft words  and sometimes images into what amounts to a sales pitch. They can be both long and short form, but they are all designed to do one thing, and that's to make you want to spend money on something. And let's face it, a grant proposal is asking someone to spend money on your mission. 

Most grant applications are heavy on facts and statistics by necessity, but there is one place where you can get creative, and that's in the statement of need. This is the one place where you can kind of let the creative juices flow.

 

That's not to say that you should make up stuff, or wax so poetic (or just plain sappy) that the reader feels like s/he is drowning in syrup. Creative writing doesn't work with every grantor, or for every program. Some foundations and programs are strictly "just the facts" oriented, and it's up to you (or your grant writer) to determine which approach works.

Still, you do need to create some sort of connection with the grantor.  Admittedly, that's harder than it used to be, given that many foundations are using space-limited online applications, but it isn't impossible.

Here's an example of two ways to pitch your "winter coats for kids" program to a grantor.

Example 1 

There are 6,000 children living below the poverty line in Anyplace County. Most of these children do not have a warm winter coat.  Our program provided 1500 winter coats to children last year, and we could add 1000 more with your support.

Example 2

Anna is seven, and she's waiting for the bus. The thermometer on the bank shows a temperature of 22 degrees and it's windy. Anna huddles behind the bus stop bench wearing just a thin sweater, because she doesn't have a coat to shield her from the cold. There are 6000 Anna's in Anyplace County living below the poverty line.  Any money her family gets goes for food and rent.  Our "buy excess inventory " program provided 1500 coats for some of these children last year, and we can add another 1000 to that number with your help.

Of course you will have to go on and explain the program more fully, provide a budget for it, submit financial statements and all of the other business-type things that grantors need to see, but Example 2 will very likely entice someone to read through your proposal, while example 1 might just get tossed to the side.

By the way…Example 2 netted $10,000 from the grantor, and Anna got her coat.