Grants that are meant to produce tangible outcomes

Those who follow me, both here and on my other blog know that I am a supporter of a diversified educational strategy.  STEM is great, but someone has to build and run the machinery and use the stuff engineers dream up!

It won't do a lot of good to get more manufacturing and assembly jobs back into this country if  we don't have anyone trained to do them. Not to mention the fact that working with your hands as well as your brain is good for the economy, good for your personal financial situation, and may give workers a reason to pursue other education to progress up the career ladder.

Today's manufacturing jobs are not those of the mid-20th century, and often blend in well with more formal STEM educational goals.

Personally, I find that payng for a kid to go to college to "find themselves and their life work" is both fiscally and socially irresponsible, particularly given the dismal report of the emotional readiness of students to enter college.

If I had my way, every person would have to work for two years before they even considered college.

That's just me, but hey...I'm entitled to my opinion too.

To that end, I highlight grant opportunities that fall into that arena, and here is one that fits. To give credit where is is due, this came to my attention through Grant Gopher, and the lead paragraph reads like this:

"Nuts, Bolts & Thingamajigs awards grants annually to trade schools and community or technical colleges capable of hosting a summer camp program for girls and/or boys ages 12-16. Summer camps have been a successful way of introducing middle- and high-school students to the fascinating, high-tech career choices available to them in today's automated manufacturing industry."

The website is http://www.nutsandboltsfoundation.org.  It doesn't offer tons of money, but it could be a good fit for their target partner demographic. The closing date is November 15, 2015. You can visit their grants page at: http://www.nutsandboltsfoundation.org/camps/grants/

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!

Five tips to increase your grant funding success

There are a number of things that determine whether your mission will be adequately funded.  Here are five things you can do today to bring in more dollars.

1. Match your organization to the right grantor prospect.

All grantors have a specific mission focus.  For instance, while the grantor may generally support programs for low-income women, they may actually only support a single facet of that group.  There's no use in applying for funds for heating cost support if the grantor is only funding breast pumps to allow working mothers to stay in the job market. Read all of the information you can find on the organization and decide if it is a good fit for your nonprofit.

2.  Refine your focus to emphasize grantor/grantee alignment.

 

Don't rely on a one-size-fits-all application.  If you have a general emphasis on a specific client profile, emphasize the portions that have direct alignment to the prospective grantor.  Each grantor and their mission focus is different and should be developed as such.

3.  Match your grant development costs to the potential award.

If the grantor specifically states that their maximum grant is $1,000, and it's going to cost $500 for your staff or your contracted grant professional to produce the grant application and administer the funds, that might not be cost effective. All grants have non-reimbursable costs, and you want to get the most return for your investment of time and/or money.

4.  Be sure you meet the minimum requirements to apply

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Most grants stipulate that you must be a 501(c)(3) to apply, and may include time in business, minimum existing revenue amounts, ability to show matching fund potential, formal organization and program budgets, audited financial statements or other qualifiers as well. If you can't meet ALL of the requirements, your application is likely to be discarded without even being considered.

5.  Document your results to date before you apply

Grantors want to know that your program is effective and/or sustainable.  Even if you are currently seeking funding for a one-time event, such as the coming year's holiday turkey giveaway, show how you will reach the maximum number of intended recipients and why your program is using the funds to the best possible advantage (things like getting wholesale pricing for the birds, for example).  Long-term existing programs need to show that they have made a lasting positive impact and have a good chance of continuing to do so.

None of these things will guarantee an award, but doing them well will greatly improve your success rate. 

Grantmaker Research

Sometimes I get lists from clients that were obviously compiled from some website like the Foundation Center. Not too long ago I actually got a list printed directly from that website of over 100 "youth-oriented" foundations from a prospective client.

  

I have a subscription to that resource and several more just like it.  If grantor research was that easy, no one would need professional funding consultants and/or grant writers. The reality is, that list is simply a baby step in finding prospective funding.

There are many steps that go into approaching and qualifying a viable funding partner. Does the grantmaker ever support NPOs in your geographical area? What do they mean when they say they make grants nationally?  What makes them choose one nonprofit over another? Does their controlling philosophy match yours? Are you looking for a one-shot funding source, or is a continuing relationship important? What other nonprofit or ideological themes do their individual board members support away from that particular foundation?

There are dozens of things that can influence acceptance of a grant application. Not too long ago, I researched a large family foundation in the eastern U.S. for an Idaho client. I felt that the client's program might fit in with the foundation's underlying interests, but according to their public face, it looked like a stretch.

I literally built a profile for the board members and the history of their involvement in Idaho.  And I mean every consequential board member, all 22 of them. In the end, I was able to help the client craft a customized proposal that stayed true to the client's mission, but still appealed personally to the foundation's board members. This is the first three sentences of the acceptance letter from that foundation:

"Thank you for making our board aware of your program. We have been interested in this type of highly targeted program for many years. Normally, the program would not fit our giving parameters, but we are making an exception due to our personal interest in (the program). We are pleased to inform you that we are funding (the specific area of the program) in the amount of $10,000 for each of the next three years."

This was a highly targeted, well documented and very personal appeal to the specific interests of three of the board members as evidenced by their personal participation in similar projects. I spent almost a month, off and on doing that.

Very large nonprofits may have the resources to do that type of in-depth relationship building, but often they rely on actual personal contacts.  They know the board members they are trying to court. They go to dinner with them, attend the same functions, and often the actual application is simply a formality.

If you don't rub elbows on a personal basis with your target funding source, consider hiring out the research, and acting on it with something more than stale boilerplate copy. It could be profitable.