Rants About Grants

Grantwriting Tips - You Never Call, You Never Write...

  

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Yikes!  I just noticed how long it's been since I posted to this blog - a cardinal sin of blogging.

In thinking about what has prevented me from blogging sufficiently in the last six weeks, I realized that many nonprofits face the same challenges communicating with funders, and wanted to propose a few tips to overcome those hurdles (and hopefully follow my own advice with this blog -- you can take me to task if I don't!).

Grant relationships (like blogging relationships) take care and feeding.  Not investing in the relationship can have negative long term impacts.  No nonprofit (or blogger) wants that.  For a relationship to work, there has to be good communication.  That doesn't mean that you should call your funder every day, but providing updates once a grant is awarded - and reaching out to a grantmaker you're trying to cultivate, even if you haven't received a grant - can be a good idea, even if the formal progress report isn't due for months.

So here are some excuses, and things to think about to overcome them:

• I'm too busy.  There's no doubt that composing an update to a funder (or making a phone call, depending on your funder's preferences) takes time.  But it doesn't have to take a lot of time.  An update doesn't need to be a novel -- a few sentences and key highlights can be enough.  Try setting aside time at the start of your day - or right before you take a lunch break.  You can probably find five or ten minutes to dedicate to your funder relationship;
• I don't have anything to say.  Ok, maybe you haven't eliminated hunger in your city yet, or reduced carbon emissions by 50%, but that doesn't mean you don't have anything to say.  The organization is still providing services, interacting with stakeholders, pursuing its mission.  Your funders want to know how things are going;
• It's not the most important thing on my plate at the moment.  Nonprofit staff generally have way too many things to do.  Delivering services or preparing a budget for your board may seem more pressing, and each new task on your plate may push communicating with grantmakers further to the edge.  When a grant proposal or report deadline is looming, it's much easier to prioritize grant-related activities.  But waiting for a report deadline is not the best time to share news with a funder (particularly if it's bad news), and waiting for a grant proposal to share good news risks getting the news lost in the shuffle.  Periodic updates, can help position those high-priority proposals and reports for greater success.

Your mileage may vary.  If you have a grantmaker that doesn't want to be contacted other than through submissions they request, then it's best to respect that.  But most grantmakers don't forget about their grantees in between deadlines -- and they'd like to hear brief updates from you.

What do you think?  How frequently do you communicate with your funders?  How do you overcome day-to-day hurdles to prioritize working on your relationship?

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/naufragio/541523566/