Rants About Grants

2012 Grantseeking Resolutions

  

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2011 ended on an optimistic note for grantseekers.  Despite the fact that grantseeking activities didn’t result in increased numbers of awards for most nonprofits, according to the State of Grantseeking Fall 2011 Report, 81% of nonprofits felt optimistic that they would receive the same number or more grants in the first six months of 2012 as they had in the first six months of 2011.

To get you started on the right foot, here are four grantseeking resolutions for 2012:

• I will stay in touch with my funders.  Current funders can be an excellent source of ongoing support.  Building relationships with new funders takes time.  If you have existing relationships with institutional funders, they require care and feeding.  Take the time and invest the effort to maintain those relationships so that your current funders know what you’re up to, what successes you’re having, and where you might need some additional support.
• I will only apply for grants when my organization fits the funder’s stated criteria.  With increased competition for funding dollars and fewer resources available for grantseeking, it’s more important than ever for nonprofits to focus their efforts on pursuing the opportunities that are most likely to yield results.  If the funder doesn’t fund in your area (geographic area or issue area), consider it an extremely long shot and spend your resources elsewhere.
• I will create a grant strategy and use it to guide my decision making.  Picking up on the limited resources theme, it’s important to know what varieties of funders you should be pursuing, who is likely to fund your projects and organization, and how you are going to approach those funders.  The beginning of the year is the perfect time to take stock of what has worked for your organization in the past, where your best relationships are, what resources you have to pursue grant funding, and how you’re going to leverage those resources this year.  Setting out a plan can help prevent you from pursuing opportunities (with all of the time and energy that takes) that may not be the right fit for your organization.
• I will use professional resources for grantwriting.  One of the more interesting findings from the State of Grantseeking Fall 2011 report was that organizations that used professional grantwriters (either staff members or consultants) were more likely to be awarded grants.  57% of the organizations that used either board members or volunteers to write proposals received no grants at all in the first half of 2011.  You may not be able to afford a staff person, but explore consultants (and stay tuned for some PhilanTech developments on that front in coming months), connecting existing staff members with training opportunities, and try to build your organization’s grantwriting capacity.

What are your top grantseeking resolutions for 2012?

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