Written by Judy Keel, MBA
What makes a grant attractive to a Foundation, and why does a Foundation fund one proposal over another? Having worked for the largest healthcare foundation in San Diego for 8 years, I can provide some insight. As a funder, people seem to be intimidated by you. Foundations seem to have a reputation that communicates power and authority. Funders are just like the rest of us; they put on their pants one leg at a time. Grant writers need to think of funders as our partner in accomplishing our mission. They want the same things that we, as service providers, want.
Proposals don’t get funded for three main reasons:
Mis-alignment between project and funder interests & priorities.
Make sure you read the guidelines for what a funder WILL and WILL NOT fund. Foundations award grants to organizations that will help the foundation reach its long-term goals. Make sure that you are applying to an appropriate funder for your project or program.
Flawed program design.
Put simply, you haven’t thought out your program and don’t have measurable outcomes. A good proposal needs to focus on not only WHAT you will do but also HOW it will impact your intended beneficiaries. How will the funder know if your project will be successful if you don’t have outcomes to measure? Along with that, you need to make sure your goals are realistic and that you can accomplish them given the amount of funding you are requesting, the amount of time you have available, the stage of program development, and your organization’s experience and expertise.
Poor presentation.
Your proposal focuses on your own needs instead of showing how your project meets the funder’s interests and helps the funder fulfill its mission. Poor presentation also means no spelling errors, any grammar or punctuation problems, good sentence structure, deviating from the required format, etc. You can have a great idea, but if you don’t present it correctly, you don’t have a chance of getting funded. Writing skills do come into play here. And this goes without saying, that you need to follow the application guidelines, including their format, headings, requested attachments, etc.
What makes a proposal successful?
- Know your funding source; what they fund; their application guidelines; submit all of the requested information under the appropriate headings; meet the application deadline on or before. Don’t over submit; stick to page limitations.
- Be thorough, but concise. You should assume that the program officer and other proposal reviewers have no prior knowledge of your agency, your target population, your program, your methodology, your budget, etc. Along with that, don’t use jargon, acronyms, or burdensome language that you don’t define anywhere. Don’t assume that your organization’s work is known.
- Again, build your proposal narrative around the funder’s stated purposes, interests, priorities, and review criteria. Show how your project idea will help the funder advance its own mission. Your challenge is to describe your project in terms that will benefit them. There are many ways to represent the same idea. It is important to tailor the description of your idea to the interest of the funder.
- Build your organization’s credibility, citing your experience and prior work on the topic or with previous partners and past successes relevant to the proposed project.
- A budget is a good test of how well you understand your proposal. Bad budgets are often hastily added on at the end of the process. A good budget reflects good planning. A budget is a window into how a project will be implemented and managed. Budgets should also include any in-kind and matching revenue, if appropriate.
Even if you don’t get funded it is still important to thank the funder for their time and interest in your organization. Send a handwritten thank you. Call the program officer and get their feedback on why you didn’t get funded. Find out how close you came to being funded; seek their suggestions on ways to improve your project design and proposal. Ask if they have other ideas or suggestions for other funding agencies that might be interested. Continue to cultivate a relationship with the foundation. Put them on your mailing list to receive your newsletter, annual report, etc. Invite them to events. And of course, don’t give up! Rejection is a part of the grants development process. No agency is ever going to get all of its grant requests funded, so know that it is okay when you aren’t funded. That doesn’t mean that the foundation will never fund you; just that the timing isn’t right. So, continue to cultivate that relationship and keep asking! Learn from your experience. Refine your idea and polish your proposal. The contacts that you make may prove invaluable, even if it may not seem like it now.
As a grant writer, your aim should be to build a network of foundation and corporate funders, many of which give small gifts on a fairly steady basis and a few of which give large, periodic grants.
Judy Keel, MBA, has worked in the non-profit world for almost 20 years. As a Program Officer and then the Associate Director of the largest healthcare foundation in San Diego, she granted about $4 million a year to non-profit community-based organizations that provided healthcare services to medically indigent and underserved populations. In 1999, she opened Keel Consulting Services, specializing in grant research and grant writing for non-profit organizations. She has worked with over 40 clients and has received over $775,000 in grants since 2001. She can be reached at 608-497-0027 or jakeel@charter.net
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