Winning the Grants You Apply For

Or, how to start a “beautiful friendship” with grant-makers

When you've created your short list of foundations that your research identified as good prospects, your next task isn't to submit applications. A little more background research and preparation can pay off — with a check made out to your organization.

1. Find out as much as you can about the grant-maker.

• Visit the website of your potential funder to obtain funding guidelines and the all-important deadlines. The ASPCA Grants section of this site is a good example of the kinds of information you'll be looking for. Many funders will post their recent grants to give you an idea of what excites their distribution committee and the size of grant that might be appropriate.
• Track down the foundation's IRS form 990, which is the federal tax return form for tax-exempt organizations. The 990 lists the grants the organization has given. This gives you a good idea about the size of the grants they currently give. The 990 also may include their grant procedures.

You can find 990s on the Foundation Center and Guidestar websites.

2. Establish a relationship.

The old adage “people give to people” applies to grant makers just as it does to other donors. Unless the foundation specifically requests that you do not call them, consider discussing your proposal with a program officer in person or on the phone before submitting. This can:

• give you valuable feedback before you apply, and
• give you the chance to make “a friend in court,” which can make all the difference when your proposal is evaluated.

3. Make a strong case.

Here’s where to apply all your research to show how well your proposed program fits with the grant-maker’s funding objectives. The fit may seem obvious to you, but don’t count on others making the connection immediately. You need to match specific aspects of your program with the specific criteria the grant-maker requires.

These resources will help your organization create winning proposals:

• Proposal-Writing Resources
  From the Foundation Center, courses and books on how to write a grant proposal.
• Proposal Writing Short Course
  This is a short on-line course in Grant writing from the Foundation Center.
• Grantwriting Tools for Non-profit Organizations
  Download samples of grant proposals, cover letters, budgets and other documents that may be required in a submission. This site also offers guidelines and tips for proposal writing.

4. Make it easy to say "Approved."

Grant makers must read and evaluate hundreds of proposals. Many of those will be worthy projects, but it’s likely that not all can be funded. Demonstrating your professionalism and respect for the people who will review your submission will help keep you in the running:

• Respect deadlines and other submission guidelines. If you don’t, you’re wasting your own time, because your submission will not be considered.
• State your case clearly and in as few words as possible. “When it doubt, take it out.”
• Grammar, spelling, and formatting do count. If this isn’t your strong suit, find someone to help you out. You don’t want your message to get lost in a faulty presentation.
• If you need to submit supporting materials, do so as soon as possible. Grant administrators don’t have time to follow up on missing pieces, and incomplete applications are just set aside.
• Do not send videos, fancy folders or other expensive looking attachments. Unless you know the funder will not mind, do not send any attachments the funder has not requested.

5. Learn how to submit online grant applications.

Many larger grant-makers, including the ASPCA, have adopted electronic submissions. The process can be a little frustrating at first, because you may have only limited opportunities to add supporting or explanatory information.

This makes those personal contacts even more valuable. Fortunately, since this approach is still relatively new, most foundations are more than willing to help you through your first attempt.