I had the fortune to hear a friend of mine, Betsy Baker, give a presentation on grantwriting recently.  She shared a lot of good information, and I wanted to pass on a few tips to you.

Did you know?  Over $38 billion dollars were given to nonprofit organizations from private foundations last year.  That’s a LOT of money!  And that’s just from private foundations.  It doesn’t count government money.

If you’re just getting started with grantwriting, start with a private foundation grant.  They’re easiest.  Don’t start with a government grant.

Be ready to prove that your programs are important to the community.  Your persuasive writing must demonstrate this fact to the grant reader.

When you apply to a potential funder, you are a possible investment for them.  So think about that as you’re putting your proposal together.  Would you fund you?

Talk about the benefits of your programs and projects, not the features.  Features are fact – benefits are emotion.  When you share the impact your nonprofit’s work has on the community, you’re sharing benefits. 

Find potential funders that are a good match for the program or project you are seeking funds for.  When you have a hand-in-glove fit, you’re much more likely to get funded.  So do your homework before you start to write anything.

Want more?  Check out Betsy’s website at www.yourgrantauthority.com and sign up for her newsletter.  She shares lots of good grantwriting tips!

I read this book last week called “How to Write Knockout Proposals” by Joseph Barbato.  It was a quick read and had lots of golden nuggets.  I thought I’d share a few with you along with my interpretation of them.

• One size does not fit all.  Don’t put together one proposal then send it to lots of different funders.  It’s lazy.  Spend the time reviewing the potential funder’s website or guidelines.  Make sure that your proposal is a good fit, then explain that fit in your proposal.
• Your proposal should be written in layman’s terms.  Don’t inundate your reader with technical terms, industry jargon, and acronyms.  Keep it simple.  Remember, you don’t want to give the proposal reviewer any reason to toss your proposal.
• Emphasize the benefits.  Be sure you explain clearly the impact your program or project will have.  And explain how it will benefit the people you serve.
• Every assertion in your proposal must be supported by facts. Don’t say you will do things that you can’t.  Don’t say you’ve done things you haven’t.  If you claim that your program is innovative, be prepared to explain how and share supporting data.

Barbato says “Your goal is to write a persuasive proposal that will get funded.”  I agree.  There’s a lot of money out there for you if you can learn to be a good grantwriter, and this book can help you do that.

Many nonprofit Fundraisers focus on writing grants to bring in dollars.  Unfortunately, the thought of creating a budget to go with the narrative or the application strikes fear in the hearts of the bravest Fundraisers.  Here are some ideas to help you overcome the fear and be on your way to creating a successful budget.

First, you must get your head in the game.  If you think “I’m not a numbers person” you must change that thought. When you think that and say it out loud, you are in essence letting yourself off the hook.  If you raise money for a nonprofit, I’m here to tell you that you must be a numbers person.   Once upon a time, I didn’t think of myself as a numbers person, but I soon realized if I was going to do a good job of raising money, there were some numbers I needed to get comfy with.

Now, let’s have a look at what a program budget for a grant really is.

A program/project budget is more than just a list of expenditures.  It’s a way of describing your program/project with numbers.

Incomplete budgets are a sign of sloppiness, so make sure to include all direct and indirect expenses.  Direct expenses are those expenses that directly relate to your program/project, like program/project supplies.  Any staff that are directly involved in a program or project need to have their time included on the budget.  In other words, be sure to include salary expenses in the budget as appropriate.  Indirect expenses are those are expenses that don’t directly relate to your program/project but are critical to your program/project, like utilities for your building where your program/project is housed.

If the funder has a specific budget form or format, use it.  Otherwise, you can use your own format. Be sure to include all line items requested by the funder. I’ve included my Budget Templates for you, both the simple version and the detailed version.

Include in-kind items like donated time (volunteers) and donated items.

Once you have all your budget numbers plugged into the form or format, manually calculate the numbers to make sure the totals are correct.  I’ve seen Excel do some weird things before that left grantseekers with mistakes on their budget sheets!

Don’t inflate your numbers to appear more impressive. Share the truth.  Actual numbers or estimates are much better.  It’s easier to believe that $1280 is a real budget number than $1,000. Overstated budgets are a sign of waste or ignorance about the program/project. So, it’s important to have an accurate, clear, well-planned program/project budget.

Lay your budget out so that it’s easy to read – use descriptive column headings and make sure your numbers are aligned.

You’ll find that the more practice you get in working with numbers and budgets, the more comfortable you’ll become and the easier it will be to put them together.

When it comes to grantwriting, it can be confusing to decide which kinds of grants to go after.  Here’s a quick-and-dirty explanation of private, corporate, and government grants.

Typically, I like to go after private foundation grant opportunities first.  They tend to be the easiest to apply for and the easiest to follow up on.  If I can find someone on my organization’s Board who knows someone on the foundation Board, it helps so much to make that connection.  I’ve had great success in building relationships with private foundations that lasted for years and resulted in thousands of dollars for my organizations.

Next I go after corporate foundations.  These tend to give money to organizations with missions that are aligned with their business purpose.  These can fluctuate with the economy, but are still a great source of funding.

Government grants tend to be much larger, but have more strings attached.  The applications are usually much more complicated and involve lots more work, but the payoff is really worth it.

Next week, I’ll be starting a 3-part webinar series called “Secrets to Winning Grants” where I’ll be going into a lot of detail about how to research grant opportunities and how to put a winning proposal together.  Get 3 one-hour webinars plus the workbook for $197.  Learn more or sign up at www.getfullyfunded.com/grantwriting-secrets.

Writing grants is one of the most popular fundraising techniques for nonprofit organizations. With hundreds of foundations out there offering millions of dollars to fund a variety of programs, it’s easy to understand why Fundraising staff and volunteers want to write proposals to seek funding.

Unfortunately, there are lots of ways to make mistakes and lessen your chances of receiving a grant.  Here are the top four mistakes commonly made by grant writers.

1. Not having a ‘hand-in-glove’ fit. Before you even begin to write, make sure your funding request will be a good fit for the foundation.  Each foundation has its own areas of interest, and you want to be sure that your proposal will be accepted.  Otherwise, it’s a waste of time. So take the time to thoroughly research a foundation before you submit a proposal.  Call and talk to the Administrator before you submit a proposal to find out if your project or program is a fit.  It will save you time and effort, and increase your overall success rate in securing grant funds.
2. Not following directions. Follow a foundation’s request submission instructions!  If the foundation requests that you submit your request in a particular format, then do it.  This is not the time to get creative.  Some foundations use this as a criteria to eliminate proposals and you don’t want to lose your chance at getting funded simply because you ignored their directions.
3. Not writing clearly. Compose your grant proposal carefully.  Be clear and concise – don’t ramble.  Don’t use jargon or words that grant reviewers won’t understand.  Spell out acronyms. Don’t be vague about the objectives of your program or project.  One good way to check your writing is to ask someone who is unfamiliar with your organization to review your proposal for you before you submit it.  They can usually give you some good feedback on how understandable your writing is.
4. Problems with budget numbers. Make sure the numbers in your budget make sense and that they are consistent with your narrative.  Double-check your math and be certain that the totals are accurate.

Want more help with your grantwriting?  Check out my “Secrets to Winning Grants” webinar series.  It’s actually part of my Fundraising Makeover program and starts next week.  Learn more or register at www.getfullyfunded.com/grantwriting-secrets.

Today’s blog post is provided by my dear friend and grant writer extraordinaire, Charlaine Hood.

The biggest tip about writing a grant is to get over your fear: of failure, of not getting it right, of not including enough…what ever your mind is telling you to hold you back from ever trying to write that B-I-G grant.   However, the focus of this article isn’t about fear holding you back.  It’s about what could possibly be created if you unlocked your potential in spite of the fear.

Sandy has said many times:  ‘Reach into your heart and unlock your passion around fundraising.’  This is great advice for writing grants.  Close your eyes, (Yes, right now.) and think about what it is that you LOVE about your organization.  What just grounds you down to your toes in the work you do each day?  Now hold that image, breathe it in, experience it and let your potential flow.

From here, what would you write?  How would you speak about your clients, staff, organization, national focus and mission?  From this space of OMG I LOVE WHAT WE DO, take a sheet of paper and write:

Funding my project is important because:

We will accomplish ___ with the funds so generously given.

_#_ lives will be changed in ______ ways.

Evidence to support this is ____ (any empirical + all the years of success from past projects as well as lessons learned).

KEEP THIS TEMPLATE! Revise it, reuse it, replace components as your organization grows.  Stay away from the ‘I don’t know how’ mentality and go for writing at least one grant in this manner.

The grant request usually makes this even easier by specifying either a page or ½ a page for just this content.  And if it doesn’t, always remember that there is a committee who will be reviewing the grant requests.  Be sharp, focused and direct in what you are requesting and what your organization will be giving for those funds.

Using just this method over the last few years, I have written and received over 1.3 million dollars in grants.  Let your love of your organization inform what you do.

Charlaine Hood, LMSW is the owner of Vibrantly Alive Consulting & Nonprofit Mentoring.  She works with small to medium sized nonprofits to create strategic solutions for nonprofit issues.  She gained practical experience the last four years as a management executive at a large, faith based nonprofit managing a multi-million dollar budget with diverse programs around the East Tennessee region.  Visit her website:  www.charlainehood.com for more information of what she has to offer your organization.

Today’s blog post comes from Stephen A. Price, a grant writing expert and co-owner of Educational Resource Consultants, central CA’s premiere grant writing firm.

Often, one of the most frustrating parts of applying for a grant is locating a grant suitable for your organization. It is common to hear that “There are grants about there waiting to be taken! Millions of unclaimed dollars go to waste every year!” If someone saying this to you gives off even a whiff of that used-car-salesman-tone, turn around and run. They are not helping you or your organization.

Successful grant writing depends on finding the right funding opportunity. You need to locate an agency interested in funding your project, but where do you start? There are probably a zillion places to search for information about grant funding opportunities and you could spend countless hours doing so. Let’s try to speed up your search.

A large percentage of grant opportunities in the United States are available to the public through one of two websites: grants.gov and foundationcenter.org. Grants.gov is a clearinghouse for information on grant opportunities for all grants offered by the United States government. Foundationcenter.org is a similar resource, but offers information about grants from private foundations, public foundations, and corporations throughout the United States.

Depending on your organization or project’s focus, one of these sites may be more suitable. Although there are many ways to search for funding sources, the Foundation Center and Grants.gov will give you access to a majority of the grant opportunities in the United States that could potentially fund your project.

But what good are resources without knowing how they work? To search for government grant opportunities, follow these 5 steps.

Step 1: Go to: http://www.grants.gov

This website contains free information about all grant opportunities put forth by United States government agencies.

Step 2: Click on “Find Grant Opportunities.” This will take you to a page where you may search for grant opportunities by keyword, category, or agency.

Step 3: If you are just learning to search for grant opportunities, I suggest that you click on “browse by category.” This is the option I like to use. It will take you to a page with a link for each type of grant the government awards.

Step 4: Click on the category of the grant opportunity you are searching for. This will take you to a page that lists all of the most recent grant opportunities in the order of the date they were announced.

Step 5: Click on the title of the specific grant opportunity you want more information about. You will be taken to a page where you may read a brief synopsis about the grant opportunity, download the full grant announcement, or download the actual grant application.

To search for foundation and private grant opportunities, follow these 3 steps.

Step 1: Go to: http://www.foundationcenter.org

This is the website of the Foundation Center, a nonprofit organization that has become the leading authority on organized philanthropy in the United States. It maintains the most comprehensive database on grant making foundations and corporations in the U.S. and the specific grant programs they offer.

Step 2: Under “Find Funders” click on “The Foundation Directory Online.” The Foundation Directory Online is a subscription database of over 98,000 U.S. foundations and corporate donors.

Step 3:  Click on “Subscribe Now” and complete the subscription process. You will be given the option to choose from five different plans, but I would recommend starting with the basic plan for $19.95 per month. For this price you will be able to search for grant opportunities by keyword from among the top 10,000 grant-making foundations in the U.S.

The Foundation Directory Online features a profile of each foundation that includes: its purpose or mission statement, program areas of interest, geographic focus, information to apply for a grant or submit a letter of inquiry, and descriptions of grants awarded by the foundation in the previous year.

Between these two sites, the time you spend searching for fitting grant opportunities should go down considerably.

Stephen A. Price is the lead consultant for Educational Resource Consultants (ERC).  He  discovered his talent in grant writing ten years ago, when he learned his father’s trade and Educational Resource Consultants was born. Over the past ten years, Stephen has written successfully funded grant proposals in a variety of areas including professional development, school improvement, service-learning, after school, mentoring, school technology, family literacy, youth fitness, violence prevention, and college access programs.  Visit Stephen at www.smartgrantwriting.com.

Today’s blog post comes from my friend Betsy Baker, a grant-writing consultant and teacher.

As a grant writing consultant for the past 8 years for a variety of nonprofit clients, I often run into the eager beaver convinced that I can find them the “magic” grant that will alleviate all their financial woes.  Do grant monies exist that will help support present and future activities of the organization?  Certainly.  Do organizations win such grants through magical powers?  Certainly not.  (Forgive me of my overuse of “magical.”  In planning a Disney trip for my 3 year old I keep hearing “Have a magical day” at the end of every phone conversation.)

You see, nonprofits that win big grants to help sustain their activities on a more long-term basis have implemented a strategy that makes them grant ready.  It’s not about finding the grant – it’s about being ready to receive the grant.  Today, you, lucky reader, will learn what makes an organization “grant ready.”  Get ready by following The 6 Simple Rules for Winning Big Grants:

Simple Rule #1 – Demonstrate your importance – what would happen to the community you serve if you suddenly were unable to deliver service?  Don’t be gloomy but do paint an accurate picture of what your community would be missing without your services.

Simple Rule #2 – Talk about the lives you touch – Can you easily identify your target audience?  With their permission, tell their stories to back up your statistics.  The trend in fund raising is compelling story telling – not a “just the facts, ma’am” presentation.

Simple Rule #3 – Explain how your program makes a difference – Potential funders are interested in the benefits of your program, not your program’s features.

Simple Rule #4 – Be an example of best practice – are you as an organizational staff constantly working to improve your own performance?

Simple Rule #5 – Be a sound investment – keep your organization in check with “housekeeping” such as an appropriate governing body, updated personnel policies, up to date bylaws, etc.

Simple Rule #6 – Be  gracious funding partner – for example, ALWAYS thank grant partners, submit required reports on time, live up to any advertising you have promised a grantor.

For more grant writing strategies designed to help you win big grant money visit my blog at http://www.yourgrantauthority.com/Blog.aspx.  And, as always, Have a Magical Day!

Betsy Baker is dedicated to helping the small nonprofit.  Whatever your grant writing goals, trust The Grant Authority to help you realize them! Sometimes it’s possible to get more than what you pay for. See what a difference The Grant Authority can make for you! Visit Betsy at www.yourgrantauthority.com.

I’m getting my thoughts together for a Grantwriting class I’m helping with tomorrow and I thought I’d share a few resources I’ve collected.  Enjoy!

Step By Step Fundraising’s list of grant resources  http://stepbystepfundraising.com/20-free-grant-writing-resources-non-profits/

Guidestar  www.guidestar.org

Pamela Grow’s Grantwriting Blog  www.pamelasgrantwritingblog.com

Don Griesmann’s Grant Opportunities  A frequently updated list of grants http://www.charitychannel.com/special/don-griesmanns-grant-opportunities/last-7-days.aspx

Nonprofit guides  www.npguides.org

Federal grants  www.grants.gov

The Grantsmanship Center  www.tgci.com

Here’s a unique grant opportunity:

Made possible by the CTK Foundation Philanthropic Fund and Grammy award-winners, Los Lonely Boys, The Heart and Soul (H&S) grant is an innovative and creative way for nonprofits to apply for funding.

To apply for the grant, the organization must submit a 4-8 line poem (lyrics) that represents the “heart and soul” of their mission.  After the grant closes a jury panel of recognized independent music artists and producers from around the country will select a winner based on the quality and impact of the lyrics.  The selected nonprofit will be awarded $10,000 and have their poem put to song by Los Lonely Boys.

The grant, already open, will close on August 15, 2009 and any registered 501(c)3 nonprofit organization can apply.  To learn more and apply for the grant, please visit www.ctkfoundation.org and click on the gold Foundation tab.