rust, nonprofit organizations across the United States receive free technology tools and resources enabling them to accelerate their charitable efforts and expand their reach within their community.”

Raymond Henderson
Executive Director

you are located, where your target audience is located, etc. There are plenty of problems you can run into while looking for grants. We hope to help you avoid those pitfalls with some helpful tips about each type of grant you might be considering.

Government Grants

When grants come from a source other than the government, your organization runs the risk of losing its tax exempt status if either you or the donor fails to follow regulations. Government grants can bring an added measure of safety in this regard, but they are very difficult to qualify for and you must remain qualified throughout the grant period. Also, they may limit your choices and/or require you to overextend your reach beyond your target population.

For example, let’s say you are a nonprofit that focuses on helping disadvantaged African American children get ahead in school. A government grant may require you to expand your efforts to include Spanish-speaking Hispanic children even if you have no Spanish-speaking personnel or materials. Also, they will probably require you to teach certain curriculum that you were not really prepared for.

This does not mean that you should avoid government grants—they are an excellent choice for the right nonprofit. The “rightness” of a government grant for you will become apparent as you carefully compare all of the guidelines with your organization’s mission. Seek the advice of others who have received government grants before. They can help you know what is expected of you.

Private Donors

Since Andrew Carnegie and before, many of the richest people in the world have donated huge sums to charity. While it may be popular to assume that the rich do it for a tax break, the actual reasons the rich do it are more complex. They may simply want recognition. They may want to feel good about giving, particularly to a cause they’ve always believed in. They may distrust the government and wish instead to spend tax money on something else. Whatever their reasons, they can be an excellent source of grant money for your nonprofit. However, they are unlikely to simply hand you money and let you run with it. They will want to be more involved in the process.

Affluent donors often want to know exactly how you are using their grant money. If you are not following their expectations, you are unlikely to get a grant from them or their friends again anytime soon. It is not atypical for such a donor to demand that none of their grant be used for overhead. They will often request regular reports on how you are doing to make certain their demands are met. Our advice is to make certain you know up front how involved they want to be. Keep them in the loop by sending them progress reports from time to time. This way, you’ll be able to secure their help again when you need it.

Foundations

Many private foundations exist for the specific purpose of handing out grant money to other organizations. They are often founded by a millionaire as a tax break and a philanthropic venture. Private foundations are less likely than an individual to make demands about how you should use the grant money once it’s given. However, they are likely to have very strict criteria that you have to meet to receive their grant. In order to qualify for their grants, you will often have to submit large amounts of data about the effectiveness of your programs. Later on, they will probably make you submit more data after you have spent some fraction of the grant money. They may reserve the right to withhold the rest of the grant money if you don’t measure up.

The stipulations foundations place on your funds can actually be a blessing in disguise. Your nonprofit is likely to struggle if you are not as efficient and effective as possible. Foundations will hold you to a higher level of accountability than you might feel inclined to hold yourself to. The end result will be that you know exactly how effective your programs are and where you need to improve. Also, many private foundations are able and willing to consult with you on your efforts and help you become a better nonprofit. They will push you to be the best you can be.

Corporate Grants

Corporations will sometimes give grants to nonprofits. They can be great sources of grants for charities because they typically place fewer stipulations on grant money than private individuals or foundations (and certainly less than government). They are unlikely to demand to know exactly how you use the money. Instead, they will want to let the world know that they gave you a grant. This is because, for them, your grant represents a marketing cost. It looks good to their customers to donate some of their profits to charity.

The potential pitfall here is losing the respect of your donors and potentially people receiving your services. Before accepting a corporate grant, you need to know why they are giving a grant and why they selected you for that grant. You may find that they have engaged in illegal or unethical activities that they wish to distract their customers from. If any of these are true, they are probably giving you a grant to distract their customers from the bad news about them. Your image may suffer by accepting the grant.

On the other side, a company with a good image can be an excellent grant opportunity for you. Not only will you get a grant with fewer stipulations attached, but you will get their good name associated with your own. For example, McDonalds has a mostly positive image that makes them highly sought after for grant money—and they can provide some huge grants. While McDonalds specifies what kind of charity the money will go to, other companies may not do so. Look for a well-known and respected company that gives grants in your area and give it a try.

Do Your Research

Every private individual or foundation will have unique requirements. Each level of government has different types of regulations on grant money. Each corporation giving grants will be motivated differently. Each individual donor or private foundation will have different expectations. Please do your homework before applying to a grant from any of these sources. The broad categories we have given here are guidelines to help you get started. Good luck on the grant search, and please tell us your success stories.

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return. Charities help groups of people with highly individualized needs, which unavoidably results in high overhead costs. This means that no matter what your charity does (e.g. assist troubled youth, help low-income families find housing, provide therapy for abused spouses and children, etc.), you will need grants to survive.

Competition for Grant Money

Securing grants for nonprofit organizations can be very difficult. In today’s weak economy, companies that donate to nonprofit organizations see little value in giving your nonprofit a grant when they could invest in a business or social venture startup. The best way to secure a grant from an investor is show how you can give their company an image boost. That will only happen if you are very effective at marketing and accomplishing your charitable mission.

Corporate grants for nonprofits must be earned. The corporate donor must clearly see how you can make their company look good with the grant they donate to you. For them, the grant will simply be another marketing expense (a tax-deductible one, but one with a relatively low return on investment). For example, look at one of the biggest names in the nonprofit industry: United Way. If a company is associated with United Way, it automatically gains an image of being a socially responsible company. They are unlikely to gain that distinction from a relatively unknown small-town nonprofit. You can’t simply go to them and say, “I need money and you need a tax break. Won’t you fund us?” If you cannot give them a good value proposition, don’t expect a grant!

Seeking for Grants in All the Right Places

Grants for nonprofit organizations are highly competitive. You must carefully select the parties you request grants from and tailor your proposal to them. Potential business grantors will want to see tangible value in it for them. Some companies could profit greatly from putting your client’s picture up in their store with a sign saying, “We help your needy neighbors!” Such companies can be great sources of grants for you.

Some nonprofits give grants to other nonprofits. Charitable trusts usually fall into this category. These grant-giving nonprofits usually have certain requirements, such as regular data collection on the efficiency and effectiveness of your programs. However, they can also serve as sources of advice for your nonprofit. They will take an active interest in your success, and their names will help to strengthen your own.

The government is another good source of grants. They provide some useful information at the following website: http://www.usa.gov/Business/Nonprofit.shtml. Getting a government grant can take many months due to a long and involved approval process. In addition, the government has many regulations about exactly how their grant money can be used and who you must help with that money. Therefore, a government grant is not for every nonprofit. Do your homework before applying for one.

You can also find individual philanthropists who want to support a good cause. Unfortunately, they can be hard to please. You’ll encounter donors who want you to prove that you spent none of their money on overhead costs. They may also give lots of unwanted advice. However, they are the bread and butter of nonprofit donations, and pleasing them is usually crucial to your cash flow.

Preparing a Perfect Proposal

potential grantor will be looking for something different in a grant proposal, so you will need to individually tailor each proposal. You can’t just write up what you intend to do with a grant and send that to a dozen parties. You must begin each proposal by addressing the things that will matter to that specific potential donor. If they want to know how you will measure your program effectiveness, address that. If they want to know how much will go to overhead, address that. If they want to know what’s in it for them, address that. Make it clear to them that you understand what they want and are willing to comply.

Charitable trusts are the easiest potential grantors to prepare grant proposals for because they will meticulously outline what they want a proposal to include. Because their whole purpose is to give grants to nonprofits, they will have specific requirements so they can easily compare one proposal against another. They will give their grant to whatever nonprofit can help the most people with that money, so you need to showcase your efficiency and effectiveness.

Corporate grants for nonprofits depend on the value you can bring to their brand. Your proposal must present this value upfront, preferably in the first paragraph or two. Writing grant proposals for them can be harder because they will all want a different format and they will all want a briefer format than the average grant proposal recipient. You need to do some homework on what they want before you begin writing. Essentially, a grant proposal for a business is a marketing plan in which you tell them exactly how your name will add value to their brand.

All of these potential grantors will want to see quantitative facts in your grant proposal. You need to produce some reasonable estimates for how many people you will help, how much it will cost to provide the aid, what benefits you can provide to the grantor, and so forth. Therefore, data analysis is an important part of the grant writing process. A good grant writer will know how to analyze data and make accurate forecasts as well as how to write.

After Submitting a Grant Proposal

After submitting a grant proposal—whether it is to a charitable trust, a business, an individual, or a government agency—you will wait for feedback. They will often do more than one round of reviews and ask for more details. Be sure to respond promptly to anything they ask. They may ask you for out-of-the-way facts simply to test your expertise and make sure you know what you’re doing. Recognize that these hoops are part of their scoring system and that the fact they are asking anything at all is a good sign—you are being considered. In the meantime, do not sit still. Look for other potential grantors and prepare grant proposals for them. Continue to study your target audience and update your cost, efficiency, and effectiveness forecasts. If you stay prepared, you’ll be able to put grant money to work immediately upon receiving it and be that much closer to effectively meeting your goals while staying efficient and making a lasting impact.
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hould be included are fairly obvious (e.g. how you intend to accomplish your charitable mission, how you will measure your effectiveness, how you will spend the grant money, the value your mission can bring to the grant giver, etc.). However, there are also some common mistakes you should avoid when writing your grant proposal.

Troublesome Assumptions

Do not assume that your audience knows anything about your nonprofit. Having a contact in a grant foundation or charitable trust does not mean that your contact will be reading your proposal. In fact, they will probably select someone besides your contact to review it to ensure an equal playing field. Also, don’t assume that the entire proposal will get read. You need to repeat critical information in your proposal in multiple sections, as grant reviewers may read only certain sections of your proposal before making a decision. Finally, avoid assuming what the grant reviewers want. You need to read their specific Request for Proposal (RFP) guidelines before you begin writing. If you don’t match their guidelines to the letter, they will probably disqualify you.

Include Complete Descriptions

Do not leave out clear and thorough descriptions of your nonprofit programs. Even if you have worked with a grant foundation before, you should still include complete information because you never know how much the reviewer will know about you. Make certain you define any jargon you use. And above all else: fully explain what you hope to accomplish with the grant.

Make sure you should link all the key facts together. For example, if your program description does not discuss the program budget (or at least tell the reader where to go), your document may be rejected without further study. In addition, you must also include a needs assessment that clearly states how you will meet the need. Without these elements, you may not get much consideration.

Above all, do not leave out a description of what you are doing to make your program sustainable. Foundations do not want to continue funding the same project over and over again—they want to see that you are working to make sure your program will fund itself once the grant money runs out. This means that you should not leave out any tables or charts that will clearly show how your budget will meet your program and operating costs. Finally, take time to monetize the impact of your program on your target population so that you can show a return on their investment.

Exclude Overstatements and Comparisons

Do not include competitive analyses that state why your nonprofit is better than others, as grant foundations and charitable trusts don’t want them. If you cannot demonstrate why your nonprofit deserves a grant without attacking other nonprofits, you probably don’t deserve the grant. Also, many grant foundations do not respond well to boasting or sales-like tactics, so use a subtle persuasive approach. Your best bet is to simply avoid qualifiers that make you look less confident about your programs (using words such as “might” or “probably”).

Do not state that you need the grant money or talk about what you will do when you get it. Foundations and trusts are wary of organizations that require grant money to continue operations because such organizations are generally unsustainable. Avoid inferring anything you cannot prove, such as what the 30-year impact of your program is (unless you really can back that up). Anything you cannot back up makes you look suspicious to a potential grant giver. Also, don’t include any materials they didn’t ask for—instead, simply mention other materials that you are willing to provide upon request. Be certain to keep your grant proposal unique. It is better to start fresh with each grant proposal.

What These Guidelines Will do for You

By following these guidelines, you will have a professional-looking grant proposal that will accomplish the following:

• Specifically address the problem you are facing
• Explain in detail how you will address it
• Provide costs for implementing the proposed program
• Show a return on investment by monetizing the positive impact of your program on your target population
• Present critical information multiple times so that readers can find it in any section
• Avoid raising suspicion about your nonprofit’s viability or expertise
• Present your case with confidence

Such a proposal will be far more likely to produce the results you hope for and gain you the grant money you need to fulfill your nonprofit mission.

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