I have two clients with similar-sized budgets and staff. One is stuck in place, and the other is breaking down barriers, breaking new ground, and forging a new path for themselves – wiping the sleep from their eyes and dusting off the cobwebs, putting a new face on their image. They have vision.
Where does this vision come from? It comes from the top. A freshness in their perspective and view of themselves, and a willingness to clear the way for a deeper impact. And funders are taking notice. I’m talking $1million in new funding for program expansion plus new programming. Excitement, and it’s contagious. Success begets success, funding begets more funding, and the trajectory is UP!
When a leader has vision, they ask Why, and if they get answers that sound anything like “Because that’s how we’ve always done things,” then they push back and push hard to get the agency to the next level. It becomes a very dynamic organization, if the vision has clarity and the thinking is strategic.
A leader with vision can make magic in an organization. Hopefully the internal roadblocks are not too onerous, their team joins in, and the leader gets to realize their vision. Hopefully they reach their goal, achieve their vision, and can move to the next challenge (read “organization”) with a deep sense of accomplishment when their own individual limits have been reached.
Having this vision is well beyond my pay grade, but whether an agency has it or not it bleeds over to my work. Having vision helps me as a grant consultant “sell” the organization to funders. Funders are looking for ways to push the envelope, for imaginative and courageous solutions to problems, solutions that are sustainable and visionary. Less and less do I find funders that are looking to plug holes, maintain the status quo, or keep existing programs doing the same things in the same ways year after year.
They are looking for measurable outcomes – what about your visionary goals is similar to other initiatives attempted in other settings, and how did they fare? They’re looking for bold new answers to age-old questions – are you able to come to the table with smart, data-based remedies that approach problems from a different angle, that are central to the core issue and also have sustainable tactics? Where a funder’s contribution can be the key to break the deadlock and launch a real change in your part of the world?
That’s what funders crave, I see it more and more as I go about my prospect research. Big bold answers to the tough questions we’re faced with in the world today. Replicable, scalable, with measurable outcomes, outcomes that you can feel, see, and touch. They want to make a difference in the world, and non-profit leaders need to give it to them. That’s what they bring to the equation – or should.
Can you deliver?
For more on this and other grant topics, visit my website.
