Starting a grants program from scratch can be daunting. Growing an already-existing grants program can be frustrating.
What do you do first, second, third?
Never fear! I’ve developed a logical step-by-step process that takes the guesswork and uncertainty out of that potentially huge undertaking!
And I’m sharing all I know in my free webinar on Wednesday, July 16 at 12 noon EDT. “Beyond the Spray-and-Pray: Strategic Grant Prospecting That Actually Works” will cover the phases I recommend to all my clients looking to increase their grant funding.
Register for the Webinar!
My process allows a nonprofit to objectively assess the outward-facing impression your agency is giving to new funders, and make corrections as needed — BEFORE taking on the expense of prospect research work.
Once in-depth prospect research is complete, your nonprofit has another opportunity to gauge if there’s enough potential to move forward. To ensure success, the all-important Cultivation Phase nets you qualitative and quantitative data to inform the next phase: Developing the Case Statement.
In the webinar, I will lay out all the tools and resources I provide through all the stages so there’s no questions — just answers!
Register for the Webinar!
For the agency new to grants, I also recommend my Board Orientation, covering Grant Basics on a “need-to-know” basis, including income expectations, relationship building, goal setting, and hiring grant help when it’s time.
Even if you’ve already committed to a grants program or building out your current program — hired people, budgeted for it — my process can be implemented and save you from wasting resources. Or it can help you if you’re partway into the process and hit a stumbling block.
It doesn’t make sound fiscal sense to buy the farm if you may just need a few eggs. By the same token, it doesn’t make sense to be all-in on starting or building a grant program if you’re not sure how far grants can take you. Take it step by step using my process, and avoid any unnecessary expense.
Going through the phases I outline in the webinar, you will have a data-informed way forward that gives you the confidence to move ahead knowing you have a good shot at grant success.
Register for the Webinar!
When I was just starting out, I would get calls to do prospect research for nonprofits, and I would plunge ahead, no questions asked. I loved the research piece, and finding new ways of looking at an agency’s mission and different avenues of funder alignment. I was fascinated by what I found while cross referencing search parameters between the different search databases I would use, and loved checking out new databases I would come across.
But sometimes those nonprofits would pay for hours of my time, and try as I might, I could only turn up a handful of viable prospects. [That in and of itself was very telling, because it caused me to question the overall need for the program I was researching for.] I was glad to know they had only paid for a few hours of my time, because if I had been hired as their staff grant person and could only find a few prospective funders, I‘d be scared for my job! And I can see how that could potentially lead to submitting to any and all funders I came across, regardless of alignment. And poor outcomes…
There’s many reasons to check out my July 16 webinar. “Beyond the Spray-and-Pray: Strategic Grant Prospecting That Actually Works” is a quick 45 minutes packed with time-saving, money-saving ideas that are time-tested, common-sense, thoughtful, and SMART!
