At Year-End, grants can’t be much help if you find you have a budget shortfall at your nonprofit. Grants have a different arc — a long arc — that is unlike what an individual donor appeal can bring in. It’s not the fault of the grants team for not planning ahead, it’s just the nature of grants.
If you look at grants, a “new” relationship can take around 18 months to bear fruit. A couple of things to factor in:
- The new funder’s deadlines
If it’s December, and your new funder’s once-a-year deadline was late November, then you’re locked in to an 11.5-month wait to apply.
- The new funder’s notification schedule
If the new funder is in a cadence of accepting applications, then giving time for staff to do a preliminary review, then waiting for a quarterly board meeting for the decision-makers to review, prioritize, and allocate what money is available (or organizing review panels in-person or remotely), then organizing all the asks into replies (yes, or no, or need more information), then finally sending out notifications, that takes months. In the case of some federal grants, it may be over a year.
- The new funder’s philosophy on awarding first-time applicants
Some funders have a hard-and-fast rule of thumb that all first-time applicants get turned down. This accomplishes several things: it teaches them about the tenacity and growth of the applicant, IF they reapply. If the applicant can take criticism, if they can learn from the feedback given, if they can show they can grow and accomplish greater things WITHOUT the assistance of the funder, that teaches the funder a great deal about the maturity and resolve and steadfastness of that applicant. I never take “No” as a “No.” I tend to think it means “Not Right Now.”
- The strength of your proposed program and its alignment with the funder’s mission
Let’s face it, sometimes a program is just not a fit with a funder, as much as we’d like to think it is. If we can be told “No,” call and get feedback, and learn that what we pitched is just not a great match with what that funder wants to accomplish, then we need to either pitch a better program, or move on to another funder who is a better match.
- The availability of funds from the new funder
When our applications get turned down, and we’re told “there were too many worthy requests,” sometimes it’s TRUE! There is often not a bottomless pit of money available to fund ALL the programs that get submitted, so some hard decisions need to be made. It’s not personal, it’s just that 2 + 2 = 4, and no more.
There are probably more deciding factors on the table that make grants an uncertain — and certainly not turnkey — fundraising strategy. If you’re in a bind come Year-End, turning to your Annual Appeal or other individual giving initiatives is a better approach. Grants are The Long Game!
