A short time ago, it was my pleasure to present The Six Must-Do’s to Get Your Nonprofit Ready for the Big Money training webinar for Sage Nonprofit Solutions. This webinar was presented because, of course, all nonprofits want grants but some aren't quite sure what to do in preparing to make sure they receive a grant.
The training was intended to prepare organizations in making themselves more “grant ready," and, therefore, more attractive to funders. While I tried to cover all of the basics in this one-hour webinar, inevitably, the more information I provided prompted more questions. One participant said it was like a fire hydrant of information!
So, in an effort to respond to important questions that weren’t specifically covered on the call, and to bring you, my dear reader, up to speed on some useful information, I present to you now:
Questions and Answers That We Didn’t Have Time for Me to Cover in a Webinar But That I Think You Need to Know About Because They’re Important:
(Yes, I know that you love my clever titles. Maybe one day I’ll share my secret with you in how I come up with such dazzlers but that’s a blog post for another day.)
Question: Our organization is often confused with another nonprofit in what we do. As a result, when we ask for financial support from certain grant funders, we’re told that they are already supporting what it is we do. How do we distinguish ourselves from others?
I get it! It’s like if you have the word “cancer” in your name, they automatically assume that since they gave to the American Cancer Society that year that they’re covered. My advice on this is to come out with both barrels drawn. In your nonprofit’s description, be sure to distinguish yourselves with “Often we’re confused with XYZ Nonprofit that raises money to (fill in the blank.) While we respect the work of XYZ Nonprofit, here’s specifically what we provide (fill in the blank.) Don’t assume that grant funders know the differences between organizations.
Question: How do you address all of these six “must do’s” you mention when you are a new nonprofit to get grant money?
To be fair, let’s first review the six-step approach that declares a nonprofit grant ready:
- Proof that your services are needed in the community
- A thorough description of the clients you serve and why they need your help
- Qualified and experienced
- Your program’s benefits to the community are clear
- You’re a sound investment
- Proof that you’re a good funding partner
Okay, time for some tough love. A brand new nonprofit, in my opinion and based on past experience, is NOT grant ready. In raising funds for a new nonprofit, first look at other avenues of fund raising such as an individual giving program and major gifts from a select group of donors that are interested in your cause.
Question: Is it key to sort through grants for different purposes -capital campaign as opposed to operational?
.Always pay attention to what the grant funder is interested in supporting. It’s absolutely lovely when a grant funder’s mission and the nonprofit’s mission is a perfect match. Even if you have the same interest in supporting the same cause, your methods of how you want to accomplish this may be quite different. So you certainly wouldn’t want to ask for operational support if they are strictly interested in building you a new building.
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