Hi there! As you might have noticed, this is a new blog, but I am super excited to have started to share what I know about writing grants for non-profits. It also contains thoughts about writing, reading, and words in general. I could do a long intro post, BUT that isn’t why you are here. Am I right? So, let’s just get down to business.

If you are reading this, you are probably someone working in the non-profit space professionally or working on behalf of a non-profit you are passionate about. Writing and working for a non-profit generally means long hours, lower pay, and wearing many hats. Grant writing is often one of the most critical responsibilities of your organization but is frequently piled on as an extra duty for someone already treading water. Trust me, I was that person. Most organizations have limited non-obligated or unrestricted funding for hiring a grant writer. In most cases, there is no funding set aside at all. We get very focused on spending those funds on our programs and must remember that to keep the programs, we must keep bringing in funds.

So, what do you think is the solution? I don’t have the solution for everyone, but I do have some suggestions that could help you save time and money and build partnerships that can help you grow your organization’s reach. So here are my top 3 suggestions for increasing the success rate of grant awards for your organization. ( I will be breaking down further in future posts.)

1. Only write grants and proposals for funding that you need. – This means that you have actually looked at your finances, weighed that against your programming, and determined what the actual needs are. Do you know if all of your programs are still relevant? Are you closing out program benefits? Do you need new equipment? Has the program gotten bigger and you need more staff? Do you want/need to move to another location or expand? Once you have determined the needs and where the gaps in your funding lie, you can start researching where to obtain that funding.
2. Plan well in advance for when you are going to write.– Do not, I repeat DO NOT wait until 2 months before your funding expires before you start looking for new funding. This will likely end in disaster. The typical application to award cycle for grants is 4-6 months. So you need to be planning far enough in advance that you will have funding through that application period if you have an existing program or not be planning to start a new venture for another six months at least. Putting competitive applications together takes time; rushing leads to mistakes that can really cost you.
3. Partnerships– Are there other agencies, organizations, non-profits, etc, that share your passion and from whom you can leverage funds or resources? If you aren’t looking for partnerships, you probably do more than you need to. Even in rural areas like where I am from (Southwest Virginia), many small organizations compete for funds and program participants. “Fishing from the same pond” isn’t the best use of resources in most instances. So, analyze who is near you, what they do, or who they serve, and reach out to see if they would want to partner to create that win-win for everyone. Ultimately, non-profits serve the communities they are part of, an ecosystem, if you will.

I hope this is some helpful food for thought. I will be putting out some more in-depth posts about these topics and many others. Feel free to reach out if there is something you would like for me to address. I really want this to be an interactive blog that is fun for me, but helpful to you.

Talk soon, wordy friends.