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Live it to write it
Last week I had the opportunity to meet two sisters, trustees of a regional family foundation. I had applied for a grant from the foundation on behalf of a local client and a site visit was scheduled. It was an excellent visit, relaxed, friendly, plenty of great questions, and an unplanned –...
Are your grantwriting ducks in a row?
It’s Monday morning when, in the course of your foundation prospect research, you discover a regional foundation that: accepts grant proposals, and whose mission aligns ideally with yours The problem? Their deadline for accepting proposals is Wednesday. No problem, you’re “grant ready” with...
How to build relationships with foundation grant funders
One of the most commonly asked questions I get is “How do I build relationships with foundation grant funders?” It’s a good question because it shows that the asker understands that relationship-building is just as important when it comes to seeking grants as it is in building a sound individual...
Five Days to Foundation Grants has been revised!
Five Days to Foundation Grants has been revised! If you missed this succinct (77 pages) guide to building relationships with foundation funders the first time around, you won’t want to miss the new release. One reviewer wrote “I’ve taken two day accredited courses that didn’t cover...
Applications not accepted: Get on their radar!
Foundation Center President Brad Smith notes that “Nearly half of the grantmaker profiles in Foundation Directory Online state, “Applications not accepted”, i.e., these funders do not take unsolicited proposals.” How can you get on their radar? Join us for a live chat at 1:00...
Can it be True? Good News for Grantseekers!
Last week the venerable Chronicle of Philanthropy shared the news, gleaned from a study carried out by Foundation Source, that small to mid-sized grant-making foundations actually exceeded their payout requirements in 2009. Foundations are required by law to spend 5% of their investment assets each year...
A Nifty Tool to Help You Build Relationships With Foundation Funders
What if one simple tool could ensure that you never let a prospective foundation grant slip through your fingers again? In the six years I worked in programming and communications for a grantmaking family foundation I learned a lot about nonprofit management just from observing the grant proposals that...
8 Biggest Grant Proposal Mistakes
1. Have you followed the grant application guidelines? When I worked for a grant-making foundation, you wouldn’t believe how many times my colleagues and I would look at each other with dropped jaws: “Did they even BOTHER to read the guidelines?” we would wonder. It’s truly...
It’s just emotion that’s taken me over … Tied up in sorrow, lost in my soul
(With apologies to the Bee Gees …) For six years I worked for a regional private family foundation. It was an amazing learning experience on so many levels, including teaching me how donors respond. In a recent post on Kivi’s Nonprofit Marketing Blog, Kivi notes that people’s hearts tend to...
How Much Should You Request in Your Grant Proposal? How Much Do You Need?!
One of the most common questions I’m asked is “How do you know how much to request when drafting a foundation grant proposal?” Well, how much do you need? Folks, this isn’t rocket science and I refer, once again, to my constant mantra of “systems, systems, and systems.” Have you been researching...
It’s the Economy Stupid! What Smart Grantseekers Need to Know to Get Funds in Today’s Economy
“When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters-one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.” John Fitzgerald Kennedy The other day I was chatting with a fellow nonprofit consultant on Twitter about business and she noted that “organizations...
Behind the Scenes at a Grantmaking Foundation
Have you ever wondered just exactly what goes on behind the scenes at a private, grantmaking foundation once your proposal is delivered? I was fortunate for the opportunity to work at a private, family foundation for over six years. I worked for them during their early days, when they were just beginning...
Do Angels Sleep?
When my youngest daughter was three years old her great grandmother died. I traveled to Michigan for the funeral, leaving my husband in charge of my two daughters. It was the first time I’d ever been away from Abigail overnight. I was gone five days and when I returned Abbey couldn’t quit asking...
Be a Fearless Grantseeker!
We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face… we must do that which we think we cannot. Eleanor Roosevelt Awhile back I did a poll on the biggest fears grantwriters face in writing a grant proposal. Not surprisingly approaching...
Prepping For Your First Foundation Site Visit
It’s been six weeks since you spent considerable time and effort researching the regional foundations and sending out eight new proposals in support of a planned educational initiative on behalf of your three-year-old community arts organization. So when the phone rings and it’s program officer Samantha...
Grants: Do You Have a System in Place?
Arriving at one goal is the starting point to another. JOHN DEWEY Charity Channel, always a great barometer of the world of nonprofits, recently posted a question from a member: We are trying to put some numbers to a part time grant writer. We are a $35 million agency and have sporadically applied for...
Myths About Women and Weight Lifting … Er, Grant Proposal Writing!
The other day I mentioned to a couple of women that I was lifting weights in the gym. I was surprised at the responses that I got. “Pam! That’s not good for you!” “Yeah, you never want to use weights heavier than 5 pounds or so …” Frankly I thought that the myths about women and weight lifting...
Foundations Don’t Fund General Operating Costs – Or Do They?
Do you still believe the old fairy tale about how difficult it is to find foundations that support general operating expenses? It’s one of the grantwriting myths that even I bought into. Why not? The foundation that I worked for for a number of years most generally dissuaded grantseekers from applying...
