7 Steps to a Successful Grant Support Program

While grants generally should not be the only source of support for a successful nonprofit organization, grants from foundations, corporations and government sources are an important part of a well-diversified fund development plan. A well-planned and –executed grants program can be a significant source of support for organizational programs and services.

Following are the elements that are necessary to begin to develop grant support for a nonprofit organization.

1. Development of a Compelling Case Statement
This is the cornerstone of a successful grant proposal, as it provides the comprehensive information that will persuade a private or corporate foundation to consider funding your programs. Information is gathered via interviews with key management and staff to gain insights into the programs offered and to effectively describe the elements that make them attractive and compelling to potential donors.
A compelling case statement can also include development of the goals and objectives that will be used to carry out the mission of the organization.

2. Survey of Market Competitors
To help gauge the likelihood of obtaining grant support, you should conduct a survey of other competitors in the market to help identify donors and grantors who have funded similar projects.

3. Identification of Prospective Donors
This entails conducting a targeted research campaign using subscription search engines such as Foundation Center Online, as well as any leads provided by key staff. Efforts are made to evaluate and identify the most appropriate sources of funding that are currently available.

4. Proposal Development
Once you have developed a case statement, determined that grant support is likely and suitable prospects for funding have been identified, the proposal development process can begin. This entails utilization of the case statement which can be tailored to various grant formats. Other documentation that maybe needed includes:
• Organization and program budgets (please see below)
• Board of directors and key staff rosters
• Audited financial statements and Form 990 (if available)
• Year to date financial statements
• Goals and objectives
• 501c3 documentation

5. Development of Program Budget(s)
A program budget will need to be developed for each program offering. Starting with staffing costs, you should determine the full cost for operating each program and translate it into a well-developed line item budget.

6. Development and Implementation of a Grants Management System
Once grant support has been established, you must implement a customized grants management system to easily track all current, pending and future proposals, as well as reporting requirements and other important details.

7. Development of Program Evaluation Methods
You should also consider developing a program evaluation method to determine the impact of yoru organization’s programs and services. Many funders now require program evaluation as a condition for grant funding.

Once these elements are in place, you’re on your way to a successful grant support program!

5 Tips for Handling Online Grant Applications

Yesterday I finished and submitted not one but two online applications. More and more funders are going “green” and are requiring that their grant funding requests be submitted online. I applaud this effort. It makes it easier for the grant writer in general, and it really does save trees. I have made so many paper copies of “snail mail” grant proposals that I wish all funders would go to online grant submissions.

However, there are some tips I’d like to share for managing the process to make sure everything goes smoothly with your online grant submission:

1. Make sure that you read all instructions in the application well before the deadline. This allows you to plan ahead and to gather all the information you’ll need to fill out the application properly. It’s really best if you can complete everything and submit the grant application in one session if possible.

2. Make sure that you create your narrative and all other information in a notepad or Word document first, then cut and paste into the fields in the application. Never fill in the fields directly and hope that they are saved, because sometimes they do not get saved! I found that out the hard way yesterday when I went back to an application that was supposed to have been “saved” online. It was not there! Fortunately I had already created and saved most of the narrative in a Word document, but I did lose a bit of other information that had to be recreated. That’s a time waster

3. Try to submit the application at least a few days ahead of the deadline. That way if you run into submission problems, which can happen, you have time to contact a live person to help you. Problems can happen especially when there is a rush of online “traffic” of others trying to submit their applications all at the same time.

4. Make sure that you answer all of the questions thoroughly and that you haven’t missed any of the fields. One of the applications that I filled out yesterday specifically stated that one of the things they are looking for when they rate the applications is that all of their questions are answered. You would think this is a given but it is not always done by grant seekers. When you answer the questions properly, it helps you be one step ahead in the process.

5. When you finally finish and are ready to submit your online grant application, make sure that you see a message telling you that your grant was submitted successfully or something similar. One of yesterday’s grant submissions appeared to have been submitted, but I didn’t see the Thank You message. I went back and saw in tiny letters that one of the budget categories that I had left blank needed a “0″ to be considered complete. Don’t let a small mistake like this cost you a successful online grant submission!