It’s all about relationships…

I have two thoughts for my blog post this week…which have to do with building relationships for successful grant writing and fund raising. On Monday of this week I had a special grant proposal to drop off. Usually I mail them in before the deadline but this one needed some last-minute work over the weekend and fortunately it was due on Monday and I could take it to their offices myself.

When I got there, someone else was dropping off a proposal. He started chatting with me and it turned out that he was a member of a local family foundation. He was turning in a proposal for another organization which he volunteers with. We ended up talking about our programs and found that we had several causes in common. I got his contact information and agreed to follow up with him. His sister was there also so I was able to chat with her as well. Perhaps it will turn into a collaborative relationship!

I also found out that a grant proposal that I had submitted to his foundation may not have even gotten into his hands because it probably wasn’t presented to the board for their consideration. Now I might have another chance to submit again, which is a golden opportunity. I would’ve never found this out otherwise.

The lessons that I learned from this serendipitous encounter?

1. Always take the chance to engage with people you meet in chance encounters, because you never know who they might turn out to be!

2. Always try to make personal connections with potential funders if you possibly can. You might not have the opportunity to run into them in person as I did, but at least pick up the phone if you have a phone number or send an email. Any personal contact that you can make before submitting a proposal can help to start a relationship and pave the way for a successful grant proposal.

3. Don’t just sit in your office typing out grant proposals! Get out there and try to network with funders in your area. You won’t meet them if you are always in your office!

Enjoy your weekend!

6 Steps for Grant Writing Success in 2010

It’s not too late to plan for a successful 2010. I think there are many things that non-for-profit organizations and NGO’s can do to help ensure grant writing success:

1. Take a step back; focus on your core competencies, what it is you do best. Make sure that the programs and services you are seeking funding for are viable and serve a well-documented need in the community. When you are seeking funding, it helps tremendously to have a track record of success, meaning you can demonstrate successful outcomes or at least that you are on track for success in the future.
If you have peripheral programs that are taking resources away from your more successful programs, consider cutting or reducing their scope. This will allow you to focus on the things that you do best, which will be more likely to lead to success.

Are there others with whom you can collaborate? This is a buzz-word for many funders now, who have started to encourage collaborative proposals to get the biggest bang for their buck. This can take some time and effort but could lead to a more competitive proposal and more potential sources of funding. Many funders are requiring collaboration to be competitive.

Also, if you didn’t send year-end stewardship reports, now is the time to send those reports and thank you letters to those who HAVE funded your programs in 2009. It doesn’t have to be long, just a short letter highlighting your accomplishments and showing how their support has made a difference. I can’t stress enough how much value can be gotten from developing relationships with existing and potential funders. It can make or break you in your fund raising efforts.

2. Once you’ve determined that you have the most successful programs in place and explored potential collaborations, it’s time to start researching viable funding sources. This can be done on the internet or at your local library or Center for Nonprofit Management. Also you need to determine when you need the money and when the funding source will make a decision. Try to find sources that have a variety of deadlines so that you have a chance of securing funding sooner rather than later.

3. Armed with a list of potential funding sources, thoroughly read the guidelines and start crafting proposals that follow the grant guidelines to the letter; make sure they are persuasive and well-thought-out; and are concise and to the point. Usually it’s not a good idea to include items that are not specifically requested, such as videos or brochures.

4. If possible, connect with someone at the funding source before you submit a request to make sure they are still accepting requests or to see if their guidelines have changed. Also if they are open to questions, see if you can discuss your project with them and what they think of it. This isn’t always possible but if so make the most of it. Developing relationships with potential funders is a key piece to your success.
5. Make sure that you submit the grant proposal ahead of the deadline if there is one. Send it certified mail or return receipt so you know that it was received in the funder’s office and for proof that you have met their deadline.

6. Follow up with them if you haven’t heard in a reasonable amount of time. And even if they say no to your proposal, ALWAYS send a thank you note. This could help you if you decide to apply again. The people who work at foundations are people too, and they like being treated with respect.

Please watch this space for more tips for grant writing success!

American Association of Grant Professionals Southern CA Conference

I had the opportunity to attend the AAGP Southern California Conference this week at the California Endowment in Los Angeles . This was an excellent training and networking opportunity. We had several speakers who shared their wisdom with AAGP members, who are grant writers and development staff from nonprofits organizations throughout the country. The AAGP has added 5 new chapters in Southern California just this year alone. I am excited to be the Treasurer of the new San Diego chapter, which was recently formed. We will meet next on January 21, 2010.

The first speaker at the conference this week was Fred J. Ali, President and CEO of The Weingart Foundation . He offered his thoughts on the future outlook for charitable giving, asserting that he doesn’t see charitable giving levels improving until 2012. This is why I believe it’s so important to have a well-thought-out plan in place for your efforts to secure grants.

Next we heard from Ann Ronan, a professional grant writer who has been very successful in securing grants for healthcare and human services. Her company is called GrantRight . She shared insights and tips for independent grant writing consultants who are looking for ways to make their businesses be successful. She encouraged us to run our consulting practices like a business.

Gail Vertz, CEO of AAGP, presented the lunch plenary and shared her plans for growth for the organization in 2010. She believes that in the near future, all grant professionals will be required to have attained the GPCI or Grant Professional Certification. I plan to sit for this certification exam at my next opportunity. I think it is a great opportunity to show grant writing is a true profession and that we are concerned with standards and best practices.

Finally I attended a social media for nonoprofits presentation from David Gershwin of Cerrell Associates who shared an overview of social media strategies for nonprofit organizations and professionals.

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A Lot of Interest in Federal Grants for Nonprofits and Businesses

I have been hearing so much about federal grants this year that I have been making special efforts to learn all I can about them to provide the best service to my grant-seeking clients. The federal government is pumping money, lots of it, into new programs through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). This affects nonprofit organizations as well as businesses who are looking for federal funds for their programs. While I primarily focus on securing funding for nonprofit organizations, several potential clients have come to me asking for assistance in securing grant funds for their business ventures.

Yesterday I attended a seminar sponsored by Connect, a San Diego-based organization whose mission is to foster collaboration and innovation in the business and scientific development arenas in San Diego. The La Jolla Conference on Accessing Federal Funding was attended by more than 200 grant seekers and featured speakers including Tina Huth, Founder and Managing Director of R&D Business Solutions LLC, John Watson, Professor of Bioengineering at the von Liebig Center at UC San Diego; Mary Ann Beyster, President of the Foundation for Enterprise Development, and Alan Rubin, Director of Federal Government Relations, Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC. They gave information about how to apply for these federal funds.

I was especially interested in learning about the SBIR and STTR programs, which is the Small Business Innovation and Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grants programs, respectively.

This is a program that is administered through the US Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Technology. These programs were designed to ensure that the nation’s high-tech sector businesses are included as a part of the federal government’s research and development initiatives. Eleven federal departments participate in the SBIR program, and five participate in the STTR program, awarding more than $2 billion in grants to high-tech businesses. I think this could be an excellent source of funds for businesses in the San Diego area. The specific goals and objectives of the SBIR Program are:

1. To stimulate technological innovation;
2. To use small business to meet Federal R/R&D needs;
3. To increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived from Federal R/R&D; and
4. To foster and encourage participation by minority and disadvantaged persons in technological innovation.

The next solicitation for grants is for the US Department of Transportation, which is due on November 16. One of the available programs is being solicited by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
for Transportation System Performance Measurement Using Existing Loop Infrastructure projects.

The SBIR is having their national conference in Reno, NV next month, Nov. 2-5.

Several people at the Connect event highly recommended attending the national conference for people who are serious about obtaining SBIR/STTR funding. There will be the chance to interact directly with SBIR program managers and to ask questions and receive feedback.

Since other more traditional funding sources, such as foundations and corporations, are pulling back their funding levels this year and possibly even into 2010/2011, I highly recommend investigating the possibilities for federal funding since that’s where the money is right now!