3/20
Grant Seeking 101 Webinar
Notes
Managing Expectations:
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Establish relationships, cultivate, steward
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Reality check
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How are you serving the community?
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Individual donors
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Board support
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Establish track record
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Identify local grant makers
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Start-ups
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What makes you unique?
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Pitch project as a pilot – reasonable $$
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Guidestar 990’s – search
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Call and Ask! Program officer
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Match funder with organization’s mission
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Competitor’s funders – 990’s
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Corporate foundations
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Reserve searching
Develop a funding plan:
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Begin identifying 6-12 months in advance
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Organize by deadline
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Identify who will write/assign
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Multiple proposals in pipeline
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Proposal lead – programs
Build a portfolio of documents:
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IRS determination letter
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List of BOD – keep current
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990’s, current budget, 3-5 year budget
Grant review:
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Multiple reads, board members, other staff
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Cycles – 3 to 6 months
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Impact your project will make?
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How is this shared?
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If you use percentages, give context
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Long term results
Financial piece:
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Be proactive about financial story
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Short budget narrative
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Use emotion in proposal to connect foundation to
your org’s work
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Storytelling and numbers
Qualitative vs. Quantitative
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Need to explain impact
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Current data to demonstrate need and relevance**
examples
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U.S. Census Bureau
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School Report Cards
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FBI’s US Crime Data
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Kids Count
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Women’s Health Care
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Local Health Departments
Compelling program description:
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Be realistic about metrics
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No more than 5 objectives/outcomes
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KISS-simplicity-not pedantic
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Do you have resources to track the metrics?
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Do you have the budget?
o
Ways to move indicators
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Break into blocks, # served, $
People give to people, connect head to heart
· Beyond the proposal:
o
DO
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Site visit – “best chance”
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Schedule when activity in progress
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Have board member and client present (prep them)
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Allow sufficient time
o
DON’T
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Take phone calls
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Use phone or ipads, even for notes
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be unorganized
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don’t overdo snacks
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BE ON TIME!
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No long powerpoint presentations
CASE STUDY:
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Shared Database:
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Better coordinator of services
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Better referrals
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Collaboration – especially with data
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Cost sharing, demonstrate impact together
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Better assess impact of grant investments
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Questions
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Letter of intent – no more than 2-3 pages
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How it is going to be used will determine its content
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Time spent writing a grant
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Be precise with goals, not a life project
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Create grant pipeline
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Spreadsheet with dates, $’s, etc.
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Foundation’s not in community – program or
office in community
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Repeat funding for same program
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Specify program foundation is interested in
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Focus on report
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Develop relationships with program officers
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How often should you contact a program officer
if no response? Wait a week, and then call back.
