The Festival of Chanukah is more than just a time for nonprofits to celebrate another year of service and success. It is a time to communicate with their donors, the people and institutions that make it all possible. As we light the first Chanukah candle, let’s pause to consider how the most successful nonprofit agencies prosper from year to year and it’s more than just a miracle 365 days per year. This is one in a series of brief messages we, at EHL Consulting, hope will be helpful to you during the eight days of Chanukah.
By Esther Wiesner, Consultant
Don’t leave foundation grants to the spin of a dreidel. Luck has nothing to do with winning grant proposals. The competition for foundation grants grows exponentially as the total dollars available through this venue decreases. Therefore, nonprofits need to rethink their strategy for getting an initial grant and getting additional grants.
Detailed research must first be done before you even consider writing your letter of inquiry. Take a look at the foundation’s IRS Form 990s for the past three years to find out their giving trends. Do they give a large gift once, or smaller gifts over time?
If more gifts are going for education, frame your own charity’s programs in terms of learning, research, or instruction (formal or informal). If the foundation lists several trustees, identify the personal interests of each by researching their personal hobbies and their professional foci, and then look for ways to weave your programs with these interests.
Also, pay attention to multi-year gifts. It may look like a foundation is continuing to make gifts to the same organizations year after yes, but if you look more closely you may see that they are simply fulfilling a multi-year obligation, and are therefore not making any new gifts of the same magnitude.
What happens once you DO get a grant from your dream foundation?
It’s not like a Chanukah gift – you don’t just say thank you and then play with your new toy. You must engage the funder in an ongoing way that cultivates your relationship. Send the foundation an interim report on the progress of the program they funded – even if their guidelines do not require mid-way reporting.
Finally, before the end of the grant period, set a face-to-face meeting with the funder to discuss “next steps.” You need this foundation as a long-term partner and you must come to the table with the “phases” of the partnership thought-out well in advance. That way, you will impress upon the funder your detailed strategy in place to move forward.