A Refreshingly Useful Listicle: Top Ten Must-Do's

When we talk to nonprofit staff, one commonly recurring question is “How can we do better at grant funding?” We’ve decided to leverage our history and experience in the sector to gather materials for a series of articles on this topic. Our in-depth conversations with foundation and corporate program officers and a wider survey of their peers form the basis of the series. In this article, Powering Nonprofits asked program officers, “if you could give one or two pieces of advice to a prospective grantee, what would they be?” Their answers speak for themselves!

In no particular order, we quote their advice, albeit anonymously...

Program officers say:

1. 1.  Follow directions
2. 2. Do your research and really read the guidelines. Don't waste your time on a proposal that is a long shot.
3. 3. Focus on the work you're doing that aligns with the funder's mission. Do that with every application you submit (as well as all the large donors you're trying to cultivate).
4. 4. Research!!!! Who are we, our mission and vision, our board, our jurors, our guidelines.
5. 5. Be clear and on time.
6. 6. Think about a grant as a match between the particular interests of a funder and the nonprofit. Even nonprofits that do great work may not be a strong match to some funders.
7. 7. Try to really understand the foundation; how it operates, what it’s looking for
8. 8. Look at website to see who else has been funded (extra credit for asking one of those grantees about their experience to get a deeper understanding).
9. 9. Read the damn instructions!
10. 10. Avoid insider jargon from your field. The people reading may be well educated, smart, and thoughtful, but not necessarily in your field.
    
11. 11. Always pick up the phone or send an email if you have questions. Trust and open lines of communication are the most important tools a program officer has. We want to hear from prospective grantees!

Bonus tip: Take advantage of info sessions for programs when they are available.

If you’ve got a stellar relationship with a program officer please share, and Powering Nonprofits may include your story in this series. The next article will cover what’s different when working with corporate foundations. Please subscribe to our RSS feed or check back over the next few weeks for updates.