Is your organization ready for grant funding?

Finding grant funding–especially on your own–can be daunting. It’s important to have a foundation in place to successfully compete for limited dollars. Before you start writing, consider the three phases below. Where does your organization fit in?

Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3
Phase 1

Does your organization have the following in place, and can you answer the related questions?

  • Board of directors (preferable), task force, steering committee, or other committed group. Question: Do your board members understand the role and responsibilities of a nonprofit board?
  • Mission statement. Questions: Does anybody else in your community have a similar mission? How are you different? Will your organization serve a unique need?
  • Vision statement: What do you hope will result from your work? Questions: Who else in your community shares this vision? Do you have a plan for collaborating with those individuals or groups?
  • Community support: Money, volunteers, in-kind support, buy-in by community stakeholders and leaders. Questions: If you don’t have significant support in your community, how do you plan to build it? Do you have a track record of donations of time, goods, services and money from your community?
  • Funds to hire a grantwriter or to provide grantwriting training to a staff member or volunteer.

If you can answer “yes” to all items in Phase 1, you’re probably ready to research funders in preparation for writing grant proposals.

go to phase 2
Phase 2

Does your organization have the following in place?

  • An active, involved board of directors that meets regularly, understands the vision, mission and goals of the organization; and knows their responsibilities as a board.
  • Incorporation and 501(c)(3) tax status, or a fiscal agent if you are in the process of obtaining your charitable tax status.
  • A strategic plan with goals, objectives and a timeline that includes both service delivery and financial goals. This brings all of the above together into one document. Questions: Have you thought about where you are going and why? What is your long-term funding strategy? What other sources of funds besides grants will you be seeking? How will you continue to increase community donations of time, money, goods, and services?
  • An annual organizational budget approved by the board. This is something that you will need to provide along with most grant proposals you submit.
  • If applicable, annual program budgets for each of your organization’s programs that include projected revenue and projected expenses (including personnel expenses allocated to each program).
  • A tracking system for keeping track of services you provide (e.g. number of clients served, number of hours or service units provided), volunteer hours, donations, and other relevant statistics.
  • A financial management system. You will need accounting software, a way to generate accurate budget-to-actual financial reports by month and year, and a method of generating periodic balance sheets.
  • The ability, if you are awarded a grant, to carry out what you said you would do in the grant proposal.

If you can answer “yes” to all items in Phase 2, you’re likely ready to write grant proposals.

Go to Phase 3
Phase 3

Does your organization have the following?

  • Regularly scheduled (at least annual) board planning sessions that revisit your organization’s vision, mission and goals.
  • A history of meeting your planned goals and objectives.
  • A board recruitment plan that maintains a pool of appropriate candidates for board nomination.
  • Orientation for new board members.
  • Ongoing training for all board members.
  • An annual financial review by the board and the board’s budget/finance committee.
  • An annual audit for large organizations. For smaller organizations, an annual independent review by a person outside your organization.
  • A track record of attracting growing community support. Note: Foundation and corporate grants typically make up only a small portion of the income of nonprofit organizations (up to 30%). It is essential that your organization create a resource development strategy that includes diverse sources of funding and other contributions of time, goods, and services available in your community.

If you can answer “yes” to all items in Phase 3, you’re well positioned for success in attracting continuing grant funding.

Not quite ready for grant seeking? We would be happy to help you build a foundation for success. Please check out our services.