Grant makers often receive many more requests than they can fund, so how do you ensure your application stands out? Successful organizations invest in strong relationships. From thoughtful prospecting and discovery work, to maintaining communication and building long-term partnerships, there are many ways to improve the odds and get the best ROI for your organization. We spoke to three experts, to hear their insights from both sides of the Grantor/Grantee relationship.
Nancy Starner, Senior Director of Foundation and Corporate Relations at Cleveland State University, has a background in development and grant work spanning the arts, higher education, and reproductive health and rights. Nancy advocates for being intentional and having a plan when deciding how to work with your most important foundation partners. Whether this is a $5,000 funder, or a $50,000 funder, mapping your important touch points in a grants calendar, over a full year or more is tremendously helpful. Your plan should include application deadlines and reporting requirements, but also touchpoints designed to educate and engage your funder appropriately, to build a cohesive narrative over time.
Lauren Krieg brings perspective as a grantor. As President of Krieg and Associates, Lauren serves as Executive Director of multiple foundations, supporting their administration, governance, granting process, and strategy. Good applicants learn that funders are just as diverse as individual donors. Some like lots of communication, some don’t. Some want blunt self-assessment, some want to get to know leadership personally. The consistent part is that funders care about their projects. It is not as dispassionate and disconnected as it may at times seem from the outside. It’s usually okay to reach out and find out how a foundation wants to be communicated with. They generally appreciate the effort to work together.
Katherine Korey, in her role as Executive Director of the Bright Promises Foundation, is in the unusual position of both applying to foundations for support and being a funder supporting programs for children and families across the Chicago area. When looking for new foundation partners (some of the hardest work to do), you need to start from an abundance mindset. Don’t get overly focused on a single foundation. If the mandate only partially fits your organization, there will be another out there that is better aligned, and you should move on to find that one! The best connections are made in person. Get out from behind the computer and find the shared spaces where like-minded organizations and funders are convening. When making an approach, it helps a lot to be confident in the value proposition of your organization. Don’t oversell, but let the facts speak for themselves. Clearly communicating the issues you are addressing and the solutions you can offer helps position yourself as a peer and partner in making the community better.
Key Takeaways:
Build relationships intentionally: Plan out your important contacts with foundation partners, going beyond the basic application/report cycle. If you want a long-term and deep relationship with your funder, you need to invest in it intentionally.
Learn who you are working with: Working with foundations is a lot like working with individual major gift prospect. Each has a unique personality and requires a customized approach.
Know you are offering an opportunity: Funders exist to fund, and they want to find the right partners and peers to help them make an impact. Remember you are the reason they exist!