Today's economic climate is making grant awards extremely competitive. This is the result of the law of supply and demand. There are a growing number of nonprofit organizations needing funding, because individual donor monies are shrinking, therefore increasing the demand. Then on the supply side of this equation you have foundations whose assets are either shrinking or investments that are performing below expectations thus reducing supply of grant monies available for award. So what should the nonprofit organization that relies more on grant awards to fund programs and supply general operating funds to do? 1. Make sure that your missions and goals are in line with the foundation's initiatives. The best way to do this is to call the program manager and ask. This saves valuable time and is the starting point to develop a relationship with this critical person in finding out if you are a good fit. Also ask the program officer what they would recommend the requested amount be and ask for that particular amount and no more. 2. Make sure that your organization is in the geographical area that the foundation serves. This is easy and can be obtained from their website or from the program officer. 3. Read carefully the Application Guidelines and follow them exactly. So many grant writers do not read these valuable rules and are easy eliminated from competition. 4. Make sure you have an up to date IRS Determination Letter as more foundations are requesting that this documentation be up to date and current. Your ruling as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is essential in being eligible to request a grant. 5. Make sure that your budget is transparent and that you designate no more then 20% to general operating cost and that 80% goes directly to programs that your nonprofit runs for the benefit of your community. 6. Make sure that Evaluations and Measurements of the success of your program are clear and concise. Use surveys, receipts, transcripts, etc to base your measurements. The more objective and third party information you can gather to measure the outcomes the better. 7. Let the foundation know the other groups you have received funding from or are requesting funds from as they like to see diversity of funds and they won't in all probability fund your entire program anyway. 8. Make sure your Board of Directors knows their role in the grant funding arena. They can network at different functions with trustees and officers of local grantmaking organizations. In all probability they already may know some of these people or know someone who does. Do not discount political relationships they can give you an edge when needed. 9. Proofread and have others edit any written documents from your organization to a foundation requesting funds. There is nothing that gives a worse impression than a poorly written grammatically incorrect document. 10. If the person writing the grant is not a seasoned professional, do some research and view winning grant proposals from a professional grant writer. This is easy just do an internet search for sample grant proposals. If you follow the above advice it will improve your chances of winning grant awards and help to solidify your financial base in times of economic uncertainty. So get out there and win your share of these awards by following and implementing these 10 grant winning tips! Have a Great day,
Matt Lambhoff The Author of "How to Get Free Government Grant." >> www.moneyohmoney.com P.S. Would you like to know How I Got $12,000 Wired Directly To My Bank Account From The Government to Start My $5,000 a Month Business on Google. Get My FREE Step-By-Step Guide on www.moneyohmoney.com
