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Finding The Right Grant Opportunities For You
With a shrinking base of foundation money to draw from and more and more organizations looking for grants, it’s essential for organizations to make sure they spend their time wisely, targeting grants they are actually qualified for. Not every grant is right for every organization, and vice versa.
Which One Are You?
There are grants out there for small businesses, non-profit organizations, educational grants, even grants for folks wanting to attend college. The first step is narrowing down which one of these categories you qualify for, and it’s not as easy as it sounds.
For example, a small Christian school would seem to qualify for an educational grant, except that many grants have a “no-religion” clause, meaning that they don’t give money to anybody that has anything to do with religion, whether it’s Buddhism, Hinduism, or Christianity. In this case, the school in question might be better off looking at grant opportunities with Christian foundations, or educational ones that don’t have a non-religious limitation.
Get Online…With People
Although it’s possible to do your research online, sometimes the best resource when seeking grants for your organization is other people. Why? Because the reality is, grant foundations tend to support organizations they have been associated with, or that they have had recommended by someone they know. It’s just safer that way for them.
If someone the board trusts has been to your organization and seen the work you do and believes in you, that person will be a better asset to your grant-making application process than if you had sent in 100 grant applications to foundations you picked out of a hat. So, ask around: is there anyone in your organization who knows somebody who might know somebody? Of course, it’s never a bad idea to do a little research online and see if there’s anybody looking to give money to organizations like yours.
What Do You Want To Do With The Money?
Probably 90% of all grants awarded are for one of two possible purposes: operating grants or project grants. They are what they sound like: an operating grant is to help with operating costs, and a project grant is designated for a specific project. In general, operating grants are harder to come by and harder to get, as well as being much more flexible in terms of how the money can be spent.
Foundations generally award these to organizations they have been working with for some time, and who they trust to handle the money properly. Project grants, on the other hand, are much more common, and usually require an accounting of the money at least beforehand, if not before and after. With a project grant, the grant-making foundation will also want to see tangible results for their money, as in: “How will you know if you’ve achieved your goals?”, and, “What will change in your community as a result of this project?”.
As a rule, get as much information as you can about a grant foundation before you begin the application process, because each foundation requires its own, slightly different set of information, and each grant requires hours and hours of preparation. Once you’ve gotten it down to the ones you’re definitely qualified for, it’s time to decide whether or not to use a professional grant writer.
For a list of grant opportunities, visit the Foundation Center.
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