Grant proposal writing is a time consuming and often frustrating process. A lot of time and energy goes into researching new foundations and their grant guidelines for good tie-ins to your organization’s mission and programs, but the success rate is frustratingly low. Maybe about 10% of proposals sent to new prospective funders will ellicit a favorable response. Like all fundraising, building a relationship before the proposal hits a foundation’s doorstep can help a great deal.
An experienced fundraising consultant at the Grant Plant blog has some tips for getting your foot in the door even at foundations that don’t take unsolicited grant proposals:
[T]he following are ways that any nonprofit can still get its name, goals, successes, and great potential in front of even the most stalwart grant donors who pre-select which nonprofits can apply for their grants…
- Find out (through networking with colleagues or researching the regional newspaper archives) where the grant donor’s board members present, what professional affiliation conferences they attend, or what associations they are active members in and make sure that one of your organization’s leadership attends one or two of these opportunities and makes professional, friendly, clear, and concise contact with their organization’s leader(s)…
- Conduct a marketing campaign…
- Speak to professional colleagues working at other nonprofits, or ask your own board members, or ask your donor base or volunteer base and find someone who has a relationship with a leader working for the grant donor and ask if they would provide an introduction for you (or a key leader in your agency). Keep asking around – you’d be surprised at the connections that exist in your own organization that could become very fruitful leads. You will eventually find one, I bet.
- Call the foundation’s office and respectfully ask if you may submit a one page letter of introduction to your nonprofit for their programs staff to review for consideration. Some foundations that do not accept unsolicited grant proposals accept letters of introduction in order to be sure that they know what nonprofits exist that they could potentially work with in the community. Remember, they are looking for successful nonprofits partners to give to and if they don’t know of your organization but would appreciate knowing about it and its work – this furthers their foundation’s mission, too. It’s a win win for both agencies but also for the community.
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Speaking from experience; that first phone call can be daunting, but respectful persistence can pay off when you’re trying to introduce your organization to a new donor.
[...] someone there.” That XYZ could be assistance with the process for becoming a 501(c)(3), advice on how to approach a foundation, or the opportunity for a meeting with someone from a foundation’s board. Sometimes [...]