By Barbara Anne Stephens
As my colleague, Joyce Penland, CFRE, is fond of saying, “Fundraisers have a myriad of tools in their toolbox” and foundation grant writing is one of those tools. Like all fundraising, foundation grant seeking is at its best when there is a strong relationship of mutual interest and respect between the nonprofit organization and the foundation. Developing that relationship takes time and tender care.
Before you have that completed foundation request prepared for delivery to the foundation offices certified mail, signature required, you may want to consider the following tips from the BL&A principals and associates:
- Do sufficient research. It’s not enough to simply consult the foundation directories or websites. Talk with colleagues who have received funding. Research the Foundation’s 990
- Speak directly with foundation grants officers and executive and ask questions. Remember they are the first decision makers for the foundation.
- Work with your Board Members to see if they know any of the Foundation’s trustees. Ask the Board Members to contact the trustees but prepare your Board Members!
- Visit the Foundation and take your best advocate with you—the proverbial person who is “hard to say no to.” Remember to send a letter thanking the foundation for the meeting.
- Take accurate cost estimates and budgets that are of recent vintage. Your credibility depends on it!
- Think beyond your immediate need. How does the new building impact your operations budget and what will be the source of that new revenue? If you are seeking program dollars, what happens to the program when the funding ends?
- If you receive a rejection letter, wait a few days and then telephone the foundation. Thank them for considering your request FIRST! Ask for any recommendations in the future. Follow-up with a personal “thank you” note.
The first fundraising axiom that most development officers learn is “People give money to people.” And so it is with foundations. We need to stop thinking of foundations as a mailbox slot. We must remember that individuals make the decisions at foundations and it’s our responsibility as development professionals to establish a relationship with those individuals.
Foundation grantmaking. . .was $41.21 billion, an estimated 3 percent increase in current dollars but a drop of 0.8 percent adjusted for inflation. It is 13 percent of total giving for 2008.
By comparison, individuals gave 75 percent of the $307 billion and bequests added an additional 7 percent; therefore, we need to budget our time wisely when working on foundation requests.