My two favorite grant research tools are GrantStation and Instrumentl. Their databases overflow with grant opportunities, and both have great filtering tools to help with the grant research process.
Every quarter, I dedicate a few hours to grant research for each client. The goal is to add 20 or so solid opportunities to the upcoming quarter’s grant calendar.
Even with filters, my grant research funnel can start out pretty scary. Meredith Noble talks about this in her book, How to Write a Grant.
Here is what my grant research funnel looks like:
I use my favorite research tools to compile a massive list of grants remotely related to my client’s mission. Once I use a few filters to generate this list, I notice how many grant opportunities are available. If it is more than 200, I add a couple more filters, like state or region. I generate the list again and it is usually down to 100 or so opportunities.
At this point, I comb through the list manually. I delete the ones that don’t match and save the ones that look good on the surface.
After my manual evaluation, I will have 50 or so grants remaining. I drill down into these to ensure that the mission matches their focus, that we qualify in other ways, and that they have an open application.
By the end of this step, I will have 20 or so solid grant opportunities that we have a decent chance of winning. I add them to the grant calendar.
Here are a few related emails if you missed them:
- My two favorite ways to schedule and track grant opportunities
- One way I fill my grant schedule with dozens of grant opportunities
- How I snipe other orgs to find promising grant funders
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants
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