Picture a tiny snowball starting to roll down a hill. As it picks up snow, it picks up more speed, and then more snow, and then more speed- until it is massive at the bottom of the hill.
That is what grant writing looks like for me.
I have talked about my grant writing niche in the past. I specialize in growing grant budgets from $0-$1M.
Snowballing a grant budget is the only way I have found to reach this goal.
What is snowballing a grant budget?
When I first start working with a client who has no grant history, I look for quick wins from low-hanging fruit, such as Walmart grants, other local corporate grants, small local foundations, etc. This helps build confidence and momentum. We can now leverage these small grants to win recurring grants.
Recurring grants are grants that can be awarded year after year with little effort. In many cases, the grant award amount will increase each year as well.
For example, two years ago, I won a recurring grant for my client. Each year, I submit a final report showing the impact of the grant dollars. The grant giver reviews the final report, and we schedule a call. I talk about our plans for the future, projects that need funding, and ways we are improving. The grant funder then emails me the award for the new grant cycle.
This grant adds to my snowball.
Securing recurring grants allows me to build a foundation to which I can add other types of grants. Each year that passes, the grant budget grows. My yearly goal is to add 1-2 recurring grants.
Adopting this philosophy is a faster and more efficient path to growing a grant budget. Using this method, by the end of year five, the organization should have 6-10 recurring grants.
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants
P.S. Are you new to Write Epic Grants? Don’t worry; all past emails are archived here. Head over there and don’t miss a thing.