One of the unexpected joys of creating this daily newsletter is reading all the email replies I receive.
Grant writing, especially freelance grant writing, can be lonely, and it is reassuring to know that we are not alone.
Yesterday, I spoke to a fellow freelance grant writer about our industry. One of the things we discussed is our frustration with smaller orgs wanting to apply for grants but not measuring impact.
Here is how I address this issue with my clients…
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Although my client is a well-established (10+ years old) organization, it has always relied on fundraising and donors to thrive. They contracted with me to grow their grant budget from $0 to $1M, but they didn’t understand that most grant funders need to see a measurable impact to feel confident in awarding grant money.
I asked them what their outcomes are and how they measure impact. Their reply was, “The impact is obvious to anyone who is part of our organization.”
And it is true. The impact is apparent. If you are there to witness it.
Grant funders will not take our word that “the programming is life-changing.” They need tangibles.
I make a simple recommendation when encountering clients who do not measure impact.
Contact your local college or university and ask for a partnership. Most institutions of higher learning have departments or courses that specialize in developing impact assessments. It may be the sociology or statistics department.
I explained the importance of impact to my client and that our grant awards would be limited without an impact evaluation. They reached out to a local college. Two PhD-level professors incorporated our organization into a class project. The class developed professional outcome evaluation tools for the org and even conducted a year-long impact study.
We are now winning more grants because we can communicate our impact in the following ways:
- Outcome evaluation results
- Year-long impact study
- Participant testimonials
- Referral partner testimonials
- Volunteer testimonials
The combination of qualitative and quantitative data has elevated our grant proposals, and we now qualify for larger grants.
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants
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