One of the unfortunate parts of our job is explaining to our Executive Directors why more grants aren’t being funded.
It rarely has anything to do with the grant writer.
I mean, if you submitted the grant late, didn’t answer the questions directly, made errors in the budget, etc, it may be your fault.
But there are even more reasons why it likely has nothing to do with you, the grant writer.
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Grant writers are not wizards.
We can:
- Wordsmith the heck out of a program narrative
- Tell stories that tug at heartstrings
- Craft stellar logic models
- Have precision attention to detail
- Carefully vet grant opportunities
- Find data to support community needs
But we can’t:
- Strengthen weak projects that don’t meet community needs
- Repair the non-profit’s reputation
- Improve the financial strength or history
- Make the organization older than it is
- Improve evaluation tools to measure the impact better
When grants are continuously denied, we can evaluate the reasons and ask for feedback. If the failing is our own, we can fix it and do better. If the weakness is in the program or organization, we can discuss it with the Executive Director and make recommendations for improvement.
The important thing is to take action. Don’t quit, but don’t remain in a pattern of failure.
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants
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