When a prospective client who hasn’t applied for grants before reaches out to me for help, I encounter two BIG misconceptions most often.
Nonprofits who haven’t researched or applied for grants before don’t know what they don’t know. They may have seen other local organizations accepting big checks from grant funders and they want in on the action. Totally fair- but it is essential to manage expectations.
I talk about the two misconceptions below…
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Misconception #1- Grant Money is Free Money
Sometimes, grant funding has no strings attached. These are primo grants and are usually awarded by corporations. Most grant funding comes with requirements. Reporting on the grant at the end of the grant cycle is a typical requirement, but sometimes the reporting is more frequent. Sometimes, the reports are tedious and require photos, testimonials, graphics, financials, etc. I have seen grant funders require their logo on banners and t-shirts in exchange for funding. Some funders require press releases announcing the grant award. The reporting for many government grants is damn near a full-time job. Our job is to educate our organizations about what will need to be done if we are awarded the grant funding. Sometimes, a nonprofit lacks the capacity to meet the reporting requirements, and the best thing is to pass on a grant. Whatever the case may be, grant money is rarely free money.
Misconception #2- There Are Thousands of Grants Available for My Mission
This is a tough one for many nonprofits to understand. Let’s suppose that your organization is a pet shelter in Tampa, Florida. When I enter those parameters into Instrumentl, I get a list of 179 grant opportunities. Then, I further filter down to remove veterinary services, disaster relief, wild and rare animal care, large animal and farm animal care, sanctuaries, etc. Now, my list is under 100. I further vet the list using the strategies I talk about here, and the final list is down to 70. That is 5-6 grants/month, which I feel is a reasonable grant calendar. But, there are not thousands, and we certainly won’t win all of them.
Managing these expectations and being transparent is the only way to build a strong and enduring relationship with an organization.
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants
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