In the for-profit world, investors support businesses they believe will be profitable. In the nonprofit world, grant funders (investors) support businesses they believe will be impactful.
When a for-profit pitches to investors, they need to demonstrate a need for their product/service, that people will pay for it, and that it will generate enough revenue to be profitable.
When a nonprofit grant writer pitches to grant funders, we need to demonstrate the need for the programming, that other grant funders and donors endorse it, and that it will result in community impact.
How can we do that? And how much should we focus on that?
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Recently, I wrote a grant for a capital expense for a new-ish organization. The grant funder sent an email suggesting we either demonstrate sustainability or rewrite the grant for operating expenses.
The reason? They didn’t feel comfortable investing in a capital expense without some assurance that the organization wasn’t going to close its doors anytime soon.
It is a fair request. And it made me think about when building “sustainability” into the grant narrative is important.
- When the organization is new (1-3 years old)
- When a natural disaster has threatened the organization
- When there has been a change in leadership
- When the organization is growing very quickly
I am sure there are other examples, but these are the challenges I have overcome by including sustainability in the narrative.
Related: Here’s how I handle the dreaded “sustainability question.”
Sometimes, there is a specific question, but if not, here are some of the ways I weave it into the narrative:
- Describe the Board’s sustainability plan.
- Discuss what you learned from a threat to the org and the changes implemented since.
- Qualifications of new leadership and goals for the org.
- Provide detailed plans about how to ensure quality while scaling quickly.
- Mention other funders that have already invested in the organization in some way (partnerships, grant awards, etc).
The goal is to reassure the grant funder that their money is safe with your organization and that each dollar will yield the maximum impact possible.
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants
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