As with most industries, in the grant world, cash is king. Winning a large, unrestricted grant award is the holy grail for a non-profit. We, as grant writers, aspire to deliver this to our clients or employers.
But, these types of grants are very competitive and don’t come around often.
There is another type of grant that makes up 5% of available grant funding and is less competitive- In-kind grants.
One of my clients desperately needed a website update and refresh. They were quoted $5000 for the development work and asked me to look for a grant to cover it.
Few grants will fund websites, so I applied for a few in-kind marketing grants. Within three months, I secured a $10,000 in-kind grant for the website work, and they started immediately.
What are in-kind grants?
An in-kind grant provides donations of goods, services, or labor.
It isn’t cash- but when your non-profit has a need, it can be just as good, if not better.
Grant Writing Tip of the Day
Meet with the Executive Director and Program Directors regularly to understand the organization’s goals and needs. Aligning grants with needs is imperative for success.
What types of in-kind grants are available?
As I mentioned, in-kind grants for marketing are common, but there are other types.
- Gift cards
- Property (land or buildings)
- Computers
- Software
- Online advertising
- Medication
- Books and learning materials
- Stuffed animals
- Catered meals
The list goes on and on.
Here are a few examples:
Build-A-Bear Foundation. I won this grant for a client a few years back, and they shipped 500 teddy bears to the organization.
Coretta Scott King Book Awards Donation Grant. This grant provides 100+ titles by African American authors to non-profits across the US.
Google Ad Grant. Google awards $10,000 in ad credits to non-profits each month.
Marco Promos Grant. Marco awards $1000 in free promo products each week to help non-profits.
What are the benefits of in-kind grants?
The biggest benefit is that in-kind grants tend to be much less strict than traditional grants. They don’t require extensive financial reports, and newer organizations often receive awards.
In-kind grants cover marketing, overhead, or admin expenses that traditional grants don’t typically fund.
How do I find in-kind grants?
I head over to GrantStation and use their Grantmaker Search tool. I filter the Search Criteria under the Types of Support section. I select “In-Kind” unless I am searching for something specific like “Land/Property Acquisition” or “Equipment.” (Subscribers to Write Epic Grants get GrantStation for only $95/year)
Hundreds of grants pop up, and I keep filtering them by location, deadline, etc, until I have 5-10 that I want to apply for.
Don’t sleep on in-kind grants. They can take you from $0 to hero quickly.
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants