A few years ago, I was asked to be a contract grant writer for an organization that provided financial mentorship and career development for at-risk youth.
They were interested in growing their financial literacy programming with grant funding. Limitless grants are available for financial literacy, so the plan was attainable.
But, there were a few issues…
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The majority of financial literacy grants are offered by banks, financial institutions, and credit unions. These types of grant funders are, not surprisingly, meticulous in their evaluation process.
Before accepting the position, I reviewed their public presence like a grant funder would. Here is what I found:
- The mission statement on the home page was slightly different than the mission statement on the program page and also different from the mission statement on an event flyer. A mission statement is the entire reason for existence and it is important that it remains the same throughout messaging.
- The financial literacy program wasn’t listed under “programs” on the website. This will lead grant funders to wonder if it really exists and if they will be the sole funders for it. A program that included financial mentorship was listed, but it specified that mentors and mentees meet once each month and the program they wanted me to apply for specified that groups would meet bi-weekly. It wasn’t clear if these were the same programs or not.
- The financial summary on the Annual Report did not match the IRS 990 form. Grant funders need to trust that their grant money will be managed responsibly, and these inconsistencies would raise concerns.
I brought these inconsistencies to the nonprofit and urged them to correct them before progressing with grant applications.
Even a perfect grant proposal can’t overcome foundational inconsistencies.
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants