Before writing this email, I reviewed the last few months of grants I submitted to gauge how many funders asked for financial documents as part of a proposal or application. I found that roughly 75% of funders require specific financial documents in their grant guidelines.
The other 25% consists of smaller grants, mostly from corporations. Walmart, Publix, and Aldi were among the funders that do not require financials.
Obviously, based on this quick and dirty review of my own grant applications, an organization’s financial documents are very important and are mostly required.
If you write grants for smaller non-profits, you already know that financial documents are among the most challenging to get and keep updated. Maybe the organization has a part-time bookkeeper, or they don’t use accounting software.
I once had a client tell me that it would take a month to get updated financials because a relative did their books, and she was on a month-long cruise in the Mediterranean.
Grant Writing Tip of the Day
Write your grant proposal through the eyes of the grantmaker, demonstrating an understanding of their mission, values, and priorities.
How have I overcome the struggle with financial documents? I set expectations that I need access to the following financial documents at all times:
- Most recent financial audit
- Most recent 990
- Current year’s budget
- Updated statement of income
- Updated balance sheet
- Prior year financial statement
I review these documents regularly and periodically request updates. Staying on top of this prevents me from scrambling at the last minute while writing a grant. I once missed a grant deadline because I didn’t have the requested financial documents and the non-profit couldn’t deliver them to me in time.
I was frustrated not only with my client but also with myself. It only took one missed deadline for me to learn that making sure that these documents are always readily available is best.
For each client, I create a shared Google Drive folder and they drop the updated docs in there. Paying attention to whether they are updated is worth it since I know I will need them 75% of the time.
Until next time,
Write Epic Grants