How to Strategically Evaluate RFPs and Grant Funding Announcements to Determine Feasibility

Have you ever found yourself in the position of applying for a grant that you knew wasn’t the right fit, but felt pressured to apply for anyway? I’ve been there—and it’s not a great place to be.

That sense of obligation, whether it’s from a boss, a board, or simply the allure of potential funding, can push us into pursuing opportunities that don’t align with your organization’s mission and goals.

This article, inspired by insights from an Instrumentl Partner Webinar, will explore the importance of strategic evaluation when assessing Requests for Proposals (RFPS) and Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs). Join experts Amanda Day and Kimberly Hays de Muga as we dive into the key considerations and techniques for determining feasibility, ensuring that your grant-seeking efforts are aligned with your organization’s mission and capabilities.

Here we go!

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Note - Using Instrumentl to get matched with relevant grant opportunities? Sometimes, you'll have hundreds of matches to sift through. Learn how to prioritize grant opportunities like Griffin, onboarding specialist at Instrumentl and ED at his own farmers market in Kentucky.

Navigating grant opportunities requires a clear roadmap; aka, a funding strategy.

Committing to a grant strategy means that your grant seeking efforts won’t just be fruitful, but will also remain aligned with the mission and vision of your organization. Let’s take a deeper look.

Why Do This First?

Navigating the ever-changing landscape of grant funding requires an intentional and strategic approach.

Why? It helps you avoid the risk of mission creep.
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Without a clear strategy in place, you might be tempted to “chase the money” by pursuing any available grant opportunity, whether or not it aligns with your organization’s mission and goals.

This can lead to a gradual drift away from your core objectives as you become caught up in projects that might not resonate with your organization’s values.

Another reason to prioritize developing a grants strategy is that it boosts your likelihood of receiving funding.
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While casting a wide net might seem like a smart approach to grant seeking, I can tell you from experience that this is not true. Grant funders typically have specific focus areas they like to fund as well as specific geographies that they serve. Failure to align your grant prospecting efforts with these guidelines can result in wasted time and resources—and less funding.

Think of grant seeking like you would think about searching for a new job. If you apply to every vacant position you find, regardless of the fit, you might land a new job. You will likely have wasted a whole lot of time and effort, whereas a more targeted and strategic approach would have saved you time and landed you a new role that you love.

By prioritizing strategy, you can make sure your efforts are directed only toward opportunities that are a good fit for your organization’s needs. You’ll see a higher ROI on strategic grant seeking efforts, as well as an increase in funding secured. It’s a win-win situation!

How To Develop a Strong Grants Strategy

Building a grant strategy is key to making sure that your organization is competitive when applying for RFPs and FOAs.

Here’s what our friend Amanda Day had to say about what an effective grants strategy entails:
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“These are the things that need to get done in the next one, three, five years. And so if you’ve got that direction where your organization is trying to head, then that is a direct link to the grant work that you should be doing because you know what the priorities of your organization are.”

Think about the critical initiatives and projects that your organization wants to accomplish in the next year, three years, and five years. Identify the resources (i.e., funding) that will be needed to support these initiatives, and use this as the foundation for your grant strategy.

Pro tip from the experts: If your organization lacks a comprehensive strategic plan, consider leveraging the grant application process to help create one. Grant applications often prompt you to articulate your organization’s goals, objectives, and anticipated outcomes. Use these questions to engage stakeholders, including board members, staff, and volunteers, in strategic discussions about the direction of your organization.

By establishing a clear roadmap for your organization’s future, you can effectively identify and prioritize grant opportunities that align with your strategic objectives. This approach not only enhances your chances of securing funding, but also ensures that grant-funded projects contribute meaningfully to your organization’s overall mission and impact.

The Importance of Strategic Grant Calendars

Strategic grant calendars serve as invaluable tools for visualizing grant deadlines, managing workload distribution, and ensuring alignment with organizational objectives.

By proactively planning grant submissions and resource allocation, you can optimize your chances of success while avoiding burnout and overextension.

In grant writing—as in most things—there is give and take. Prioritizing some opportunities may mean that you cannot prioritize others. And that’s ok! As Amanda Day highlights, it’s crucial to make stakeholders understand the trade-offs involved in pursuing certain grant opportunities:
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“If I do this, I cannot do that, are you ok with that?”

If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, that’s ok! I get it. But don’t panic, because Instrumentl is here to help. Instrumentl offers a ton of valuable resources and tools that you can use to better streamline your research and organization efforts—like this ultimate grants calendar planning guide!

Instrumentl also offers a built-in calendar feature where you can find all of your upcoming grants and deadlines in an easy-to-read format.

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‍Utilizing resources like these from Instrumentlempowers organizations to approach grant seeking strategically so that you can stop “chasing the money” and focus your efforts on RFPs that are a good fit for you.

As a grant professional, you probably often face the challenge of explaining to stakeholders why you shouldn’t pursue a certain opportunity. Clearly differentiating between eligibility and competitiveness can help you do this with ease.

Eligibility refers to meeting basic requirements outlined by a grant opportunity, such as:

• Organizational status
• Geographic location
• Project focus

It’s important to remember, however, being eligible does not guarantee success in securing the grant.

Competitiveness, on the other hand, encompasses factors beyond eligibility that influence a grant proposal’s likelihood of being funded. This includes:

• The strength of the proposal
• Alignment with funder’s priorities
• Clarity of objectives
• The organization’s track record securing grants

As Amanda Day emphasizes, it’s essential to internalize the phrase: “While we are eligible, we are not competitive”. Making this phrase a part of your repertoire will help you begin to weed out opportunities that aren’t a good fit so you can focus on those with a high ROI.
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It’s crucial to manage expectations and emphasize the importance of strategic decision-making when pursuing grant opportunities. Sometimes maximizing competitiveness means turning down work that doesn’t align with the organization’s strengths or the funder’s priorities. And that’s ok!

By clearly delineating between eligibility and competitiveness and providing strategic guidance, grant professionals can help their organizations make informed decisions that optimize their chances of securing funding and advancing their missions effectively.

Determining whether your organization is a competitive applicant for a grant involves a multifaceted grant evaluation process.

Here is a list of criteria that you want to consider when you’re evaluating if you’re a good fit for a specific funder:

• Mission and vision alignment
• Geographic focus area alignment
• Funder openness to new grantees
• Similarity to past organizations/projects funded

Instrumentl offers valuable tools to assist with the evaluation process, particularly in terms of matching with good-fit opportunities. By leveraging keywords, project locations, and insights into past giving trends, Instrumentl can help you identify opportunities that align closely with your organization’s mission and objectives.

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Once you find a grant that you think is worth pursuing, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do the funder’s priorities and goals align closely with the mission and objectives of my project?
• Does my organization have the necessary resources (e.g., staff, expertise, infrastructure) to successfully implement the project as outlined in the funder’s guidelines?
• Can we clearly demonstrate a significant need for our project within the community or target population as specified by the funder’s guidelines?
• Does our organization have a strong track record of effectively managing similar projects or programs, and can we provide evidence of successful outcomes that align with the funder’s expectations?
• Have we carefully reviewed the funder’s guidelines to ensure that we meet all eligibility criteria and can meet all requirements and restrictions outlined by the funder?

As Amanda Day highlights, understanding the funder’s intentions can help you gauge your likelihood of success and invest your resources wisely.

Pro Tip: In addition to mission alignment, seeking connections can enhance your competitiveness as an applicant. Leveraging your network is a smart strategy to use as you evaluate RFPs and funding announcements. Connecting with program staff at the funding organization is a great way to learn insights on funder expectations and how to successfully carry out grant objectives.

Here are some additional tools and tips that can help you determine if your organization is a competitive applicant for a funding opportunity:

• Relationship Science: Relationship Science is an online tool that helps you leverage your web of connections to influential decision-makers. You can tap into the networks of your staff, board, and volunteers using this tool to discover and map relationships.
• Connecting with past applicants: The best way to gain insight on a particular funder is by connecting with organizations who have applied for their grants and been funded in the past. Past grantees will be able share their insider knowledge that you can use during your decision-making process.
• GrantAdvisor.org: Grantadvisor.org is a safe way to solicit feedback on grantmakers. You can find public advice from your peers on particular funders and foundations and use that information as you analyze whether an opportunity is a good fit or not.

IRS Forms 990: Analyzing a funder’s Form 990 will give you useful insights into their assets, financial activities, key people like stakeholders and trustees, and past charitable activities. Again, these insights will help you determine if a specific funder is a good match for you, and if your organization could be a competitive applicant.

In the grant-seeking journey, documenting the decision-making process is key for maintaining transparency and accountability within your organization or consultancy.

Here’s a tip from the experts: Meticulously document instances where you come across a funder that seems like a good fit but is eventually ruled out for various reasons.
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Creating a separate spreadsheet or notes section dedicated to these funders/opportunities allows you to document your research and decision-making process. This documentation will serve as a valuable resource, especially if anyone within your organization or client base asks for insights into your grant-seeking strategy.

You might be cringing at the thought of creating and maintaining another spreadsheet. Trust me, I get it! But here’s the good news—Instrumentl can help!

By consolidating your grant opportunities, tracking deadlines, and managing applications all in one place, Instrumentl simplifies the grant-seeking process a LOT. Here are some of the key features and tools that Instrumentl offers that can really level-up your grant seeking efforts:

• Advanced search functionalities
• Email updates with good-fit funding opportunities
• Ability to store documents such as LOIs, applications, and award letters
• Collaboration features to allow your team to delegate tasks, assign to-dos, and meet deadlines
• Grant tracking with automatic report and deadline reminders

Overall, leveraging Instrumentl can significantly enhance your productivity and effectiveness as you navigate the many challenges of grant seeking.

Let’s wrap things up. As a grant professional, you undoubtedly know that grant seeking is complex and multifaceted.

But with a well-designed strategy, the process will become more manageable and fruitful. A clear and focused grant strategy ensures that your organization prioritizes opportunities that align closely with your mission and objectives. This minimizes the risk of mission creep while also maximizing the impact of your grant-seeking efforts.

Understanding the distinction between eligibility and competitiveness, leveraging tools like Instrumentl, and documenting the decision-making process are all key components of a refined grant strategy.

As a fellow grant professional, I strongly encourage you to adopt these strategies if you want to see better outcomes in your grant-seeking endeavors. By approaching this work with a careful strategy and consideration of feasibility, you’ll increase your chances of securing funding and level-up your fundraising game.