From Grant Maker to Applicant: A Grant Strategy Blueprint
As a Program Manager at the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, I’ve spent time on both the grant making and the grant applicant side of philanthropy. Our organization is an intermediary foundation, meaning we make grants to other nonprofits while also fundraising every dollar ourselves.
I’m in a unique position where I can relate to the challenges on both sides of the fence:
I know that applying to grants can be an exhausting, intense, and sometimes disheartening experience.
Similarly, I know how selecting and managing grantees can feel like a heavy weight, especially when there are so many incredible programs out there doing amazing work.
In this article, I’m going to share 7 lessons I've learned in my role as a grant maker and grant applicant for building a successful grant strategy. My hope in sharing these lessons is that they can help you create a blueprint for your own grants processes. From finding opportunities to building sustainable relationships with funders and everything in between, here are my top recommendations and insights!
1. Don’t Force It! Only Apply To Grants That Fit Your Organization
The competitive nature of the grants world can make it difficult to stay focused and mission-aligned when scouting opportunities for funding.
Grant applications are too time consuming to jump into without first ensuring that there is a reasonable chance for success.
However, I’ll be the first to admit that it’s not always easy. I’ve found myself thinking about opportunities that may be a stretch, especially when funding is required for projects to move forward. Here’s what I recommend to stay on track and not be tempted:
Spend more time doing the research to find opportunities that align with your vision, mission, and activities.
Don’t fall victim to overpromising and under-delivering—apply for what you know you can accomplish within the structure and mechanisms you have in place.
As a grantmaker, I have seen applicants try to fit into a grant opportunity that is not a good match, and it’s usually easy to tell. These applications often provide narratives that do not align with the outputs and/or activities listed, or they leave out details altogether.
Instead of trying to make your program appealing to a specific funder, it can be more efficient to seek out opportunities that reflect what your organization already does well. This way the process feels more natural and the likelihood of success is also greater. A win-win!
If you’re struggling to find funding opportunities that align with your work, check out this Instrumentl will guide on the best places to find grants.
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Funders, especially foundations and other entities that have been in the grant-making space for some time, typically provide resources to help applicants better understand their areas of interest, processes, and requirements.
Some examples of common funder resources include:
Historical information on awardees.
A scoring rubric (This is extremely helpful in helping you craft answers that check all the boxes).
Opportunities to review the application (Group webinars or learning sessions).
Contact information for the grants team.
It is extremely important to use the materials available to you. It can make the application process feel less overwhelming and give your organization a leg up.
In my experience making grants with my team, we aspire to over-communicate timelines and requirements around open grant cycles.
For example, we provide a live webinar session every year when our grant cycle opens. Grantees that prioritize attending, or watching the recording after, are able to better understand the opportunity, ask questions to the team who will be reviewing their submission, and ultimately learn how to most effectively move forward.
Although not all funders prioritize sharing these types of resources, I recommend exploring what resources are available prior to submitting an application. It also never hurts to reach out if you’re stuck and cannot find any helpful materials. Who knows, you could be helping the funder better understand what they need to do to grow and become a better partner!
3. Always Create Your Own Grants Timeline With Your Team
As obvious as it may sound, timing is one of the most important (and challenging!) pieces to the grant application process.
I can’t tell you how many times great organizations submit late applications in my experience as a grant reader and selector. Oftentimes our turnaround time is so tight that we’re unable to be as flexible as we’d like.
Generally, submitting late can result in a funder completely voiding your application or minimize your overall chances for being selected. It’s understandable that mistakes and delays can happen, but doing all you can to stay organized and ahead of schedule can go a long way.
When my organization has deadlines for submitting grant applications and/or funder reports, we go through the following steps:
We build a timeline from the submission date and work backwards to ensure we allow enough time for each step of our process.
Next, we communicate the timeline with our team members who will be involved, and send calendar invites to ensure visibility.
Finally, we work in a shared document so that we can comment and tag each other where input is needed.
This may sound like an obvious piece of advice, but looking at the grant timeline and working backwards from the due date can help you create a guide that ensures timely submission.
4. Don’t Let Grant Application “No’s” Discourage You
If part of your role involves applying to grants, you certainly have to have a strong sense of resilience.
It’s highly unlikely that every application you submit will be successful, so “no’s” are inevitable.
Like one of my old coaches used to say, “you win some and you learn some”, and that’s exactly the attitude I have when it comes to submitting grant proposals.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a grantor that has encouraged me to be more understanding as an applicant is that you can’t take “no’s” too hard. While this is easier to suggest than put into practice, it is so important to not let unsuccessful submissions discourage you from future opportunities.
Many times grant makers have a limited amount of funding to give out so they are unable to fund every organization they feel is eligible and deserving. Deciding between strong and worthy applicants is often the hardest part of the job.
Understanding that a “no” is not always a reflection of your work or your application can help to ease the inevitable disappointment you feel when an application is not successful.
5. If Grant Application Feedback Is Available, Don’t Be Afraid To Lean Into It
When you’ve spent time, energy, and care completing a grant application it can be difficult to feel motivated if it gets turned down. However this period can be critical for your growth as a grant professional and for your organization as a whole.
If you see an opportunity to connect with the funder to ask for feedback I highly recommend doing so.
Asking for feedback may not feel comfortable, and you might not love what you hear, but it is a chance to get constructive and direct feedback that can lead you to future successes. Grantors can be a wealth of knowledge and may help you break through some of the challenges that come up when writing a strong proposal. Think of it as an opportunity to get some insider secrets.
In my experience as a grantor, I find it promising when organizations reach out for feedback because it means they want to learn, adapt, and be a part of the work of the foundation. What’s even better is when a program applies again after receiving feedback and is able to incorporate it to create a stronger application.
I recognize that not all funders offer this dialogue, but even if they do not upfront, it doesn’t hurt to reach out and ask! If contact information was provided at some point along the way for questions, try reaching out via email. If you were not provided contact details, see if there’s a general grants email on the organization’s website.
In your outreach, explain clearly what you would like to gain from a follow up conversation and highlight your eagerness to learn from this experience. It may not work every time but one funder willing to provide feedback could be enough to get you back on the right track!
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6. Be Communicative And Build Up Funder Relationships
The importance of effective communication cannot be overstated when it comes to building out a successful grants strategy.
Although all funders have their own structures in place for making grant decisions, familiarity with potential partners is always helpful.
As a funder, I want to understand what organizations are up to, what they need to succeed, and how I can be an advocate for them. As a grantee, I want my funders and supporters to keep my organization top of mind when opportunities arise and ensure they have a deep understanding of our work.
One of my favorite parts of working in my grant-making role is the ability to build relationships with the foundation’s grantees. The portfolio I manage is an amazing group of impressive organizations, and their leaders inspire me each and every day.
I appreciate updates from them so much as it helps keep me connected to the work on the ground and allows me to understand how I can connect them to opportunities as they arise. Over the past few years, I have been able to connect grantees that stay in touch with funding opportunities from my organization and from others in the space that are a good match.
Without those relationships, I may not know to make the connection or to reach out and see if there’s interest. Relationships built on trust and communication are vital in this work!
As a grantee, regular communication allows you to share successes and stay top of mind. Organizations can provide updates to funders in a variety of ways:
Social media (Following funding partners and having them follow back is an effective way for sharing interesting content often.)
Newsletters
Individual conversations
Invitations to events, site visits, fundraisers, etc.
As we all know, the work is certainly not over once you land a grant award. Not only do you want to perform well as an active awardee, you also want to set your organization up for success in the future.
Accountable and transparent grantees will stand out to a funder and can increase their chances for more sustainable partnerships.
As an intermediary foundation, my team and I are typically more than sympathetic to the fact that things can happen. If there are problems, delays, and/or issues in delivering grant requirements, let the funder or your grant manager know in a timely manner.
In my experience as a grants manager, I appreciate a heads up so much more than a late submission with no communication.
For example, if a grantee reaches out to me via phone, text, or email (after years at Laureus we typically know each other pretty well!) to inform me their report is going to be a day late, I can plan on my side and I don’t have to spend time chasing them for it.
It may not seem like much but a quick heads up that you need extra time can go a long way. Being upfront with funders can save a lot of hassle for both parties.
Wrapping Up:
Overall, both sides of the grants space bring challenging but important learnings that I hope will assist you in building out your own grant strategy, just as they have for me. Let’s recap!
Apply to grants that are a good fit and don’t spend time trying to make your work fit into an opportunity that isn’t organic.
Refer to helpful resources provided by funders to guide your application.
Create a timeline with your team and stick to it.
Don’t let “no’s” get you down, they’re going to happen!
Ask for feedback on your applications and lean into it next time around.
Over communicate with funding partners and prioritize relationships with them.
Be accountable to the requirements and deadlines you agree to. And if you can’t be, let your grant manager know!
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