The Impact Issue #51: Revitalize Your Grant Search!

Hi there! 

If your grant search game feels stale, then look no further!

This week’s edition will help you approach searching for grants with a fresh perspective. We’ll share expert tips, resources, and training that can help you level up your game. 

Grab your coffee and get ready to take notes.

Welcome to The Impact.

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Pitfalls and Pointers

⚠️ Pitfall: Using Broad Keywords to Locate Grants 

Searching for nonprofit grants can feel like finding a needle in a haystack if you’re not using the right criteria.

Some grants may be relevant, while others will be out of scope. The problem is that you won’t know which category the grant fits in unless you invest time, energy, and resources into research. 

That can make grant prospecting feel like an uphill battle you can never win.

💡Pointer: Specify Your Keywords by Field of Work to Locate Relevant Grants

Your field of work is the area you hope to get funding in, so it really should inform your entire search, whether you’re searching in Instrumentl, online, or with another grants database. 

Here are some tips: 

• Play with options. Don’t just default to top-level keywords like environment or education. Get more specific based on your mission and initiatives. Environmental conservation or music education may pull up more targeted results.  
• Organize your search by project or program. This will help you narrow down keywords specific to what you hope to fund. Instrumentl does this automatically for you to help keep your grants straight. 
• Monitor your results. You can easily get too specific in your search, so if you’re not getting any results, re-evaluate your keywords to identify if you need to make any adjustments. 

👉 Check out the full list of 10 ideas to help identify best-fit funders faster!

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Tech You Should Know

What:

Google Alerts is a free tool that can help you passively monitor search results—keeping an eye on your nonprofit, industry trends, and potential grant opportunities based on keywords. It will notify you via email with new results in real-time, daily or weekly, depending on your preference. 

How Grant Writers Can Use It:

• Track potential funders: Set up an alert for potential funders to find out the latest news, funding opportunities, and other information that can help you with your application.
• Monitor your nonprofit’s online reputation: You can quickly identify how others perceive you and use it to your advantage. You can also use the alerts to get ahead of any crises that could jeopardize your nonprofit or see when the media and other organizations highlight you so you can repost or engage.
• Stay relevant: Set up specific Google Alerts related to your niche, community, industry, and more. These alerts can help inform your funding strategy to best meet the community's needs and help you stay agile.

Keep in Mind:

• You may need to refine your keywords and search preferences to get the most out of Google Alerts. It can parse the entire Internet for results, which may lead to a lot of useless emails in your inbox if you’re not careful.

🚨 Let Google do the searching for you when you set up Alerts!

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Expert Perspectives

🏆 How You May Unintentionally Sabotage Your Grant Search 

We all have the best of intentions when grant prospecting, but you may actually be getting in your own way during the process.

The Instrumentl Team recently shared three ways that you could be unintentionally sabotaging your grant search—and how to overcome them to win more grants. 

Here’s their expert advice:

• Instead of always operating out of survival mode, plan two steps ahead. Snap yourself out of survival mode and start thinking about the bigger picture. If you look two steps ahead, what do you need? And, how can you plan today to get there?
• Don’t neglect time management, prioritize planning instead. Prepare what you can in advance. Create templates and a centralized repository for information. Set internal deadlines well before the actual submission date to account for delays.
• Don’t see grant management software as just another expense, change your mindset to view it as an investment. You are investing in the right tools that will help save you countless hours of research, helping you find, apply for, and win more grants.

⭐ Discover more tips to help burst barriers to execution and level up your prospecting!

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Opportunities Spotlight

🎭 Aurand Harris Grants & Fellowships

Who It’s For: Small nonprofits who are focused on expanding theatre access to young people

Next Deadline: April 1, 2025

Grant Amount: $2,000 - $3,000

The Details:

• The Children’s Theatre Foundation of America is committed to providing theatre access to children. These grants can be used to fund content development, equipment, travel and more. Priority consideration will be given to those focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

👉 Apply Here!

⚖️ Foundation for Improvement of Justice Awards

Who It’s For: Nonprofits committed to improving the justice system on a local, state, and/or federal level

Next Deadline: May 16, 2025

Grant Amount: $15,000

The Details:

• The Foundation for Improvement of Justice offers awards to individuals and nonprofits who have made unique improvements to the civil or criminal justice system. These grants are awarded to programs that have already demonstrated impact.

👉 Apply Here!

🔍 That’s just the start. Check out thousands of other grant opportunities now!

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Networking Nook

💻 Webinar: GPA Collaborative Discussion: Consultant Confidential

March 13 | 1 p.m. CT

Grant consultants unite at the Grant Professionals Association’s webinar! Together, you’ll discuss the ups and downs of being a consultant and help guide others through common challenges. 

Don’t Miss Out

✅ Register Now!

📅 Online Panel: Municipal Reparations Movement 

March 5 | 2-3 p.m. CT

Join the Mockingbird Incubator for an engaging panel discussion exploring the groundbreaking work being done by municipalities to advance reparations programs for Black residents. Using the National African American Reparations Commission’s (NAARC) Reparations Plan as a framework, this event dives into how cities like Los Angeles, California, and Asheville/Buncombe County, North Carolina are addressing their histories of racial and economic exclusion. 

Don’t Miss Out

✅ Register Now!

To check out more recent and upcoming live events, go here.

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In Case You Missed It

📑 Article: How to Stand Out and Win Corporate Grants

Corporate grants are a big untapped resource for many nonprofits. Learn how you can change that with actionable tips to help you locate, apply for, and win corporate grants. 

👉 Get the Full Story!

📼 Video: The Real ROI of Grant Writing

Join grant professional Teresa Huff for a TEDx talk on how to help your nonprofit stand out during the grant application process. Walk away with a simple framework that you can use to increase your grant success.

👉 Watch the Master Class!

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Break Out of Your Grant Search Routine

Your funding goals are a moving target. They’re constantly growing to help support your community’s evolving needs, and your grant strategy should change to keep up with them.

You don’t want to keep searching and applying for the same grants over and over again, hoping for different results. Instead, Instrumentl can help you identify new opportunities, scope out their previous giving trends, and uncover connections that can give you a leg up throughout the application process.

👉 Try Instrumentl free for 14 days today to unlock new funding opportunities!