Foundation and Corporate Funding

When looking for the grantmakers most likely to support your organization’s work, start close to home. The idea of a fat grant from a large national-level foundation is alluring, but unless your organization is doing work of national importance, these large funders probably aren’t a good bet.

Many nonprofits are born from the grave concern of someone who’s experienced a tragedy, suffered from a problem, or witnessed others’ suffering first-hand. These nonprofits radiate an intensity of purpose that inspires others to action and captures the interest of grantmakers who want to partner with authentic organizations working deeply within their communities.

The field of grant development is dynamic. The basic elements of a strong proposal don’t change, but the environment in which funding decisions are made is in constant flux. The trends below remain current. Although not new, they point towards grantseeking realities we’ll be contending with over the coming year.

We often hear that grantseekers aren’t sure whether their organization is eligible for federal grants. The federal government makes thousands of grant awards annually to many types of organizations, and even to some individuals. Don’t write off this important funding source until you’ve examined the possibilities.  Here are a few thoughts to consider.

The energetic and imaginative changemakers who staff nonprofits are full of great ideas. They’re constantly coming up with ways to make things better and looking for grants to support their vision.

In the field of fund development, grants aren’t all that well respected. Once, after I was well known for bringing in millions of grant dollars, a local fund development director recognized me as “the woman who raises all the junk money.” Junk money?

Fund development professionals focus on individual giving because it’s the largest piece of the philanthropic pie. Individual giving represented about 73% of all giving in 2011, and 81% if you throw in bequests–the dollars total about $242.20 billion. Fund development professionals also focus here because the dollars are generally flexible, renewable, and growable. Individual giving done right can be the beanstalk to the golden eggs that just keep coming. I get that.

Our vision for this blog is simple—to present the best thinking in the field of grant development—what we call grantsmanship.

First I want to establish The Grantsmanship Center’s footing because, historically, we’ve got a lot to live up to. Norton Kiritz established The Grantsmanship Center because he was deeply concerned that nonprofits making valuable social contributions had trouble getting grants. Norton began teaching proposal writing when no one else was doing it. In 1972, he founded The Grantsmanship Center because it needed to be done and no one else was leading the way.