Grants Research That Works ...

There’s no substitute for the kind of research that goes into a successful grantseeking effort. No shortcuts, no secret formulas, no magic wands -- just plenty of elbow grease and hard work.

It takes time, effort, patience, and lots of followup.

That’s the so-called “bad” news.

The good news is that there’s nothing particularly tricky about the research process, either. And there are a number of tools and techniques that can streamline the process and help make sure you’re focusing your efforts where they have the greatest likelihood of earning you the payback you’re after: A funded proposal.

The Funder’s Sweet Spot

There’s a concept called the “Funder’s Sweet Spot” that can help you make sense of this process.

Imagine an archer’s target, with a bull’s-eye in the middle and a series of rings radiating outward. The target represents the universe of potential funders -- all the corporations, foundations, government and community resources that exist in the entire world that give money to somebody, and who -- theoretically -- might give money to you.

How many possible funders are we talking about?

The best estimate puts the number at something like 120,000 in the United States alone. That’s a good, round number that represents some 75,000 private, public and corporate foundation programs; the balance is made up of other corporate giving programs, United Ways and federated campaigns; and all the public or government grants programs at the federal, state, local and tribal levels.

Whew!

Realistically, you cannot possibly research and submit proposals to the entire universe of potential funders.

Nor would you want to: The return for your time would be infinitesimally small. Let’s be clear: 98% or more of those 100,000 grantmakers have no interest in hearing from you . . . because there’s no chance at all that they would support your grant request.

It doesn’t matter how worthy your cause is, or how credible your organization, or how compelling your grant proposal. None of that makes any difference. They simply don’t have your money waiting for you in their pockets.

Given the fact that you don’t have all the time in the world, there’s no point wasting any of it on the 98% of the funding universe that is outside your target zone. As a savvy grantseeker, what you want to do is concentrate your efforts on the sweet spot at the center of the target.

In this sweet spot are the funders who are most likely to be receptive to a specific request from your specific organization for a specific kind of support for a specific project or need. And you can identify them because they share three characteristics in common:

They understand and support your mission;
They operate in your geographic area; and
They have a history of and continued interest in funding organizations like yours.

As self-explanatory as these factors might sound, it’s all too easy to lose sight of common sense and be drawn off target by the illusive lure of lots of money . . . have you noticed?

Keeping a tight, close grip on what you’re looking for helps you stay focused and able to zero in on what’s relevant and ignore all the rest. Setting out on grants research without a clearly defined “target” is a bit like heading out on a scavenger hunt without knowing what items you’re supposed to be bringing back.

So let’s take a closer look at our scavenger-hunt factors one at a time.

Mission Match

Your sweet-spot funders are those who, first of all, have a mission in common with yours.

This doesn’t necessarily mean they’re already familiar with your organization (though they may be). What it does mean is that they have a history of and interest in supporting projects similar to the one you’re proposing.

In grants terms we call this “mission match,” and without it, your grant requests will go nowhere.

Here’s how we like to think of it:

Your organization has a service mission – specific changes that it seeks to create in the world through the work it does. That mission may have to do with working with at-risk youth; or with natural resources; or with arts education.

Every grantmaking organization has a mission, too – a philanthropic mission – in other words, specific changes that it seeks to create in the world through the wise investment of its philanthropic resources.

You have the programs and services; you rely on the funders for financial resources to support your work. The funders have the financial resources; they rely on you (and organizations like yours) for the muscle and know-how to get the work done. In short:

Grantmakers need you in order to fulfill their philanthropic mission, every bit as much as you need them to support you in fulfilling your mission.

In the very best sense we are collaborators – co-creators – in bringing about meaningful change in our communities, our society, our world at large.

The intersection of your service mission and the funder’s philanthropic mission is your “sweet spot.” How to determine if you have a good mission match with a given funder?

Priorities. The first step is to investigate the funder’s stated priorities.If the funder gives only to a clearly defined range of causes, make sure your proposal falls within or overlaps with those priorities.

Many funders have very broad priority guidelines – for instance, “empowerment of disenfranchised women.” You’ll need to dig deeper and take a look at what kind of projects they’re actually supporting within that very broad priority in order to know if your program is a good match.

Programmatic factors. Within the broader range of priorities, look for as many other linkages as you can between your program and the expressed preferences of the funder.

Will your program serve a particular group of people (elderly, immigrants, working poor) that are of interest to the funder? Does the funder prefer to work with certain types of organizations (churches, tribal entities, K-12 schools) that you or your partners represent?

Geographic Match

It doesn’t matter how perfect the match is between your organization’s work and the philanthropic priorities of a given funder, if you don’t also have a geographic match.

This simply means: Does the funder make grants to organizations in your geographic service area?

Just as your organization makes strategic decisions about the geographic scope of your services, grantmakers similarly have very clear and specific geographic boundaries for their funding decisions.

These boundaries can be very expansive; e.g., We fund programs anywhere in the United States that address our priority issues.
They can be at the state level: We make grants only within the state of Oklahoma; or We make grants to qualified organizations in Illinois, Florida, and West Virginia.
Some funders limit their grantmaking to specific counties, cities or towns; some even go so far as to specify communities or neighborhoods.
For corporate funders, the geographic descriptions tend to sound more like this: We make grants in our headquarters community only; or . . . in areas of our major branch operations; or . . . in the communities where our employees live and work.

Sometimes in our enthusiasm for the important work we’re doing, we can lose sight of the importance of a sound geographic match.

We start to say things like: “I know the XYZ Foundation says it only makes grants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area . . . but they’re such a perfect match for our program priorities that I’m sure when they see how great the need is here in San Diego, they’ll be happy to give us money.”

It won’t happen!

So an important early first question to ask is: What is the geographic area that will be served by our proposed project?

Draw a mental circle describing this area. When you find a funder whose own self-described circle of geographic scope intersects with or overlaps with yours, you have a prospective “target-zone” funder.

Pre-Existing Positive Connection

Clearly, a solid match of both mission and geographic scope is the sine qua non – the “gotta-have-it” -- of grants research.

The third factor – a pre-existing positive connection between your organization and the funder – is not 100% mandatory. However, all other factors being equal, that positive connection can certainly give your proposal the edge over applicants that don’t have a prior connection with the funder.

It’s a matter of psychology: Again, all other things being equal, most of us simply prefer to work with people (or organizations) that are familiar to us and with which we already have some kind of relationship. (or with whom someone we know and trust has a relationship).

What kinds of pre-existing connections are we talking about? Here are a few possibilities:

Previous support. Don’t forget corporations and foundations that have supported you in the past. Having received a grant and managed it well and successfully is a powerful foundation for an ongoing relationship of trust.

Although many organizations won’t fund multiyear or continuing requests, others are happy to consider repeat grants to an agency they know and trust.

People. Look for people-to-people connections. Corporations in particular like to support agencies with which their employees are connected . . . as volunteers, or through their own donations.

Who do you know who knows somebody who . . .? Look to your board members, your volunteers, your staff, and other constituents for linkages between your organization and the funder you’re interested in approaching.

Other linkages. Finally, look for ways in which your agency supports or helps the potential funder.

Is your service one that the funder’s employees and their families find themselves using? Do you provide job training that strengthens the labor pool from which the corporation draws its employees? Is there a particularly strong “quality of life” connection between what your agency does and the needs and interests of the funder?

Ready, Set . . . Go!

In this article we’ve just begun to scratch the surface of the skills, tools and techniques of successful grants research. The “Funder’s Bull’s-Eye” doesn’t do the work for us . . . nor does it answer all the questions that need to be answered.

Rather, the “Funder’s Bull’s-Eye” offers a simple, easy-to-visualize and powerful framework for keeping ourselves on track, and on target, as we navigate our way through the vast and diverse universe of grant possibilities.

Navigating this universe successfully requires that we work harder and smarter -- both relying on good old-fashioned stick-to-itiveness and making sure we’re focusing where our work will pay off best.

That’s it. That’s all. No shortcuts, no secret formulas, no magic wands -- just a roadmap, a few planning tools, and a solid dose of common sense -- and oh yes, some elbow grease.

Now, get ready for your research, research, research to turn into grants, grants, grants!

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Grants Research That Works: Finding More "Sweet-Spot" Funders!