The Struggle of Time Vs. Money
Grant Writing and Research take time. Ideally you would have time every day to work on donor relations, special events, reports, and spending quality time in your programs or projects. Then you would still need time for writing grants and researching new funding opportunities. Unfortunately, the truth is you are putting out fires, dealing with the unplanned and unpredictable events that come up in your nonprofit world and rarely getting your to-do list completely checked off. Even with the best intentions and well laid out plans, you don’t usually get to everything. That’s why we offer Grant Writing and Research Support services.
When it comes to grant writing and research, I often hear it doesn’t get priority over other responsibilities in a development department or small shop that wears many hats. Coming from many small offices over the years, I understand that concept all too well.
I’ve known Mandy for about a year. I’ve attended many of her classes and am a part of her document review services. I have to say that I must have been paying attention or I like the simplicity in which Mandy explains processes. Over the past year I’ve written 17 grants, 6 that were new and received a total of $374,000. I attribute that to the great training and grant reviewing from Mandy.
Amanda Pearce and Funding for Good really made the difference in our grant making acumen and strategy. With her guidance, Girl Scouts Hornets’ Nest was able to secure a $99,988 grant award from Duke Energy. She gets results and makes tremendous impact, I strongly recommend her company.
I appreciated the comprehensive details guiding me through the process. And as I’ve started applying for grants, I’ve seen so many examples come to life – and I can recall suggestions from Mandy in the back of my mind as I’m completing the grant applications.
Grant Services Available
Grant Research Package
Program Design
A well-executed program design is the most important component of a competitive grant proposal. Our experts walk you through the program design process from A-Z to ensure you have addressed key questions, budgeting, and program impact goals. Not only will a well-designed program help raise dollars more easily, but will help you build a resource to leverage diverse community partnerships and enhance capacity building opportunities and community impact.
Project design services will involve completion of a needs assessment, a one-page program/project abstract, and comprehensive program/project description that will guide messaging, marketing and fundraising for your cause. This not template creation, but is an essential first step to the template creation process.
Template Creation
Save time and money by working with the pros at Funding For Good to craft a grant template customized to your program, project or organization. Templates will ensure that you are prepared to submit quality proposals. The basic elements of most grant applications are incorporated into each final product.
This service is perfect for organizations who would like to hire a professional grant writer but want to avoid the hefty fees associated with individual grants. Not only do we walk you through the process so you gain valuable skills in grant writing, but you also walk away with a product that you can use for numerous submissions. This is not project design, rather a word-smithed final product to be used for competitive proposals once a completed project design has been established.
Some additional Grants Solutions to consider:
Grant Research
Let us simplify your life.
When it comes to grant writing and research, I often hear that it doesn’t get priority over other responsibilities in a development department or small shop that wears many hats. Coming from many small offices over the years, I understand that concept all too well. This is why we offer grant research for nonprofits.
Imagine sitting down with a thumb drive full of potential donors and simply having to contact them, begin building relationships and putting together LOIs and applications.
Our Free Grants Solution Resources (because we love to help):
Not Sure What You Need?
While a consultation with your local dentist might not be at the top of your list…we can promise that a consultation with Funding for Good is a painless and productive experience! Our pros make the most of every minute and work with your team to evaluate your organization’s needs, explore opportunities, and outline the ways that Funding for Good can help you achieve goals!
Our most recent Grant-related blog posts:
Foundations – How to Start the Conversation with Program Officers
Whether you are new to grant writing, or you have been doing it for years, a critical part of your success lies in the relationships that you establish with the foundations to which you are applying.
What are Evaluation Methods?
Evaluation methods are the criteria for evaluating the success of a program or project.
Where to Find Grants
Knowing where to find grants takes practice. Grant research is one of the main components of...
Grant Research Package FAQs - Click Here
What makes a grant prospect “well-matched”?
Aligning your needs with what prospects want to support makes a prospect well-matched. We use a variety of factors to identify these prospects from geographic focus, financial range of giving, history of giving, subject areas (education, medical, housing, etc.) and grant type (gen. ops, capital, equipment, program, etc.)
What is the turnaround time to receive my final grant research results in-hand?
Depending on current workload, our typical turnaround time to complete a research project for a client is 2-3 weeks. During our initial contact after reviewing the research questionnaire, our team will share our estimated completion date. After the review is complete we will schedule a one-on-one session with the client to review each prospect in detail.
Does Funding for Good guarantee their 8-12 “well-match” prospects will award my nonprofit a grant if I apply?
“Well-matched” prospects are based on available foundation/donor information, history of past giving, current website information and how those known factors (geography, subject are, funding strategy, priorities, etc.) align with the nonprofit organization’s mission and needs. Even if all that lines up perfectly, the donor makes the final decision on who is and is not awarded a grant. While funding cannot be guaranteed, you will receive the highest quality research to identify well-matched prospects for your individual/current needs.
How will I receive information on each prospect in my research results?
Results are sent in individual PDFs for each foundation with detailed information, notes, contact information, important dates and comments regarding each foundation’s guidelines and grant process. You will also receive an editable word document that will house all information for each prospect in a single resource that you can update, share with your team, and use as a quick reference guide to create your timeline and keep notes. Each of these items will be emailed to you prior to our review call.
If I am conducting a capital campaign, why do I need to reach out to Funding For Good before booking research?
Capital Campaigns are larger dollar items than most typical programs and projects. When a capital campaign is in the millions of dollars, it is most beneficial to have 2-rounds of grant research to find the most ideal prospects as possible. We discuss this, creating a timeline for capital projects, discuss the pros and cons of finding a comprehensive list of potential foundation donors at the onset and how leveraging dollars as you go can increase odds of success.