How to Find Grant-Based Funding for Your Nonprofit Organization

If you run a nonprofit organization, securing a long-term source of revenue will need to be one of your top priorities. While there are numerous ways you could potentially fund your organization, many organizations have found this funding to be best achieved through the use of grants.

Grants are a great option for nonprofit organizations for a number of different reasons. They can help you get off of the ground and running; they usually can offer you a sense of security over time; and they can be used to help secure funding from further sources as well.

But while the use of grants can undoubtedly be beneficial, securing such grants can sometimes be a very challenging process. In addition to all of the paper work involved, there is a distinct possibility of getting rejected, and the entire grant-writing process can certainly wear you out.

Nevertheless, using this article as an introductory guide will hopefully secure the funding you need to help your organization move closer to achieving its long-term mission.

If you want to secure grant-based funding, you are going to have to be willing to work hard and live in the world of rejection.

Be sure you have set up a proper nonprofit organization.

Before you can even begin applying for grants, you are going to need to make sure your nonprofit organization has been properly declared and is good to go.

If you haven’t already, begin by filing a 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt form with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This will not only allow you to begin operating without having to pay taxes, but it will also be what declares the legal existence of your organization.

Once you have correctly filed your paperwork with the IRS, you will also want to establish a nonprofit business banking account. Without a bank account, even once you’ve received a grant, you will have nowhere to put the money. A nonprofit bank account is easy to set up and is something that is offered at most commercial banks.

Use a foundation directory.

A foundation directory will help you be able to easily find a number of different potential donors at once. Similar to a phone book or any other type of directory, these directories will provide the names and contact information of the organizations that can potentially fund the pursuit of your mission.

While some foundations are generally seeking to “do good,” most foundations are founded with a more specific purpose in mind. Do your research and try to find an organization that has a mission that is similar to your own—this will make you much more likely to be in a position to secure funding.

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Apply to as many different places as you can.

One problem that is fairly common among nonprofit organizations is that they find themselves waiting for a reply from a single source. Then, once such a source finally responds to them and says ‘no,’ they realize they are not going to be able to get the funding they need.

Instead of becoming dependent on a single source for funding, it is much better to diversify the amount of opportunities you might have moving forward, and apply to as many places as possible. This is a strategy that is known by some people as the “spaghetti strategy”—essentially, you are throwing a handful of spaghetti up against a wall hoping that something might stick.

Other than the increased amount of work that is involved, there are really no downsides to aggressively pursuing multiple funding sources at once. Even if multiple different foundations respond positively and they all want to give to your organization, all this will mean is that you end up with more funding than you initially might have expected.

Keep track of communications.

As you continue to apply to more and more potential foundations, it can be quite easy to lose track of who you have been talking to and what exactly you have been asking for. This is why it is very important to keep track of each of your lines of communication along the way.

A good way to keep track of communications is with a simple Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. There, you can create various columns with headings such as “Amount Requested,” “Date Last Contacted,” “Next Step,” “Outcomes,” and whatever else you believe is necessary.

Being able to comprehensively examine all of the different lines of communication you have going at once will allow to see what has been working, where you have been struggling, and what you can do as an organization moving forward.

The more organized you can be in the grant-seeking process, the more likely you will actually be able to secure the funding you need.

Follow up and stay persistent.

Getting funding for your nonprofit organization can be a very challenging process, especially if you are a new organization still looking for your first major source of revenue. Most major foundations are constantly getting new grant requests, and they may not be able to even properly respond to them all. In the very competitive world of nonprofit financing, you can’t take things too personally—but what you can do is persist.

For every “no” that you may receive along the way, realize that you are just one step closer to your first “yes.” Naturally, most organizations are going to be hesitant to give their money away, but if you can consistently reach out to them and demonstrate that your organization is one that is capable of producing a tremendous amount of good, even the most stubborn foundations can eventually be convinced.

If you are persistent, organized and have a clear mission, you will be able to eventually secure the funding that you need. Furthermore, if you are willing to consistently be in touch with a large number of organizations, the odds of at least one of them responding positively become exponentially greater.

Securing a grant is no easy task, but it is, in fact, quite possible. Keeping all of these things in mind, you can move one step closer to achieving your mission as a non-profit organization.

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