1. Grant opportunities show up in unlikely places - staff recs, wall plaques, board, etc.
2. Diversify your grant research - you can start with Foundation Discovery in Grant Frog and expand
3. Grant funds are found in various places - private foundations, public foundations, corporate foundations, community foundations, government, state, city and local communities, professional associations, institutions…
4. Make a grants calendar plan 6 months to a year ahead if possible, foundations don't typically have a quick turnaround
5. Expect to be hit with a grant proposal with a deadline in 4 days. If it's a solid fit and you can reasonably get it done, make it happen.
6. Pick up the phone and call - make that personal connection
7. Expect rejection and get used to it - but keep your head high
8. Even if a grant request is declined, that doesn’t mean it’s over
9. Ask again and again
10. Track your grants in a grants system like Grant Frog - you won’t miss deadlines and you can see all your grants in one place
11. Keep a running list of life-changing stories of what the organization does
12. Be ready to tell a story anytime you can - phone, in-person, emails, grant proposals, grant reports
13. Do site visits - When the foundation wants to visit, be there and guide the journey
14. On site visits, get your nonprofit clientele involved - real-life story
15. You’ll learn more than you dreamed about a foundation in a 45-minute personal visit than you will via email
16. Know your program numbers - how many you help each year or whatever you measure
17. Know your budget - total org, total program, total project, then specifics - you’ll be asked about them
18. Know your outcomes - what does the program or project accomplish
19. Keep a folder of the most common requested documents from foundations - board members, leadership, staff credentials, 501(c)(3), etc.
20. Create Templates of each grant proposal section narrative - your ‘Grant content library’ - entire grant proposals, executive summaries, program overviews, etc.
21. Templates help you spend time on the entire grants process and help you get those last-minute grants out quick
22. Keep a list of helpful data sources about your nonprofit clientele
23. Update your statistics and data regularly - sometimes it’s once a year, sometimes more
24. Get to know program staff - they are full of first-person stories and insider knowledge
25. Reach out to your current and previous funders regularly - even a short email with a story and picture
26. Send out personal thank you notes after visits, grants received, or just because
27. Grant proposals don’t necessarily have to be perfect (most, not all cases)
28. Grants are so much more than just the grant application - it's an entire grants management process
29. Learn the 7 parts of grants management
30. Don't apply to a grant if the organization can't manage it from beginning to end
31. Don't apply to every grant you find - you'll waste time and be disappointed
32. Grants aren't a band-aid fix
33. No two foundations are the same
34. No two grant applications or grant guidelines are the same
35. There are many foundations, but they give where their priorities are
