How to Raise Money FAST for Your Nonprofit!

...but not with grants

In honor of the "important" testing going on in schools around the nation right now, here is a multiple-choice question for you.

The best time to begin a grant-seeking strategy for your nonprofit is:
A. During the summer, to ensure you are "in the black" by December
B. When your organization is already solid but needs support to build capacity or fund a new initiative
C. To get some operating capital as quickly as possible before you have to shut your doors
D. The same day you file as a brand-new 501(c)(3) organization

Correct Answer: B. When your organization is already solid but needs support to build capacity or fund a new initiative.

So...the time to seek grants is when you don't really need them to survive? That doesn't seem fair, does it?

But that's generally the case. Whether you are seeking funds from a government agency, corporate giving program or private foundation, the investor wants to know you have experience with success, are not in financial despair and have an historic and reasonable operating strategy that works.

Plus, a grant-seeking strategy takes months to begin paying off. First you have to develop a relationship with funders, perhaps submit a letter of intent and wait for a response, submit a proposal, have a site visit and wait weeks or months for a response (which is likely to be "not this time.") It's a strategy that won't work if you are worried about making payroll at the end of the month!

Where does that leave your organization is in a situation described in A, C or D?
Don't lose hope! 

In my next blog entry, I will offer some suggestions for ways to raise funds a bit more quickly.