Developing Relationships with Grant Funders

Cardinal Rule: Never submit a "cold" proposal to a potential funder.

Cardinal Question: So...how do I warm them up?

A couple of years ago, I noticed a trend among my clients: those clients who were good at creating relationships with funders had a significantly higher grant approval rate than those clients who preferred to sit in their offices and not talk to anyone. No duh...right?

Personally, I'd almost rather have oral surgery than try to develop a relationship with someone I hope to get something from someday. I'm an introvert - schmoozing is not my thing. Thus, I completely understand when a client says they aren't sure the best way to develop a relationship that could lead to a grant.

Here is a list of ways you can break that ice and begin to establish a relationship in advance of seeking a grant or other support:

• Don't think about building the relationship as "schmoozing." If you are going, hat in hand, feeling that your position is weak, remember these facts:
• Charitable foundations are REQUIRED BY LAW to give money for the public good. They would not exist without organizations like yours. You are helping them be better aware of the different opportunities in their community.
• By the same token, corporate donation programs exist SOLELY for the purpose of donating (money, time, gifts-in-kind, etc.) to worthy causes. Again, they would not exist without you and you are helping them do their job better.
• Determine which foundations, corporations and/or government agencies should have a natural interest in your organization. For instance: 
• If you provide health services, you should get to know officials in the health department. 
• If you have several volunteers from a large local corporation, you should get to know their corporate donor staff. 
• Find out which charitable foundations support work like yours and target them for relationships.
• Begin building relationships in a way that makes sense for your organization. Some activities could include:
• Offering tours of your facilities and programs can be very effective. I have a client who does this on a regular basis - they invite board members, volunteers, funders, potential funders and other stakeholders to tour their programs. They hire a bus to visit various locations and offer a box lunch to participants. Nearly every tour is full. 
• Put them on your mailing list for any newsletters or other publications. Be strategic in what information you mail them. You don't want to send them your annual campaign letter (that would be a "cold" request) or an invitation to your gala. Until you have a relationship, stick to simple information-sharing pieces. Just don't overload them with junk mail!
• Call a potential funder and ask if you can schedule a meeting with them to share information. Some smaller funders may not be interested in doing this but large foundations with professional staff are almost always interested in learning more about your organization.The more they know about nonprofits like yours in the community, they better they look to their bosses!
• Use your board! If you are an executive director or employee, you should not be the only person trying to create these relationships. Your board members should be comfortable making calls and going to meetings as well. 
• Use your connections wisely - if you have identified some potential funders with whom you want to develop relationships, ask around to see if there are any natural connections. Maybe your board chair goes to church with a foundation trustee. Maybe an employee went to high school with the director of corporate relations. It's a small world - use it to your advantage and allow your "team members" to open some doors for you.

Most of these folks are not naive. They know you are working to develop a relationship because, sooner or later, you are going to ask for something. If they ask about that, don't pretend you aren't. Maybe you have a project or proposal ready to hand them. If not, tell them you just want to get to know them right now so that, when a perfect funding opportunity comes up, you will be ready to present it to them. 

So, when does this relationship become fruitful? Each relationship will be different. As the grant seeker, you will (hopefully) develop a sense of when the time is right.

It won't guarantee that every proposal will be funded. But once you are on the radar for these potential funders, things WILL begin to happen.

Grants for Small Business Start-Ups

Do they really exist? The best source for information.

[Phone ringing]
Me: Good morning, this is Dana.
[Static and mumbling]
Me: Hello?
Voice: Yep!
Me: Good morning!
Voice: Hey, my wife was looking for some grant, uh, grant writer people, people who get grants like and saw your website.  Is that what you do?
Me: Oh, how exciting - I'm flattered that you called me. Yes, I'm at grant writer, how --
Voice: Hang on, my dog got out the derned truck. [shuffling, muffled yelling and truck door slamming.]
Me: Hello?
Voice: Yeah, sorry. I'm back on the road now. 
Me: Great! Is your dog okay? [silently glad I'm not sharing that road at the moment...]
Voice: So anyway, I got some roofing business. Well, sort of. There are roofing equipment (mumble) and this guy I met Saturday said there's grants I can get on business. Roofing. Hail.. (mumble) ...asphalt ...shingle...(mumble).
Me: Oh, you are a business man and you are looking for a grant to help you?
Voice: Well, yeah, I mean, I just wondered...'cuz this guy I was talking to said I could get money that  I didn't have to pay back or only had to pay some back or....aw, heck, I'll have to call you back, my dog just run off again.

This is my reconstruction of an actual phone call I got not too long ago. Mr. Voice never called back (I hope the dog is okay) and I suspect he never got his roofing business off the ground (sorry for the pun.)

I get phone calls along this vein quite often.

Inevitably, the caller has seen a commercial that described business grants, talked to "some guy" who told them they were available, or went to a "seminar" where someone talked about government grant programs to help small businesses (I am perplexed that these seminars talk about grant programs but apparently give NO information about them...)

Here's what I know about grants for businesses: There aren't too many. At least not in the U.S. And they aren't very easy to get.

That doesn't mean there aren't resources for people who have a certain expertise and want to begin an enterprise.

If this is you, here's where I recommend you start:
The United States Small Business Administration. http://www.sba.gov/home

If you are an American tax payer, you've already paid for SBA service, so you might as well use it! The website offers all kinds of resources. In fact, it would take days to read all the articles, use the tools, etc. available there. But there's more!

Just in Oklahoma, where I am based, there are 24 SBA offices around the state whose sole purpose is to provide resources and advice to people who own or are considering opening a small business. Free mentoring, free help writing a business plan, free advice - it's all there! You just need to call them.

Guess what? In all likelihood, the people at the SBA will also know about any random business grant programs out there for people who are interested. There's probably no need to hire a professional grant writer.

Although I loved my experience talking to Mr. Voice and I truly hope his derned dog is okay, I also hope he stopped listening to the guy he met while pumping gas at the Nick'n'Run store and gets some really good, free advice from real experts.

Part II: Starting a Nonprofit?

Please allow me to crush your dreams.

In my last post, I began trying to crush the dreams of people wanting to start a new nonprofit. Sounds harsh, doesn't it?

Truthfully - I don't want to crush anyone's dreams. I would rather see those dreams succeed beyond their wildest imaginations! That kind of success, however, might be better achieved by NOT starting a new 501(c)(3) organization.

According to the National Center for Charitable Statistics:

• In 1999,  there were 631,902 nonprofit organizations in the U.S. 
• In 2009, there were 1,006,670 of them - a 59% increase. 
• In 2012, there were 1.4 million. That's about a 120% increase in 13 years!

Even more amazing is this: in 1999, only 32% of nonprofits had receipts less than $25,000 a year. By 2009, 79.4% of them were that small.

Thus: only 18% of the new nonprofits started in 13 years have enough revenue to hire even ONE full-time employee. The rest of them - all 691,008 of them - are tiny.

In my mind's eye, I see all those 691,008 nonprofits scrambling like ants - working hard for every little crumb they can get. And more ants are arriving on the scene daily to compete for those crumbs.

Is your dream crushed yet? 

I hope not. 

If you are truly committed to making the world a better place through charitable work - please do it! In fact, we should all be doing that anyway. But if you think a NEW nonprofit is the BEST way to do that, please answer these questions first:

• Are there other, already-established organizations doing related work, even if it isn't exactly the same as what you are envisioning? In your community? In your state? Anywhere? You can do a Google search to find them or go to Guidestar and do some research there (it's free).
• If yes, can you offer your time and passion to help them achieve their mission? If there isn't a local group, is there a regional or national group you could encourage to come to your community? Could you ask them to adjust their programming to meet the need you've identified? There is TRULY no reason to re-invent the wheel. If another group is working to meet the need - don't duplicate them; help them!
• If no, check again. Of all those 1.4 million nonprofits, I seriously doubt that there isn't one addressing that issue in some way.
• Still want to start your own nonprofit? Okay, then keep going.
• Do you realize that, if you start a nonprofit, it will not truly be "yours?" You will have to establish a board of directors, who will become your boss. They can even fire you (it happens all the time). Are you okay with that?
• Do you have sources of funding up-front? Lottery money or rich uncle? A circle of friends with deep pockets?  Nonprofits take money and grant-makers are seldom interested in start-ups.
• Do you have the skill set needed to run a nonprofit? Business acumen? Bookkeeping knowledge? Organizational skills? Vision? Communication skills? If you have deep pockets, you can hire people with these skills but, in all likelihood, you will be doing them all.
• Finally, answer this question as honestly as possible: WHY do you want to do this? I often get some version of one of these answers:
• To honor someone I love;
• Because I need a job;
• I don't have anything else to do;
• I used to volunteer for another organization but they made me mad and I knew I could do it better;
• I don't really know why - but I just know that I want to.
• None of these answers - by itself - is a good enough reason to start a new nonprofit.

Starting a New Nonprofit

Please allow me to crush your dreams...

In my last post, I asserted that not every new problem (or newly recognized problem) warrants a new nonprofit to address it.

I used the example of The Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, which gathered more than $32 million in four months, but had yet to give a dime to help victims of the hurricane. Why? Because the foundation's leader, New Jersey first lady Mary Pat Christie, was taking the time to set up a nonprofit organization carefully - which takes far more time than disaster victims can spare.

Meanwhile, another nonprofit addressing the EXACT same problem - Robin Hood Foundation distributed almost the entire $67 million raised from the 12-12-12 benefit. As an already-established nonprofit, they able to get resources where they were needed - quickly and efficiently.

Almost every week I talk to passionate, caring people who want to make the world a better place through a new nonprofit. The latest was a man who wanted to start a nonprofit organization that addressed breast cancer - he had just lost a dear friend to the disease and wanted to honor her.

What a wonderful man and a great friend! While I had no desire to crush his dreams, I encouraged him to think through if a new nonprofit was REALLY the best way to honor his friend.

Nonprofit start-ups should look to the business world when considering a new organization. When an entrepreneur is considering a new business, they do extensive and exhaustive research on these basic questions:

• Is there a market (a need) for this business? 
• What is the unique niche my business will serve? 
• Will there be customers?
• What am I selling? 
• What do I charge? 
• Where should I locate? 
• How will I market my business?
• What is the competition? 
• How will I get the money for this business?

These are the same questions new nonprofit start-ups need to ask.

It's actually MORE important for a nonprofit. Why? Well, if the entrepreneur fails to gauge the market, he will lose his own money and the business will be one of thousands (millions?) that fail each year because they just weren't needed. But if a nonprofit organization fails, they are losing donors' money - money that could have gone to more successful organizations. When the new nonprofit fails, people in need are likely to suffer from losing whatever benefit they were receiving from the nonprofit. It hurts everyone and makes the world a worse place.

If you have a dream that will make the world a better place, don't give up on it. Just be wise in addressing it. Ensure you know what you are doing before you begin using resources.

So, what about the man who wanted to address breast cancer? I don't know if he is still interested in that or not - I haven't heard back from him. I did, however, give him a list of questions to consider. I will share that list in my next blog post. Stay posted.

Nonprofit Start-Ups

Nonprofit Start-Ups

Not every new problem needs a new charity

A story in yesterday's USA Today caught my eye: The Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund, which has gathered more than $32 million in the last four months, has yet to give a dollar to help hurricane victims.

Why? Because starting a new nonprofit or charitable foundation takes a lot of work! New Jersey first lady, Mary Pat Christie, makes no apologies for taking an appropriate amount of time setting up a new charity. According to their website, several grants are currently being awarded.

I completely agree with her that it's worth the time and effort to set up a charity correctly - get the infrastructure in place, develop appropriate policies and procedures, hire staff members, recruit the best board members and create viable strategies for addressing the problems you trying to solve. But I believe the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund has no need to exist: not because there aren't people who need the help but precisely BECAUSE there are people who need the help. They needed it four months ago.

Taking the time to carefully and thoughtfully create this charitable organization, while theoretically admirable, is, in my opinion, poor stewardship of the $32 million in donations received. Those who donated (I'm picturing the children who opened their piggy banks and families who redirected Christmas budgets) in the hope of helping people in dire need have not seen their gift spent as they intended.

Christie responds to critics by saying, "In three years, when I'm still distributing money at Hurricane Sandy Relief, ask me if we're doing enough." I would counter that, if she is still distributing money in three years, her relief effort has been a failure.

Which leads me (finally) to my point: not every new problem needs a new nonprofit. 

There. I said it.

At least two or three times a month, I have someone approach me about starting a new nonprofit organization. While there may be a need for a problem to be addressed, there is seldom a need to create a new organization to address it. Whatever problem they want to solve, there is usually a reputable organization already addressing it. They are probably doing it with more effectiveness and efficiency than a start-up organization could.

Case in point: the Robin Hood Foundation - which received the benefit of the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief. Instead of creating a whole new charity, the concert gave the funds to an existing organization. They have already distributed almost the entire $67 million raised.

They were able to do it quickly because they have 25 years of experience and 85 employees. It's a model that is infinitely more effective than creating a new nonprofit organization.

Now, I am not criticizing Mrs. Christie's efforts - in fact, I applaud them. It seems that she is doing an excellent job setting up a nonprofit organization and doing it well. In this case, I just don't think that's what donors REALLY wanted done with their money.

Are you thinking about creating a new nonprofit organization? If so, why? Is there really no other organization that can do what you are proposing? Could your time and energy be better spent helping them?

The Dreaded Logic Model

Confession time: the words "Logic Model" used to strike terror in my heart. When a funder required a logic model in a grant proposal, I would panic for a while, and then scramble to find an example ANYWHERE that I could emulate. Secretly, I resented having to create the model -- I didn't understand why they were needed.

When I saw a session on logic models being offered at the Sarkeys Foundation professional conference, I fought my way into the packed room (apparently, I wasn't the only one who didn't get it!) That morning, the lights went on and I have enjoyed doing logic models ever since. I get it!

A logic model is a simple diagram that connects the dots: starting with the needs of a particular population and pointed to the long-term impact your program eventually provides.

There isn't a "standard" or "best" logic model to use. However, some of my favorites include:

• A model to reduce underage drinking: created by the University of Wisconsin Cooperative Extension;
• A model for a self-directed learning program, created by the Harman Foundation;
• A model from the Pell Institute to improve health outcomes;
• Finally, here is a 71-page pdf guide from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation about logic models.

REQUIRED ELEMENTS:

The examples above have several things in common. I would say these are REQUIRED for a logic model:

INPUTS = The resources your organization is putting toward this effort. It may be staff time, volunteer time, facilities, money, vehicles, supplies, etc.

ACTIVITIES = Precisely what you are doing with those inputs. Offering classes, healthcare, financial assistance, education, art.

OUTPUTS = The immediate and direct result of your activities. Number of dental procedures, number of meetings held and average attendance, participation rates, hours of service, etc. You don't make any assertions about the success of these outputs at this point.

OUTCOMES = Specific changes for individuals because of the output. Such as greater understanding of victim's rights, acknowledgement that driving while texting is dangerous, improved reading comprehension, etc. Many nonprofits stop after listing their outputs - they never offer any evidence that their activities make a difference!

IMPACT = How you will make the world a better place in the long-term. Describe changes to a population, to a community or to a system. You may or may not be able to track this information at your program level - if you can't find empirical (official) data to back up your statements, then they need to be logical to the reader. For instance, if you have a literacy program and say an impact of the program is increased income, you need to explain how you know that will happen (research by other organizations).

 

OPTIONAL ELEMENTS:

When I design a logic model, I like to include a few other elements that allow the logic model to truly stand on its own:

POPULATION:  A very short description of the population you are serving - demographics, psychographics, geographic and any other pertinent "graphic" information.

PROBLEM STATEMENT: Some kind of description of the issue you are addressing. "Overweight/Obesity rates in this population exceed 70% and lead to chronic disease and early death for at least 40% of those affected."

GOAL: A statement of your goal (hint: should be pretty similar to your impact statements).

ASSUMPTIONS: I use this section for any other information I believe will strengthen the model. For instance, "XYZ Foundation is a trusted provider of health care for this population" or "An evidence-based model of behavior change has been shown to have the highest impact on this type of population."

Communicating Outcomes

"We give a hot meal to 150 people every day."
"Last year, we provided 4,983 hours of life skills training."
"More than 1,000 people attended our seven art shows last year."
"We provide free immunizations for 300 children in Ghana every month."

If your outcome statements read something like these, funders are likely to think..."So what?"

Why? Because these aren't outcomes. They are just activities. Most of my clients have used "outcome statements" like these for years and then wondered why funders don't agree with how important their work is.

Truth is: their work is important - vital, in fact. But they are working so hard every day that they begin to believe these activities are actually why they exist. It's time to dig deeper.


Quite simply, outcome statements aren't a description of your activities - they are what happens as the RESULT of your activities. Undoubtedly, that can be much harder to measure but having data that shows how you make the world a better place is too important to blow off.

How do you find your most powerful outcome measures? It depends on a multitude of factors such as your goals, your audience, your activities. But here is a thought process that may help -- let's use the fourth statement above as a starting point.  Disclaimer: I am making up statistics just for demonstration purposes. Please don't use them!

"We provide free immunizations for 300 children in Ghana every month."
WHY?
"So they won't contract preventable diseases like tuberculosis, which killed 1.5 million people worldwide last year."
WHY DO YOU NEED TO DO THIS INSTEAD OF SOMEONE ELSE?
"The children we immunize live in remote areas without viable access to healthcare. If we did not take the vaccines to them, they would not receive them."
HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?
"The parents who bring their children to the clinic tell us this, as does a formal research project conducted by the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) in 2011."
IF YOU DIDN'T DO THIS, WHAT WOULD HAPPEN?
"The area in which we work has a child population of about 40,000. An estimated 10% (4,000) of children not immunized would contract a preventable disease. Research shows that half of them (2,000) would die." 
HOW DOES THIS IMPACT PEOPLE?
"When children are ill, they are unable to help the family gather water and food, care for animals, etc. Taking an ill child to a clinic can take up to three days - during which time the family is unable to earn a living. This impacts the entire family, increasing chances of starvation and the likelihood of developing additional health problems. According to research by the W.H.O., families with healthy children have twice as much access to clean water and nutritious food and, on average, have 35% more resources (water, food, income).

WOW! That's a lot more impact than just giving 300 shots a month!

So...how should you write these outcome statements? I like to use a logic model to achieve those. I will blog about this process next time - so stay tuned!