A nonprofit grant, sometimes referred to as a fundraising grant, is a financial donation given to an organization. Grants are typically given by a foundation, corporation, or government agency. Many nonprofits are partially or even entirely funded by grants they receive throughout the year.
Grant organizations, also known as grantmakers, are the foundations, corporations, or government agencies that provide the funding for grants. They usually specify how their gift should be distributed. Rather than giving a lump sum donation that the nonprofit can use to support general operations, grant organizations may stipulate that they want the funds to be used to support a specific program or initiative.
Because grants typically come from large, established organizations, they are often much larger gifts than those that come from individual donors. Large, one-time gifts like grants can give your nonprofit the push it needs to fund a much-needed program or purchase essential supplies or equipment. This can bring your nonprofit into a new phase of growth, attracting increased attention and new donors.
Grants also build your nonprofit’s visibility and credibility. According to the Society for Nonprofits, once you receive one grant, you are more likely to receive others. In other words, once grantmakers see that other notable organizations have given to your cause, they are more likely to give to you themselves.
To secure grant funding, you must know how to find these opportunities. This starts with performing relevant searches based on your organization’s mission and future plans. You’ll want to consider factors like geography, grant type, your mission, the types of services you provide, and your target audience. From there, it’s a matter of conducting research using state, general, and online resources.
Before you can receive a grant, someone must submit a grant proposal on behalf of your nonprofit. This person can be a staff member or an outside writer that you hire to write the proposal. Typically, the grantmaker will have a list of requirements or documents that your nonprofit needs to meet or submit, as well as an application you must fill out. Your proposal includes anything the grantmaker requires and broadly lays out why you need the support and what you would use the funds for if you received the grant.
Once the grant proposal is written, you submit it to the grantmaker. The grantmaker then reviews and either approves or denies your grant application. If they accept your proposal, they will deliver the funds to your organization.
As mentioned above, grants are typically awarded by foundations, government agencies, or corporations. Let’s take a closer look at each of these types of grants:
Grants can also have certain restrictions or conditions. Different types of grants your nonprofit might receive include:
A grant writer is a person responsible for crafting grant proposals. Although these writers often have an educational background in English, writing, or communications, anyone can write a proposal.
To create the most compelling proposal possible, grant writers need to have a firm grasp on the nonprofit’s mission and the needs of the community being served. They also need to be familiar with the grantmaking organization so they can speak specifically to their values, motivations, and interests.
Some nonprofits have employees who are skilled at writing grant proposals while other nonprofits will contract outside writers. To determine if you need to hire a grant writer, consider your bandwidth and your budget.
Ask yourself if someone on your team can take on the responsibility of researching and applying for grants. If not, you may want to hire an outside person to write the grant proposal for you or consider bringing on a staff member whose responsibilities will include researching and writing grant proposals.
To decide whether to bring on a full-time staff member, consider your budget. It may be more financially beneficial to outsource the job to someone on a contract basis.
If your nonprofit wants to outsource the work, we recommend reading CauseVox’s guide on how to hire a grant writer.
Grant management software is a type of nonprofit software that allows nonprofits to easily manage the grant application process from one location. These programs often include features to help simplify your workflows, such as task reminders and the ability to assign responsibilities to various users. The software may also allow you to store the contact information of funders you may be interested in working with in the future.
If you’re interested in investing in grant management software to streamline grant-seeking, spend time finding a user-friendly tool that integrates with your existing donor management system. This will allow you to keep track of all fundraising activities under one roof.
With that in mind, let’s explore our favorite option for grant management software.
Bloomerang is an all-in-one donor management software that also makes it easy to track and manage grants from the same system you use to manage donor relationships. This eliminates the need to manage each fundraising and grant activity from separate spreadsheets or systems.
Bloomerang’s grant management features also include:
Bloomerang’s grant management system also allows you to create a Sustainability Scorecard. This is a data analysis tool that lets you provide grantors with transparency into the state of your organization’s finances and the progress you’ve made toward your goals.
Nonprofit grants provide additional funding and help increase awareness of your mission. In addition, grant management software streamlines the grant process, helping organizations stay organized and fulfill all grant requirements.
For more information about nonprofit grants, review these additional resources:
