As a nonprofit finance leader, maybe you’ve experienced this scenario before: A well-intentioned member of your organization hears about an amazing grant that could fund a new project. They rush into your office with breathless anticipation of all that your organization will be able to do with this newfound funding. In a torrent of excitement, the staff member charges off at the chance to increase grant revenue.
Want to learn about effective grant management? Read Blackbaud’s new study: “Best Practices for Grant Management: Mapping Success at Five Leading Organizations.“
But how do you know it’s truly worth their time? It’s important to not lose focus on your primary objectives—both strategic and operational. Here are five questions that can help you determine whether a grant is a star (i.e. worth pursuing) or a black hole (i.e. not worth your time).
- Does this grant—and the associated program—fit within the clearly defined bounds of your mission?
As the financial leader of the organization, you need to lead the staff down the path of answering a few questions to determine if this grant is a star or blackhole before the cavalry rides off with their grant writing pens held high. This should be a relatively easy question to answer. If not—before moving to the next question—it may be time to have senior leadership and the board take a strong look at your stated mission and ascertain if it is still on-message today.
- Does the grant and project fit within your long-term strategic plan?
If you are asking yourself what your strategic plan is in the first place, stop here and revisit the first question! A strategic plan must be a living, breathing, organic document on which you base key decisions. Find your plan, then answer whether or not this new offering fits.
- Does your organization have the capacity to execute with high quality on this newly proposed program?
If yes, then proceed – but don’t go into this new initiative wearing rose-colored glasses. You still need to evaluate these factors:
- Are there programs that fit into your plan that are scheduled to begin beyond the current operating cycle?
- How is your unrestricted giving? Is it flat, growing, or declining?
- Does your organization have processes and technology in place to effectively manage grant restrictions and reporting requirements?
- Will this funding be in place for the foreseeable future?
If this is a one-year grant, what is the likelihood that it will be on a renewal schedule for at least several years moving forward? If it’s not likely to renew, is your development team ready to obtain support for continual funding of this program without the grant?
- Will operating funds for administrative overhead be covered in the grant, or will the organization need to find alternative funding sources for these costs?
Does the grant provide an indirect cost allocation to cover administrative expenses, or will your organization have to reallocate administrative budget to cover a portion of program costs? Before you move forward, you need to ensure that the full costs of the related program will be covered. If the grant doesn’t cover all of your program costs, then you need to develop a plan to fund the uncovered costs via an alternative funding source.
If you can fully answer all of the above questions, then the grant and associated program are likely worth further exploration. Here’s to a star in the making!
Great tips and lessons to be learned in grant writing. A grant must relate to the mission or one should not write a grant.
Really helpful tips at just the right moment in time – I’m about to make another grant application.
Excellent points!!
Excellent tips for not only grant writers but also managers. 🙂
Thank you for the tips!
Has happened to us so many times. Good advice on evaluating leads.
Great advice! Much of it seems like common sense, but it’s surprising how many times an award gets to the final stages before things like the indirect billing, cost share, or other “little things” that can cause BIG problems are raised.
Great tips!
Excellent tips. Would also help if other departments are involved in implementation to get their feedback.
Really valuable info to assess the value of any opportunity. TY
Great checklist to go through!
This is great advice. Too many people think that grants are easy to get and manage.
We do not apply for many grants, mostly because we have followed these steps & narrow our applications down accordingly.
Good point on #5 – non profits can’t implement programs without staff.
At one time we had a committee to review grant opportunities. Staff turnover has made it difficult to maintain this group.
Grants are a foreign topic for me. Thank you for providing this valuable information!
Yes yes yes! And does this grant require more reporting and tracking than feasible within the limits of time, funding and staffing.
Excellent advice, thank you!
Great tips and a lot of things to consider.
Thank you for sharing
Focusing on black holes = disaster!
Great pointers to keep focused when delving into grants, thank you!
Great read!
Great tips to share with the whole team!
Thanks for posting!