“Can I really stabilize my nonprofit’s finances with grants?

Can I win enough that we can scale our programs and have the impact we’ve dreamed of?

. . . and if I can, then why haven’t I been able to do it?”

I get some variation of these questions all the time from folks at small and growing nonprofits.

If you’re not having the grant success you want, if you’ve been struggling to piece together a successful grant strategy or trying to learn to write grants through tedious trial and error . . .

. . . you are NOT alone.

I find that leaders of small nonprofits are often the type of folks who competently juggle the responsibilities of 5 people. Part of it is the nature of leadership, but another part of it is that in the nonprofit sector, organizations are always expected to be doing more with less.

The consequence is that it seems like there’s never enough time to pause and evaluate how well things are working.

The consequence is that taking action is prioritized over planning.

The consequence is that to-do lists seem to only get longer as everyone works harder and feels more exhausted.

The #1 reason that most small nonprofits don’t have the grant success they want is that they haven’t systematized the grantseeking process.

What does it mean to systematize your grantseeking?

The truth is you are not going to stumble into grant success. It’s something you have to work smart at.

It requires a systematic approach.

Instead of letting grant opportunities come to you, systematizing your grantseeking means dedicating time to finding and evaluating a specific number of grant opportunities each quarter.

Instead of writing applications at the last minute, systematizing your grantseeking means creating a standard grant narrative that you can tailor to specific opportunities.

And, instead of making up programs to fit grant announcements, systematizing your grantseeking means knowing exactly how much funding you need for each program, how much you’ve already asked for, and how much you’ve been awarded. It means knowing the exact opportunities you will apply for to fund each program.

In short, systematizing your grantseeking means knowing the actions you should take to get the best results and understanding how and when to adjust your strategy.

What’s possible with more grant success?

So much! When you systematize your grantseeking, not only will you get better results and more funding, but you’ll be able to accomplish this all in less time.

You’ll be able to pay yourself and your staff a living wage and grow your team.

Grant successes also tend to beget more grant successes and fundraising wins. When you list funders on your website and in your annual report, you inspire more confidence in your work. Individuals will be more likely to give to you. And when you apply for other grants, funders will be more likely to support you because they see that you have other sources of funding.

Most importantly, you’ll be able to sustain and scale your mission. Having stable funding through grants is the best way to ensure that you’ll be there for your program participants not just next month but for the long term. This is what you want and what they deserve.

How to systematize your grantseeking

The first step is to understand your current approach to grantseeking. How much of your time do you spend on grant writing and fundraising? How thoroughly do you evaluate the opportunities you apply for? Do you have a standard grant narrative?

And then look at your results. How many grants have you received in the last year? For what dollar amounts? How does this compare to the funding you want to receive?

Most importantly, make time to learn an approach to grantseeking that works. Reading this post is an excellent first step, but the #1 way to get better results is to implement a proven system.

That is exactly what I teach inside Grant Writing Made Easy. We’re opening enrollment in just a couple weeks, so if you’ve been considering joining, stay tuned for that announcement. 

In the meantime, I have two recommendations:

#1: Join me and thousands of other grant writers and nonprofit leaders inside the Grant Genius Facebook group.

#2: Download The Roadmap to Grant Funding.