The Grant Geek Blog

So you started a nonprofit or are thinking about starting one, and now you need grant funding. You know that grants are given to nonprofits but you are unsure about what you need to do to get started. This article will hopefully provide you with the information.

The vast majority of grants require that you are either a public entity like a school district, college or municipality, or a federally recognized nonprofit organization called a 510c3. I often get calls from people starting or running small businesses who have been told that because they are a woman or a minority or have a disability that they would qualify for a grant. The answer to that is that these types of grants are very, very rare and if available at all are offered at the local level. For instance, a city might want to promote certain neighborhoods that are struggling with blight and lack of commerce so they offer grants to businesses in certain zip codes. I have seen these in DC and Chicago. But again, they are rare.
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Winning a grant is one of the most exciting events for a nonprofit organization. With grant money available, you’ve got resources to advance your mission. But winning a grant comes with a lot of rules, regulations and required activities that many nonprofits aren’t fully aware of when they apply for grants.

Watch this free on-demand webinar with experienced grant program manager, Rachel Nawrocki, to learn the ins and outs of developing, implementing and monitoring a project and fiscal management plan for the entire life of your grant. (more…)

What you need to know.

For many nonprofits their first major grant award is the leaping off point between lofty aspirations of serving the community and actually putting boots on the ground. It can be the difference between coming out of pocket for the help and support you provide your community and actually hiring staff, leasing space and transportation and making your goals of serving your community your full-time (paid) position. So what do you need to know before applying? (more…)

When it comes to writing grants and getting awards, you could read thousands of pages of information and still not have enough. That’s because the best advice you will ever get is from the people that have written grants. A lot of grants for that matter. After writing thousands of grants over the last two decades, we have found that there are a few things you can do that will instantly increase your chances of an award. Here are a few pointers to get started: (more…)

Resource Associates National Grant Writing Firm would like to congratulate five of our clients on their recently-awarded Teen Pregnancy Prevention Grants.  These “Phase I Replicating Programs (Tier 1) Effective in the Promotion of Healthy Adolescence and the Reduction of Teenage Pregnancy and Associated Risk Factors” grants from the US Department of Health and Human Services will go a long way to help at-risk youth build protective factors that prevent unplanned pregnancies. (more…)

By John Nawrocki, Outreach Manager 

Congratulations on winning a grant award! In this competitive environment winning a grant, any grant that required that you write and submit a formal proposal, means you did a great job. Many grants, especially at the federal level, often have more than 75 pages of instructions and if you do not follow them exactly, as in: use the correct font, adhere to section page limits, not exceed expenses for certain things, have all of the correct attachments and signature pages filled out properly and have the correct mandatory partners and more, your proposal that you spent so much time on will go straight in the garbage. (more…)

Watch Now

Grant proposals are most often big, multi-page documents that take a considerable amount of time and attention to detail to put together. While there is a standard format that most grant RFPs follow, each one is unique.

Watch this free webinar with grant writing expert, Marissa Burger, as she walks through each section of a grant RFP and provides tips on how to ensure you’re following the requirements and crafting a strong proposal. (more…)

By Marissa Burger, Quality Control Manager

Jim Collins, renowned business author, lecturer and researcher once said, “Great vision without great people is irrelevant.” This could not be truer when it comes to the important role a Grant Writer plays in the development and sustainability of nonprofits. Whether the organization is a public entity or a community-based 501c3 organization, grants play a major part in pursuing and achieving the mission of your organization.

But to many, grants are almost considered a dirty word. They take time (most often, a lot of time) and they can be hard to understand. Sometimes, due to the specificity of the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA/RFP), it seems the funders have already decided who they want to fund before the competition is even conducted. However, it doesn’t have to be this way. Professional Grant Writers are well-versed in grant language and the history of programming. They are familiar with the nuisances of the submission and they are experienced in developing sound programs and budgets that will help your organization succeed. Here are additional reasons why hiring a professional Grant Writer is a positive move for your organization. (more…)

By Marissa Burger, Quality Control Manager

Finding the right grant to go after can be one of the hardest things to do in your pursuit of grant funding. When looking at grant programs it is important to pick a funder with initiatives that align with your organization’s mission. Along with determining consistent alignment, you must also make sure you are eligible and consider the particulars of the grant. These particulars include the amount of funding available, the maximum and minimum award amounts, the deadline, funding period, required activities, reporting activities and partnership requirements. (more…)

Watch Now

So your grant was rejected. Now what? Do you let all of the effort and resources you put into that application blow away like dust in the wind? No! You can learn a lot from rejection. Watch this 30-minute webinar with grant expert, Scott Hyland, as he shares how to take rejection and turn it into a successful grant application down the road. (more…)