The Grant Geek Blog

Looking for faith-based funding? It’s important for your church to do some initial prep work to be ready when the appropriate opportunities present themselves. Follow these three important steps and you’ll not only enter the grant world with confidence – you’ll also be well on your way to meeting the important needs of your congregation and community.

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The outlook related to government grants will be clearer in the next couple of months as the Trump Administration sets a target date of October 1^st to approve the 2018 Federal budget to prevent a government shutdown. As of now, the budget is still in negotiation and committees are approving their versions of spending bills to be considered. Nothing has been finalized yet that will give us further insight into the future of government grant programs. However, there are a few things that could be considered positive when comparing what is being approved by committees and the massive slashes that were proposed in the budget blueprint released in March.

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An audited financial statement prepared by a qualified CPA is an integral part of administering a nonprofit organization, and can have a profound effect on the future of your organization. Any organization that receives $750,000 in Federal funds is required to have a Single Audit performed, and foundations often require an audited financial statement as part of a grant application. Federal funders need to make sure the organizations are spending the funds with high integrity and honesty as they are responsible for making sure tax payers’ money is being spent in compliance with regulations. Your auditor will review your Federal programs application, Federal Notice of Grant Awards, Contract, Budget and be sure you have spent the funds in compliance with not only these items, but also in compliance with 2 CFR 200. The goal is to have the scrutiny of your finances and programs result in an “unqualified” audit without any “findings”. A “qualified” audit or an “unqualified” audit with several “findings” could result in Federal payments being delayed due to increased review of your payment documentation prior to payment, payment(s) being returned to the funder, and/or your foundation grant application being denied.

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A Capital Campaign can be a daunting undertaking, especially after you realize how many thousands or millions of dollars are needed to reach your goal. Take a deep breath, you are not alone. People who have gone before you have found the following “secrets” to be helpful to their success.

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Have you ever read the last page of a novel first? Not ideal when reading a thriller – but brilliant if you’re a grant writer. Many reviewers will approach a grant proposal “backward,” by reading the budget and logic model first. This offers a snapshot of your project before they dive into the bones of the narrative, which leads us to:

Tip #1: Your Budget Should Stand on Its Own.

​When a reviewer reads the budget for your project, they should be able to understand Who, When, Where and How. This is accomplished by creating a tight, descriptive, easy-to-follow narrative alongside your figures to explain the details. Just as an abstract is a synopsis of your project, your budget should be as well. Your budget should tell a story.

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Nearly every type of school is eligible to receive grant funding. Yes, even private schools! Many schools, however, don’t pursue the funding that is available. With teachers bogged down with oversized classrooms and administrators working after hours to ensure compliance with testing and state and local achievement goals, educators often do not have the time or energy to write grants. Developing a grant proposal can take anywhere from 10 to more than several hundred hours. At the college level, professors often seek sabbaticals just to focus on grant proposal writing.

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A small (very small!) portion of the commercial advertising you see about grants on TV and the internet is true. There are billions of dollars available in the form of grants for all different types of organizations and entities. Unfortunately, when it comes to most companies trying to sell grant services, this is where the truth ends.

Coming from a professional grant writing company that was one of the first of such companies in the United States and that has been in business for more than 22 years …

Here is the Real Truth

Despite the fact that grant money does exist, the truth is that it is very difficult for small businesses and individuals to receive any of it.

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Creating a sustainability funnel for your nonprofit is vital to your success. As a grant writer, the immediate response to creating sustainability is aggressive grant research and grant writing. However, as a nonprofit there are a number of ways to further your sustainability, including varying grant funding sources, enterprise,and products. Sustainability is an executive and board responsibility a should be part of a solid comprehensive plan for your organization. The plan should include detailed strategic planning to execute the endeavor which in turn should include implementation plans for each sustainability endeavor. Let’s take a look at three options to create funding sustainability.

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Writing a grant proposal is far more challenging than most people realize. As any professional grant writer would agree, writing even the smallest of proposals requires much more time and effort than just jotting down a few ideas and numbers in a word document. Here, at Resource Associates, we often compare it to birthing a baby. Just like a new mother-to-be, one must dedicate extraordinary resources in preparing an award winning grant. Often times, this requires working around the clock for months just to ensure every “i” is dotted and “t” is crossed. There are some grants that are so technically difficult to write that it requires more than 6 months’ time to complete. It is not unusual for a Resource Associates’ grant expert to prepare a proposal that – when printed – is over a foot thick (luckily we transitioned into a paperless system years ago).

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The Trump administration released its first official federal budget “blueprint” the third week of March and it slashes many federal programs and completely eliminates others. The administration states that the slashes are meant to offset increased defense spending. This “blueprint” will act as a guide for the official budget, which will be negotiated and then later approved by congress. The $54 billion dollars in federal cuts means major changes are inevitable for grant funded programs and grant writing professionals.

The administration is claiming that many federal programs are simply not effective or duplicate efforts that are already being funded. Some of the departments and programs that could be cut include; The National Endowment for the Arts (includes ArtWorks), The National Endowment for the Humanities (includes Summer Seminars and Institutes), Community Services Block Grants, Community Development Block Grants, Community Development Financial Institutions, Corporation of Community and National Services (includes AmeriCorps programs), Institute of Museum and Library Services, and 21^st Century Community Learning Centers.

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