Practical Resources ... Grant Writing by Carol Geisbauer

Grant Writing

Grant writing, more accurately called “proposal writing”, is one of the ways nonprofit organizations raise funding to provide programs and services to achieve their mission. Grant proposals are submitted to foundations, corporate foundations, corporations and government (federal, state, county and city) for review and selection for funding. The best source of information on available funding sources is the Internet but there are many other funding research tools available to grantseekers. One of my favorites is FC Search, published by The Foundation Center, that contains descriptions of the 80,000+ foundations now in existence in the United States. FC Search is available in libraries across the country.

Study the foundation/corporation/ government funder’s application guidelines and RFP very carefully and make sure there is a match between their funding interest and the mission of your organization and your programs and services. Become an expert on your service interest (such as youth development) by reading extensively in the field (the Internet is a great source of information). Become an expert on your geographic area. Gather and study Needs Assessments written for your geographic area. Take a class in Accounting 101 and learn to prepare agency and program budgets that support your grant proposals. Winning proposals have goals, objectives, measurable outcomes and a plan for evaluation. Grant funding is increasingly “relationship-driven”. Corporations and foundations are more likely to fund when they know a Board member or a staff member, and have some personal knowledge of the organization. This becomes more understandable when you realize that foundations and corporations receive hundreds and thousands of grant proposals each month. The Ford Foundation, one of the largest foundations in the United States, receives about 35,000 proposals each month!

Finally, there is the WOW! factor. When a funder reviews your proposal, they should go: WOW! what an innovative, creative, effective solution to a well-documented community problem or condition.

Carol Geisbauer has 25 years of grant writing experience, with 10 years as a freelance grantwriter. With a Masters from California State University—Fullerton, she served 16 years as an Executive Director for two youth-serving nonprofit agencies. Carol has 10 years of experience teaching others how to write grant proposals to individuals throughout Southern California. Contact Carol at cgeisbauer@aol.com.