Grantseeker Alert
Before you submit that grant proposal, consider this:
An estimated 9 out of every 10 grant proposals are rejected!
According to grant makers,
here are common mistakes grant-seekers make:
· Failure to meet basic guidelines.While each grant maker has unique conditions for funding eligibility, virtually all require answers to these three questions:
1. What’s the problem? Grassroots programs tend to provide available data vs. applicable data. National statistics may be easier to find, but they do not justify support for a local program. Saint Wall Street provides the latest state-level cost data to instantly produce the relevant statistics grant makers want.
2. How is your program different and better at solving the problem? If there’s a real need for your services, chances are other programs also provide them. Spouting colorful rhetoric instead of stating clear distinctions will not inspire grant makers to choose your program for funding. Saint Wall Street helps grassroots programs identify their strengths and align them with one or more of the most fundable public interests: children and family, public safety, and economic development/recovery.
3. Where’s the proof? Grant makers no longer give to charity; they invest in solutions. Like any prudent investor, they want a good return on their money. Beyond merely presenting outcomes, demonstrating return on investment calls for presenting cost-benefits impacts. Grant makers want to know the values produced over the dollars invested. Saint Wall Street’s exclusive Program Return on Investment (PROI) process simplifies cost-benefits analysis, making it faster and easier to make a value-driven case.
· Lack of sustainability.To avoid investing money where there’s no future, grant makers want to know how, at the end of the grant award, your program will be sustained. With 64% of programs reporting increased demand for human services, 74% of human-service programs reportedly underfunded, and most nonprofits dying within 5-9 years, proof of sustainability is more necessary than ever. Program Return on Investment (PROI) training makes becoming sustainable, affordable. To assess your program’s current sustainability, take The “S” Test.
To help the grassroots program(s) you fund or manage increase grants funding eligibility and create multiple-income streams on a budget, contact Saint Wall Street today!
