Advice to Grantseekers
Introduction
 One fundamental truth about
successful funding is that it involves hard work. Research is only one
of the many steps of the fund-raising process, and a timeconsuming one.
Although good research does not immediately guarantee successful fund-raising,
it is a worthwhile investment as it will certainly contribute to building
successful and lengthy relationships with foundations and corporate citizenship
programmes.
A high number of funding
requests, estimated at 90 percent, are declinedimmediately. Many are declined
because they fall outside a funder’s tated interest areas or because they
are inadequately prepared and do not reflect an organisation’s strengths
and its ability to carry out a proposal’s objectives.
This Advice to Grantseekers
aims to provide you with some basic rules on the art of grantseeking.
“Where shall I begin?” he
asked. “Begin with the beginning”, the King said,
“and stop when you get to the end.”
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Begin
Within Your Organisation
Successful funding from foundations
and corporate citizenship programmes should be based on the development
of a deliberate organisational strategy and a linked project proposal.
Developing an organisational
strategy usually involves intensive work on the part of your organisation’s
management and board of trustees or directors. It also may involve work
with other organisations in your field that share similar goals.
The
first guiding principle to successful fundraising is: know your organisation
What is the unique purpose
of your organisation?
What audience do you serve?
Does this audience receive
similar services from any other organisation?
What important need or needs
do you aim to fulfil?
Does your board of trustees
fully support your initiatives to begin to
respond to these needs?
Drawing a clear profile of
your organisation will help you determine whether yourorganisation has
the necessary expertise and capacity to carry out the project. Knowing
your organisation well will also help you build your credibility with funders
which is extremely important for the long-term development of the organizations.
Research
and Identify Potential Funders
Blanket or scatter-approach
funding, whereby requests are sent to a wide group of foundations and corporate
funders, are ineffective and can damage your organisation’s credibility.
Research on funder’s stated
programme interests is essential. Once you have developed your organisational
strategy and linked project proposal, you can begin this research process.
The goal of your research is to determine those few funders who have interests
in line with your organisational and project objectives. The second guiding
funding research principle is: if you do not qualify, do not apply.
Funder research is a two-step
process. The first step aims to develop an initial “prospect” list of some
10 or 15 funders who have general interests in the subject area of your
organisation or project. The second step involves further research and
refines this list to the 3 or 4 funders you may approach.
Where
can you look for information about funders?
Specialised
Libraries
One place you can look for
information about funders are specialised libraries,such as the European
Foundation Centre Social Economy Library, and the libraries of national
networking centres serving foundations and corporate funders, many of which
in Europe are part of the Orpheus network. Part of the collection of such
libraries consists of annual reports, newsletters, research papers, etc.
published by funders. In such specialised libraries, you will also find
valuable books on fund-raising, proposal writing, legislation on foundations
and associations, etc.
Funding
Directories
The EFC, as well as many
of the national networking centres, publishes funding directories that
include funder profiles - either general profiles, or subject specific
profiles. Although such directories provide only general profiles of funders’
activities, they can be very useful in the initial phase of your research
and they can help you draw your first “prospect” list of funders.
The
Internet
Another important source
of funding information is the Internet. Hundreds of funders throughout
the world are already on the Internet. On their websites they provide quite
detailed information about their mission, areas of activities, awarded
grants, grant application guidelines, etc. Because of the dynamic nature
of the Internet, the information on a funder’s website is often the most
up-to-date information.Funders Online Directory will help you with your
online research.
There is a huge amount of
valuable funding information on the Internet. The question is: How do you
find your way around, how do you make your research more efficient and
effective? Resource websites can be of great help for getting better results
from online research. The Funders Online website is such a resource site.
Funders Online will guide you through the labyrinth of online information
to the specific page you were looking for. At present, the project focuses
on funders active in Europe. You can find a list of other resource websites
@ Funders Online Links.
The
Funders
The best source of funding
information are the funders themselves. Most funderspublish at least one
document where they describe their policy, activities, awarded grants,
etc. If a funder does not provide information through the Internet, we
strongly advise you to contact the funder directly to request information.
Newsletters,
if available, can provide you with some up-to-date information aboutrecent
initiatives, new projects, recent grants, change of staff or policy at
thefoundation.
Grants
lists, contained in many annual reports, are a particularly
valuable source of information. Usually these lists include the name and
address of the organisation funded, the amount of the award and a brief
descriptive text on the purpose of the grant. Unlike programme area statements,
which describe what a funder aims to do, grants lists show what they did.
Grants lists reveal the types of organisations a funder tends to support
and the average size of their grants. You can look at the EFC Grants Index
Newsletter for examples of representative grants awarded in 1995/1996.
Draw
a Funder’s Profile: A Checklist
The following list of questions
can help you to draw your own profiles of prospective funders. Once you
have developed your initial list of 10-15 funders, we advise you to refine
your research by getting as much information as possible from the primary
source - the funders themselves. The aim of this in-depth research is to
get a list of 3-4 funders whose interest areas and initiatives match closely
your organisational and project goals.
Does
the funder support the specific subject area for which you are seekingresources?
For example, if you are seeking
funds for a programme involving university education, you should immediately
cross off your prospect list those funders only interested in the education
of young children.
Does the funder indicate
an interest in your country or geographic region?
Is the funder an operational
foundation?
Operational foundations prefer
to carry out their own programmes and usually do not accept funding applications.
They can, however, offer valuable expertise in their stated programme interests.
Does
the funder make grants for the type of support you are requesting?
For example, if you seek
funding for a conference, you should not approacha funder that explicitly
states that it does not support conferences and seminars. Most funders
have restrictions or limitations on their grantmaking programme. The EFC
strongly advises against requesting support in an area that a funder restricts,
for this can seriously damage your organisation’s credibility.
Does
the funder only support major, consortia projects that may involve a number
of organisations, including governmental partners?
For example, you should not
request support to equip a single school laboratory from a funder that
is only interested in the development of the administration of a country’s
education system.
Does
the funder make grants for the amount of money you will be requesting?
You probably should not request
20,000 ECU from a funder that never made a grant above 5,000 ECU. Also,
funders may not wish to support the full cost of a project. They may expect
you to find additional funding sources to share the full cost.
Does
the funder accept full project proposals, or does it prefer an initial,
brief letter of inquiry?
We strongly advise you to
keep a detailed record of the research you are doing,and to update the
funder profiles on regular basis. You may not use the information immediately
but it will save you a lot of time when you start looking for funding for
your next project.
Funding
Usually Commences at a Top Level
Once you have refined your
prospect list to the 3 or 4 funders that may beinterested in your proposal,
you are prepared for the next step. Successful funding usually commences
at a top management to top management level, from director to director
or board member to board member. Usually, foundations and corporate funders
do not simply support the words and texts of written project proposals;
they fund the people who can execute these proposals effectively.
The EFC would advise against
your funding officer sending an initial letter of inquiry to a person he
does not know. Instead, it would be more effective to have one of your
board members or top managers send a personal letter to an individual known
personally. Following this initial top level contact, and if a funder is
interested in your proposal, further contact may continue at a staff level.
Sometimes such top level personal contacts may not exist. In these cases,
you should write a brief, clear letter of inquiry, usually no more than
two or three pages. Such a letter should:
Describe the aim of the proposed
project;
Note the measurable objectives
and goals that you plan to accomplish;
Summarise the project’s budget
and other sources of funding; and
Explain your organisation’s
abilities and qualifications to accomplish the project.
Successful funding often
depends on the building of long-term relationshipsbetween partners. The
three or four funders on your refined list may have years of experience
in your field of activity. Or they may be interested in building experience
in your field and in your country or region. Almost no funders are willing
to make an award in exchange for a half-page report a year later. On approaching
a funder, your organisation should be willing to undertake the responsibilities
of a long-term relationship. This involves communication in theform of
effective and timely reporting as required by the funding organisation.
It also involves keeping the funder informed of any significant changes
in the written project proposal.
Over time, such communication
may evolve into mutually beneficial professional relationships, with both
the funding organisation and the grantee working to achieve specific aims
in an area of shared interest.
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