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Guest Post by Kathy Hoeck. Kathy has been assisting nonprofit organizations in their grant-seeking plans since 2009 and founded KLH Grant Services, LLC in 2015. Her passion for research and writing allow her to craft proposals that are specific to her clients’ missions and that bring supporting data to strengthen individual narratives. The goal of KLH is to come alongside nonprofit organizations to not only prepare award-winning proposals, but to ensure her clients are “grant-ready” by following the four key steps outlined below.
A grant-seeking plan is different from other forms of fundraising and requires its own unique strategy. As I work with nonprofits, I recognize that many want to jump out of the gate too fast and begin submitting proposals when, many times, they simply are not ready.
To be ready, you must establish four key documents that will position you to be competitive to receive grant awards.
- Well-defined Budgets – expressing your organization’s story both numerically and within your narratives. You will need an overall budget for your organization as a whole and a separate project budget, if you are seeking funding for a specific project.
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- Program-indefinite duration, expresses day-to-day activities constituting your nonprofit organization
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- Project-short term, start and finish date, i.e. build a school or medical center, securing necessary equipment
2. Case for Support (CFS) – your organization’s “business plan” expressing the need for your organization and establishing the strategies for how you will meet/resolve that need. It is one of the most important documents you will write for your non-profit as it forms the basis for all donor communications and provides a valuable resource to everyone who is soliciting donations on your behalf.
3. Evaluation Plan – determines how you will document the change/transformation in the lives of those you serve and demonstrates stewardship to your donors and your constituents as well.
4. Sustainability Plan – ensures that the services and resources you offer your constituents today will still be available well into the future.
Each of these documents should always point back to your organization’s mission statement and objectives. The disparities that many nonprofit organizations set out to resolve are problems that will not be solved overnight including poverty, human trafficking, lack of education, inadequate medical care, and religious persecution, to name a few. Project goals should point to lasting changes for communities, for example: individuals become responsible and productive members of society-filling their need for employment, self-sufficiency, and self-esteem. Narratives should express the value of the nonprofit organization and how it will meet these goals.
When your nonprofit begins its grant-seeking plan by developing these four documents, you will position your grant writer … whether in-house or outsourced … to focus attention on identifying foundations whose mission and vision match your mission statement and will allow the writing process to begin much more quickly and end … with grant awards!
My Nonprofit Grant-Seeking Plan Checklist for Success provides additional details about each of these four documents listed above. If you move through the checklist, you’ll position your organization for grant-seeking success!
Kathy Hoeck