Leverage Your Grants Into Additional Funding

by Sharon C. Gherman, President/CEO

Private grant projects are different from government grant projects in several ways. Understanding and capitalizing on their differences can help you turn your current grant projects into additional funding in the future.

I like to think of government grants as “raw competition” – my local, regional or state need and project planning pitted against those of organizations in other regions or states. If you’re an effective grantwriter and are writing for a region that has severe need and few resources, the job is easy. The more affluent your region and abundant the resources to draw from, the more competitive the grantwriting process becomes. Each new grant announcement is another opportunity to compete with the others applying, but your past work is just that – in the past. Simply having been successful in the last grant opening doesn’t make the likelihood of being funded in a future round of government grants any more likely, unfortunately.

Unlike government grants, private grants give your organization an opportunity to develop long-term relationships with grantmaking organizations. Many private and corporate foundations will give repeat gifts to organizations that effectively create projects that help the foundation meet their philanthropic goals and fulfill their mission. So in the private grant world you have a unique opportunity to leverage current grant projects into more funds from the same grantmaker in the future – something that doesn’t exist with government grants.

As a foundation grant officer, I learned over time that some grantees did great work no matter the subject of their grant project. I always looked forward to receiving their grant applications because I knew that not only were they were drawn to projects that were a good match to my foundation’s mission, but also that they would present a well-thought-out plan that realistically state what they could accomplish. I knew they would do their very best to go beyond their stated goals with the grant funds and that at the end of their grant period, I would have a positive report to share with my Board of Directors. In short, the applicant had developed a good reputation with me over time that resulted in additional funds for their future projects. They helped my foundation fulfill their mission and meet their goals.

It’s important to note that a good reputation isn’t dependent on having a successful project each and every time (although that’s great). But I knew that if a project met obstacles, I could count on several things:

1. I knew the organization’s reports would be submitted on time and would be complete. Often they went beyond the reporting requirements and added pictures, news reports about the project, or other information that would be of interest to our foundation.
   
2. I knew the project manager would contact me at the first sign of trouble to ask for my advice. They knew that I had managed many grant applicants and their projects, and that through that experience I had gained ideas about how to handle problems and resources they could tap into for help.
   
3. I knew the project manager would keep me in the communications loop throughout the life of the project. They didn’t share every detail of the project or email me every week, but they dropped me a note whenever something significant happened – an additional grant award that provided funds to expand our project; a resolution to a problem they’d shared with me earlier; or a note from a participant that documented the project’s success.

The components of a good relationship with a program officer can be summed up simply as good communication plus integrity.

Interested in learning more about managing your grant projects well? FEI’s training, “After the Award: Grant Management and Administration” is available by webinar or as a face-to-face workshop, either in Alaska or in your community. Check out the schedule here.

Funding Exchange helps nonprofit organizations create a sustainable fundraising plan. Sustainable Pathways: Developing a Financially Healthy Organization is offered to nonprofit leadership teams in webinar or workshop format.