Uncategorized Insights

Spotlight on Giving Circles
Q&A with Jenny Neyer Berg
To learn about the community impact of giving circles, we talked to Jenny Neyer Berg, a local and national leader in collective giving. Jenny is Chair of the national board of Catalist (formerly the Women’s Collective Giving Grant Makers Network),...

Technology Tips for Stepping Up Stewardship
Congratulations! You got the grant. And as the representative of a conscientious grantee organization, you set a reminder to submit the final report on time. But do not stop there! With so many technological tools at our fingertips, grant professionals...

Do you suffer from “grants FOMO”?
We have the cure.
We hear it all the time: “There must be bigger funders out there for my organization.” “Shouldn’t we be getting national funding?” “When it comes to grants, I feel like we’re missing out.” Do you know the feeling? It’s an...

Three Tips for Getting Donations from Donor-Advised Funds
“How can we receive grants through donor-advised funds?” Savvy fund development professionals feel confident pursuing grants from traditional foundations but are less sure about maximizing funding from donor-advised funds (DAFs). The donors who give through DAFs are often high-net-worth individuals...

Win the Grants Game with Three Plays for Program Staff
Who in your organization is responsible for getting grants? If development staff are the only players in the grant seeking process, it’s time to rethink your game. Grant seeking requires the whole team—including program staff—to achieve maximum success. Want to...

What Does Tax Reform Mean for Grant Funding?
Since sweeping changes to the federal tax code were signed into law in December, experts have speculated how they will influence how, when, and how much donors give to nonprofits in 2018 and beyond. The Chronicle of Philanthropy has called...

Hallmarks of Effective Grant Writing
Part 4: Write to Persuade
A grant proposal must not only inform but also inspire. It’s up to the writer of a proposal to persuade the reader that a project or organization rises above the competition and is worthy of funding. Persuasive grant writing begins...

Hallmarks of Effective Grant Writing
Part 3: Conveying the Core Compelling Idea
A successful grant proposal needs sufficient data and detail to be credible and complete. But while facts and figures are necessary to strengthen your proposal, they alone don’t win the grant. What can set your proposal apart is a clear,...

Hallmarks of Effective Grant Writing
Part 2: Be Clear
Under pressure to get past all the hurdles of preparing a grant proposal, what can sometimes fall short is the grant writer’s most important job of all: communicating ideas clearly. It’s frustrating to struggle through unclear writing. Consider the times you’ve...

Grants Plus Featured for NEO Success Award in Inside Business Magazine
Grants Plus was featured in the March/April 2014 edition of Inside Business Magazine when the firm received a 2014 NEO Success Award. President Lauren Steiner said of the honor: “All my clients are changing the world in some way. This...

Grants Plus interviewed on WCPN 90.3 The Sound of Ideas
President Lauren Steiner and Director of Client Engagement Dana Textoris were interviewed on WCPN 90.3 The Sound of Ideas (March 2, 2016) to discuss how creating a psychologically healthy workplace produces happier, healthier employees — and translates into higher-quality services for Grants...

Grants Plus featured in Crain’s Cleveland Business
Crain’s Cleveland Business featured Grants Plus and interviewed President Lauren Steiner for the firm’s track record helping nonprofit organizations across the country secure hard-to-raise grant dollars. “We are setting the standard for the sector when it comes to higher quality grant writing.”...