Empowering nonprofits: Insights and inspiration for mission-driven leaders

Grant Prospect Research, Grant Writing Support

Dos and Don’ts to Hit the Grants Bullseye

Every grant application has an opportunity cost: the time and effort to pursue this grant could have been spent elsewhere. This makes it crucial to focus your available time and effort on the most promising grant possibilities for your organization....

Staffing Transitions: Ask the Grant Makers

For an organization facing an executive director transition, it is crucial to manage the impact on the grant seeking program. What are the right steps to communicate the leadership change? We decided to consult the best possible resources: grant makers...

Federal Grant Writing, Partner Plan

Breaking the news: Telling grant funders the executive director is leaving

We are in a season of change across the nonprofit landscape. Numerous reports and studies have predicted a sector-wide shift in leadership that is now actively unfolding. Nonprofit executives of the baby boomer generation are steadily retiring and a new...

Federal Grant Writing, Grant Writing Support

Expert Tips for Winning Your Next Federal Grant

Successfully competing for federal grants is about more than following the application instructions. The formal Request for Proposals (RFP) usually tells only part of the story. Savvy federal grant seekers know to seek out the broader context about a federal...

Should Your Nonprofit Go for a Government Grant?

NEW: Guide to Emergency Federal Grants During Crisis The CARES Act passed in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak has designated billions of dollars to federal agencies to be made quickly available in the form of competitive grants to organizations...

Federal Grant Writing, Grant Writing Support

Open the Door to “Invitation Only” Grant Funders

Is the door closed to a proposal? Don’t be discouraged! Build a strategy to open the door.  When you throw a party, you don’t open it up to the public. Instead you invite those with whom you share a connection,...

Spotlight on Nonprofit Marketing
Q&A with Ceci Dadisman

Having a smart marketing practice in place for your organization can influence the success of your fundraising and grant seeking effort. To learn more, we talked to Ceci Dadisman, a national expert on nonprofit marketing and communications. Ceci is a...

Federal Grant Writing

How to Find Grant Opportunities Your Nonprofit Can Win

“There must be more grant funding out there for my organization!” It’s a frequent feeling among nonprofit leaders: the gnawing anxiety that they are missing out on grants. Fortunately, there’s a cure. Following is our prescription to ensure your grants...

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...

Partner Plan

Top Reasons Grant Proposals are Rejected (and How to Improve Your Odds)

Grant seeking is highly competitive. Especially when approaching a foundation or seeking support for a new program for the first time, the chances of being declined are far better than the likelihood of being funded. Following are the chief reasons...

Restoring Trust with Grant Funders

If a grant funder has trust in an organization and its leaders, they are more likely to give a grant—and later to give again. But sometimes things happen that can shake a funder’s trust. In these situations, it’s important to...

Abracadabra: 10 Steps to Grants Magic

Winning a big grant can almost feel like magic: a major award can capture attention, summon other support, and even transform an organization or community. What’s the trick to conjuring such success? No tricks at all—just the powerful alchemy of...