Grant Applications

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Some donors are confident that they know the organizations they want to support and don’t need to open themselves up to requests from new organizations. That’s perfectly legitimate. For others, providing avenues for new nonprofit relationships is a part of the donor learning process, and grant applications can be an important, efficient tool.

Funders have many approaches to requesting information from potential grantees, and a grant application can be situated at different points of the process, either right at the beginning as the first screening tool, or after the funder has positively reviewed a short description of the work to be supported. Sometimes, an application is the last formal stage of the process after a donor representative and the nonprofit have already discussed the project at length and the application process is used to formalize and electronically store all the documentation. Regardless of the timing and approach to grant applications, there are many new technologies and platforms that donors can use to streamline the process. 

Why Donors Utilize Grant Applications

Before considering the development of a grant application process, it is important to recognize the growing public dialogue on best practices associated with “trust-based philanthropy.” More and more funders are providing general operating support to organizations with which they are forming long-term relationships, and minimizing the requirements of application procedures that, multiplied across many potential funders, constitutes a huge burden for nonprofits. 

On the other hand, a grant application can function as an element of funder transparency and a key step in starting a long-term funder-grantee relationship. It can be designed to minimize administrative burdens for both organizations. 

Spend some time thinking about the purpose of your grant application. What do you really need to know to determine where to give grants? What is the least burdensome way to gather this information? Is there an existing template you can use so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel? 

Maybe you don’t need an application process. Other possible approaches include researching issues and organizations and then simply making gifts, hiring philanthropic consultants to advise on your grantmaking, or giving through intermediaries that have already extensively researched the field and identified impactful organizations working in their areas of focus. 

Pros and Cons

One application might not fit all. Sometimes, grant applications are best for situations in which an organization’s general purpose isn’t an obvious fit for the funder’s mission but a specific project of the nonprofit is. Are organizations you’ve been funding required to fill out the exact same application every year as organizations reaching out for the first time? Does your application solicit a high volume of information in an early stage of the relationship, putting the same burden on organizations unlikely to receive funding as those with a high probability of receiving a grant? 

A grantmaker absolutely has space to be creative with the application format and process. A less formal application might be a great way to inform your grant decisions without asking applicants to spend too much time on an application. Maybe the application could be as simple as: “Send me one paragraph about why this project is important.” Or after building a relationship of mutual trust with an organization, suggesting a phone call to discuss funding needs for next year.

Time Is a Precious Resource. Extensive application procedures mean a lot of reading for grantmakers, and a lot of work for grant seekers with no guarantee of funding. Applications can be especially burdensome for small organizations, which may not even have one person dedicated to full-time fundraising. It’s not uncommon in a small nonprofit for one person to juggle both fundraising and communications, or for the executive director to write grant applications on top of a busy workload. It’s a different situation for an established organization with a full development team including seasoned grant writers. 

Try to be thoughtful about who you are trying to fund. If you have decided you want to give to small or emerging organizations (which is great! grassroots and small organizations can be hugely impactful and are underfunded), adjust your application process and expectations accordingly. And if you are giving to both small organizations and big, established ones, be mindful of how your process could privilege one over the other and try to aim for accessibility, equity and inclusion at every step along the way. 

The aim is to find the sweet spot where you have the information you need for due diligence without placing too much of a burden on potential grantees. But keep in mind that if you’re going to get creative with the application process, you want to be sure you’re not making it more difficult for applicants — for instance, asking them for something in a special format or requiring that they start from scratch when they already have a well-written description of their project. 

Technology isn’t always the answer. Think twice about getting too tech-y with grant applications. A simple text document can be easy and accessible. What might seem like an innovative or efficient approach to you can be unnecessarily time-consuming for applicants. For instance, some private and corporate foundations use web portals for grant applications. Many of these don’t allow a user to see what’s coming next until they get there. What seemed like a simple application might be revealed as much more involved. Or an applicant might have to keep pausing their work to gather unexpected bits of information from people across the organization. A simple checklist at the beginning listing everything an application requires lets the applicant assess how long it will take to complete, gather all needed information and materials from their coworkers, and efficiently plan their work.   

Taking Action

Be transparent about your grantmaking process. Do you accept unsolicited applications? Do you want a letter of inquiry first to determine if an organization or a project might be a good fit before inviting them to submit a full application? Let everyone know on your website or wherever you share information about your grantmaking. If you’re going to have an application process for those who want to seek funding from you, make your guidelines clear and easily accessible. 

If you do want to go the application or proposal route, make the application process easy — for yourself and for applicants. Here are some things to know:

Don’t reinvent the wheel. You don’t need to create an application from scratch. There are lots of templates on the internet or provided by philanthropy-serving organizations that you can use and customize. Many regional associations of grantmakers have common grant application forms that can serve as a model or the exact format you use. There are also many new platforms with grant application templates that might be a good fit for your needs. A few of those platforms include Salesforce, Foundant and Submittable. You can even use a simple Google form to collect basic introductory information. 

Prioritize the basics. There are many kinds of grant applications, from short and simple forms to complex applications that require webinars and workshops to explain. Here are some of the elements most grant applications request: 

  • Basic information about the organization seeking funding – name, year founded, tax ID.

  • Name, title, and contact information of the executive director as well as the primary contact for the grant.

  • The organization’s mission statement.

  • A brief history or overview of the organization.

  • Dollar amount requested.

  • Budget. For program, project, or capital grants, an application will typically include a budget that shows project expenses. It might also show funding secured to date. For general-operating grants, the organization’s operating budget typically suffices. 

  • A narrative section (or sections) that allows the grant seeker to explain how the requested funding will be used. Narrative text can be set with length limits, but forcing applicants to shorten their ask can actually make it harder for them. A narrative section might be a description of the program for programmatic grants, or a longer narrative about the organization and its various programs for general-operating grants. Other common elements of the narrative part of the application are descriptions of who will be served, goals, and how success will be measured. The narrative might also include information about staff members who will execute the program or project.  The narrative section can be structured by a series of questions or prompts, along with guidelines regarding length. For example:

    • Describe the program for which you are seeking funding (500 words or fewer). 

    • Metrics for success (500 words or fewer).

    • Provide bios for key project staff (250 words or fewer).

Be aware that every customized information input you specify is another item the nonprofit must tailor to your specific word count and particular framing. 

Other common items requested in grant applications are:

  • IRS letter confirming 501(c)(3) status.

  • Most recent audited financials.

  • A list of other funders who have been approached and/or who have committed to support the project.

  • A list of board members.

  • Optional additional materials such as press clippings, photos or brochures.

The grantmaker should include instructions for submitting the application — a link to an online application form, email or hard copy (not recommended). Also indicate if the application needs to be received by a specific date or if you accept applications on a rolling basis. 

Think about the process as a whole. Simple, common formats and straightforward application guidelines can save everyone a lot of time and headache. A grant application is often preceded by an LOI. You can specify whether you require an LOI first, in which case you would reply to the LOI by either inviting a grant application or letting the LOI writer know that the proposed project is not a good fit for you.

Applying for grants takes up a lot of nonprofits’ time. The simpler the process, the more time the nonprofit can spend on the work that is at the heart of their mission. The application process can replicate inequities and imbalances that already exist in the nonprofit sector. Think about how to make your process as accessible, fair and inclusive as possible.  

Consider inserting a person–to-person conversation into the process at the right time. Maybe it’s the best use of everyone’s time if that happens after an LOI but before an application. Maybe it is after a very brief initial application but before a full proposal and attachments are requested. 

Think about how much time you want the nonprofit to spend on your application — and assume that however long you estimate your application will take to complete, it will probably be longer. And applicants are likely to be doing the same thing for countless other potential funders. Unless you have extraordinarily unique donor concerns, it is best to use an existing application template. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel and you can always customize a template.