Now that you are on your way to Getting Grant Ready!, the next step is to start writing, right? Not so fast! There are a few steps in between…
Let’s take a quick look at where you are in the grant life cycle.
Grant Life Cycle
You’ve just completed or are in the process of getting your organization’s grant ready. In the grant life cycle, this places you somewhere between “readiness” and “research.”
This section of the Get Grant Ready! Toolkit is focused on moving you through the next two stages of the grant life cycle: Research (also known as Prospecting) and Relationships (often referred to as Cultivation).
This section of the Get Grant Ready! Toolkit is focused on moving you through the next two stages of the grant life cycle: Research (also known as Prospecting) and Relationships (often referred to as Cultivation).
What are Research and Relationships?
Research (sometimes known as prospecting) and Relationships (or outreach/cultivation) are the stages of the grant life cycle in which you:
Note: All these steps take place BEFORE you start writing!
How Do I Get Started?
Before you jump feet first into research and relationship building, we recommend reviewing the following resources and training. These resources will help you establish a fundamental understanding for how to organize your grant search process and what steps to take in developing your organization’s funder outreach strategy.
Online Resources
Charity How To: Maximizing Grant Success: A Step-by-Step Guide to Efficient Research, Tools, and Strategy
In this blog post, Diane Leonard, a seasoned fundraising expert and founder of Charity How To, provides a succinct summary of today’s grant research tools, ever-green strategies, and best practices for nonprofits of all sizes.
Trainings
Research
Charity How To: Free Nonprofit Webinar: How to Supercharge Your Grant Research
Before you jump into prospecting, we recommend watching this FREE* 45 min webinar recording from Charity How To on “How to Supercharge Your Grant Research.” It’s an excellent primer on the research process including tools and tips for getting started. The training also touches on the role of relationship building.
Note: You will need to sign up for a free account to access this and other free trainings on grant writing, relationship building, and awards management.
Cultivation/Relationship Building
Charity How To: Free Nonprofit Webinar: Why Build Relationships with Grantmakers?
A good companion webinar to the “How to Supercharge Your Research” webinar, this free webinar, 45 min webinar focuses on importance of relationship building with funders and tips for getting started.
Additional Fundraising Training Options
In addition to the two recommended webinars above, the following sites are “go to” fundraising industry resources for new and veteran fundraisers, specifically grant writers. They offer free and paid training options, newsletters, blogs, and research tools. (More on these tools below.)
Note: Membership and/or subscription options are available for all three companies. We recommend taking advantage of the free resources they have for a few months to determine if you want to invest in a membership or subscription.
Downloadable Resources
Tracking Tools
As you start to build a list of potential funding sources, you will need to keep track of your research. We have created the following tools to help you track and share your research with team members and leadership.
Downloadable Tools:
Grants Research Tracker: This tool is designed to support your research efforts. As you start to identify potential funding sources and grant opportunities to pursue, this tool can be converted to a grants calendar or submission tracking tool.
Cultivation Tracker: This tool allows you to prioritize and track outreach to any funders you are seeking to build relationships with. You can also capture notes and the next steps for you and your leadership team.
Determining Next Steps
Determine Next Steps (Go/No Go – Decision Matrix): As you build your pipeline of funders and opportunities, you will eventually need to decide on the next steps. Do you pursue an opportunity, reach out to the funder for more information, or forgo at this time? Creating or adopting a decision process such as a Go/No Go Decision Matrix can help you and your leadership assess whether to move forward with an opportunity. The following tool provides a list of questions you and your team can ask before pursuing a grant opportunity.
Downloadable Tools:
Contact Us
We are here for you! Please contact us if you have a question, concern, or request regarding workforce development.
research@afscme.org