Chapter 20
Government Grants
“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.”
—Thomas Jefferson
Introduction
According to the Urban Institute’s Nonprofit Sector in Brief, the U.S. government awarded nonprofits over $198 billion in grants in 2014. Government grants are available for a large variety of issues and programs, and are often sizeable. However, they also come with intense demands around implementation and reporting. Unless you have at least one staff person dedicated full-time to managing government grants, think carefully about your organization’s capacity before moving into this territory.
There is a saying among nonprofit professionals: “If you’ve seen a thousand foundations, you’ve seen a thousand foundations.” Basically, every foundation—government, private, or family—operates differently and has different requirements and expectations. So while there are best practices for how to research, request, and report to foundations, each situation will differ and require a customized approach, particularly among government entities.
To learn more about securing, managing, and surviving government grants, I sat down with Joshua Sheridan Fouts, government grant veteran and executive director of Bioneers, and he outlined top five tips to maximize your results.
Critical Skills and Competencies
1. Get Help
If this is your first experience applying for a government grant, Fouts highly recommends hiring a consultant. There are people who specialize in helping nonprofits secure government grants and who know exactly what it takes to apply for, and report on, them. A professional consultant can help you effectively communicate how your project will meet the goals of the grant program, and he or she will know the jargon and language that increase your chances. Most importantly, the consultant will likely have relationships with key decision-makers. In foundation fundraising, as in all fundraising, the key to success is building relationships. A grantmaker is much more likely to give you serious consideration if he or she recognizes your name on the application and already knows something about your work.
2. Don’t Apply Cold
Following up on the previous point and chapter, the most significant determinant of your success in securing government grants is making contact with a decision-maker before applying and, ideally, securing an invitation to apply. In government, the decision-maker’s title can change from department to department, but grants, program, or desk officer are the most common. Once you figure out who calls the shots, reach out to ask for an informational interview (see Chapter 19 for tips on how to maximize your first meeting). At this meeting, focus on developing a relationship and obtaining pointers on how to optimally position your application. This will help you stand out from the others who fail to make contact in advance and submit more cookie-cutter proposals.
3. Plan for Long Nights
Every government grant application is unique, and most of them are quite onerous to complete. They are often detailed and elaborate and require you to use specific computer programs to submit the grant. There is little consistency, and you may even get stuck with an interface that is so outdated that your computer isn’t compatible. This is where having a consultant comes in handy, because they’re aware of these issues and have solutions for overcoming them. Hopefully, these challenges will decrease as the government invests in updating their systems, but don’t hold your breath.
4. Be Patient and Prepared
Receiving a response to your grant application can take months, or even longer. Government officials, like grant officers, often change positions, so keeping in touch is key. Don’t bother with email; a phone call every couple months is much more effective and creates a much stronger relationship with your contact and your cause. And once you’re approved, receiving the funds can often take longer than you expect. You need to be ready to start working on your project right away regardless, so be prepared to use cash reserves until the grant funds are dispersed. If that’s not an option, there are groups like the Northern California Community Loan Fund (www.ncclf.org) that can loan you the funds temporarily. Either way, prepare yourself in advance: it is critical that you are prepared to begin both work and reporting immediately after being approved.
5. Stay in the Loop
Once you’ve received a government grant, the likelihood of receiving additional funding goes up by an order of magnitude. This may affect the return on investment calculations and justify hiring a consultant or research service. Either way, keep in touch with the people you’ve developed relationships with, especially grantmaking decision-makers, and continuously keep an eye open for additional opportunities. Resources like grants.gov can also be helpful, as you can sign up for notifications of relevant grants.
Conclusion
Government grants represent your tax dollars at work. They can enable very rewarding opportunities for your organization, while benefitting society in needed ways. While they may seem difficult and overwhelming to secure, don’t be discouraged. If you have the capacity and wherewithal, you can raise large amounts of money to do critical work. There are hundreds of billions of dollars in government grants available to nonprofits in the United States alone, plus much more abroad since many global cultures support heavy government funding of nonprofits, so this is not an area to quickly dismiss as “too difficult.” Take a look at grants.gov and other resources to see whether there are any opportunities that fit the work you do. Think carefully about how you can build capacity and dedicate the staff needed to secure and administer these grants. With help from consultants who specialize in this area, your chances of success increase significantly, as they do when you take the time to build and nurture relationships with the individuals who decide which organizations receive funding. And once you receive a government grant, you’re in the game, and your chances of receiving additional grants increase tremendously. Onward and upward!
Do’s and Don’ts
- Do. . .
- . . . dedicate at least one staff person to managing your government grant full-time.
- . . . register your nonprofit with grants.gov if you’re based in the United States, or with similar government services abroad.
- . . . be prepared to implement your proposed program immediately after receiving a decision.
- Don’t. . .
- . . . sign up for paid services that promise to give you access to government grant opportunities; this information is free to the public in the United States and most countries.
- . . . apply for a grant without first making contact with key decision-makers, ideally including them inviting you to apply.
- . . . expect the process to be simple and straightforward; in fact it’s lengthy and cumbersome.
About the Expert
Joshua Sheridan Fouts is a globally recognized media innovator and social entrepreneur, known for his visionary work paving new inroads for meaningful understanding between cultures. Fouts is an anthropologist, thirty-year fundraising veteran, and former U.S. State Department employee responsible for grants management. He currently serves as executive director for Bioneers, a nonprofit think tank that produces conferences and media that bring together social and scientific innovators to solve the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.
Resource Review
- Grants.gov (www.grants.gov)
- This is the best place to find and apply for U.S. government grants. Register online and sign up to receive customized notifications of grant opportunities.
- GovFresh (govfresh.com)
- This is a great blog that features public servant innovators, civic entrepreneurs, and ideas and technology that are changing the way the government works.
- Browning, Beverly A. Grant Writing for Dummies (5th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, 2014.
- This book will help you navigate federal grant databases and apply online for grants, find current public and private sector grant opportunities, create strong statements of need, and submit applications that meet funders’ expectations.
- Richardson, Kimberly. The Official Federal Grants Prep Guide: 10 Tips to Position Your Organization for Success. Kimberly Richardson Consulting, LLC, 2013.
- This book is for anyone who wants to participate in the U.S. federal grant writing process. At the end of each chapter in this incredibly useful guide, Richardson lists some questions to ask yourself, which help you reflect and prepare; plus it offers many useful tools and examples.
- eCivis (www.ecivis.com)
- Provides a cloud-based grants management system to assist with researching, tracking, and reporting, and that serves as a knowledge base for nonprofits, municipal governments, and educational institutions. They also provide nationwide grant writing services and webinars.
Find Consultants Specializing in Government Grants
- The Chronicle of Philanthropy (https://philanthropy.com)
- Idealist.org (www.idealist.org)
- Urban Institute (www.urban.org)
Find a variety of research on the nonprofit sector in general, as well as government contracts and grants.
- Research portal: www.urban.org/research-area/nonprofits-and-philanthropy
- Nonprofit Sector in Brief 2014: www.urban.org/sites/default/files/alfresco/publication-pdfs/413277-The-Nonprofit-Sector-in-Brief.PDF