Chapter Three

Building Relationships with Applicants

It is a commonplace of foundation wisdom that grantseekers need money, and therefore they need grantmakers. Program officers are reminded of this fact every day in ways both subtle and blatant. It seems to occur to foundation types much less often that grantmakers also need grantseekers. Money is a necessary condition for social change, but it is hardly sufficient. Without grantseekers and their assorted partners, foundations would be in the bizarre position of having a lot of money but possessing no way to put it to work.