Five Steps to Demystifying and Impacting the Grant Decision Making Process - Part IV: The Competition
Kate West Cuénoud, MSW
Donor Communications Expert. Grant and Report Manager. Fundraiser. Foundation and Corporate Relations. Global health, human services, youth development, education, climate. Passionate storyteller and photographer.
When you get into the world of writing grants, you can assume that other groups who have missions similar to yours or want to serve the same clients are applying for grants to the same funders that you are. That’s OK.
My personal philosophy is that there is enough funding to go around and it doesn’t serve anyone to do things out of fear.
However, it is important to know that funders do compare things that are alike, both programmatically and financially, so they can have the most impact on the issues that align with their mission.
You can make your grant stand out from the competition by:
- discussing your community partnerships and how you collaborate
- specifying how your program is unique from others in your area
- describing your in-depth knowledge of the identified problem through a well-referenced and researched case statement
- detailing your impact on the problem through data and storytelling
Like the rest of us, funders want to invest in programs and agencies that demonstrate the most profound community impact and are the best stewards of their donations.
Stay tuned tomorrow for the final installment in this series and thanks so much for following along! You can find the first three installments of this series here on LinkedIn and on Facebook. Kate.