Grants Research with a Twist

Did you know there are over 120,000 grantmaking organizations in the U.S. alone? That’s good news! The bad news is, fewer than 1/10th of 1% of them have any interest at all in seeing a proposal from your organization. Don’t take it personally - there’s more good news:That 1/10th of 1% still leaves plenty of grantmakers who would be happy to consider supporting your organization’s work with a grant award. You can think of that 1/10th of 1% as your “sweet spot” funders … and there’s more good news: You don’t have to knock on 120,000 doors to find them. That’s what thoughtful funder research is for: To help us cut through all the “no thank you’s” and zero in quickly and efficiently on that much smaller group in your organization’s “sweet spot” who are most likely to give your proposal an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Are you thinking “mission match”? That’s a great start! – But did you know some of your best prospective grantmaking partners may have no specific interest at all in your organization’s mission? Five ways – beyond mission match – to frame the work you’re proposing to do that will connect you with five completely different groups of potential funders Using two-fers and three-fers (and maybe even four-fers) to really power up your connection with “sweet-spot” funders A real-life scenario: How our unconventional simple tweaks helped a struggling nonprofit turn up 12 new-to-them “sweet-spot” funders resulting in over $100,000 in grant awards