Most grants offered by funders are project based, meaning they fund activities (projects or programs) that help a target population. They don’t fund your agency’s busywork or debt repayments, they fund how your activities impact a target population and make a difference in their lives, community, and society.
What kinds of programs do they fund? Programs that solve problems in proven effective ways, or programs that solve problems in innovative ways. If you have a better way of uplifting lives funders want to hear it.
So the first step in getting funding is identifying the problem. “What is the problem that needs to be solved?” This is slightly different from the question, “What problem do you want to solve?” An agency’s priorities may differ from the actual need. Funders look for solutions to problems that are demonstratable problems. Research and assessments that can measure the need are essential to supporting a successful grant application.
For example, According to the latest statistics available from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, in California 46% of people released from incarceration reoffend within three years of their release. A successful grant proposal that addresses the problem of recidivism in either an evidence-based way or an innovative way has a good chance of being funding.
To address the problems and barriers identified by that statistic, ask the question “What is causing that high rate of reoffending?” Is it lack of employment? Housing insecurity? Poverty? Structural Racism? Untreated addiction or mental illness? Programs that address those factors may be strong candidates for funding. Keep in mind you don’t have to fix everything. Holistic approaches are valuable, but so are targeted approaches that address one causative factor effectively. If you can identify the single most important barrier or problem that is causing the issue and address it effectively, your results will speak for themselves. Programs with proven results have higher rates of getting additional funding and broadening their funding from other sources. Funders love success stories.
So step one is identifying the problem and quantifying it with data. When you can prove the problem exists and propose a solution that your agency is able to provide, your program becomes appealing to funders.
Will Taylor Consulting LLC 