Christian Leadership Alliance
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7 Grant-Seeking Tips for Christian Nonprofits
More than $50 billion was given away last year in grants to nonprofit organizations. An estimated $33.6 billion was awarded from 68,000 foundations, the Foundation Center reports. Additionally, federal grants to community groups reached $19.7 billion, according to the Delaware News Journal.
Grant funding makes up just 11% of all money given to non-profit organizations, yet it remains an important source of funding for Christian nonprofits. A Giving USA survey revealed that more than one-third of all charitable contributions went to "religious organizations" last year. And federal funds for faith-based groups grew 7 percent in the past year, according to James Towey, director of the White House Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives.
So how can you strengthen your grant-seeking efforts? Your CSA peers share seven proven, ministry-tested approaches that God has blessed in their ministry to encourage you:
Listen First
It's a very good idea to do a lot of listening before submitting a grant request, Don Johnson of Methodist Retirement Communities has found. He has contacted foundations to see if they would consider a request from his organization. If so, he explored further to see what type of request they might be interested in (i.e. a building campaign or an equipment request) and also what dollar range they may have in mind. "We asked for any guidelines, written or otherwise expected," Don recalls. "We visited them before the request or after the request was submitted." The same approach was used for future requests, and Don reports it was successful with a number of foundations.
Look for Compatibility
"If this foundation doesn't give us a grant, no one will!" thought Beth Healey, Public Relations Manager for Light of Life Rescue Mission, in a recent grant proposal process. The foundation was interested in funding faith-based organizations, and shared the same beliefs with Light of Life. The foundation was also somewhat unique in that it was open to considering equipment and repair needs. In the end, the grant was awarded. Beth observed, "Compatibility played a huge role in this instance." Dr. Steve Sweatman, president of Mission Training International agrees and advises, "Find a foundation that overlaps with your mission 100% — in spiritual terms, you are looking for a group of individuals with a similar heart for God's work in your area not trying to give them a heart for your ministry."
Train Volunteers to Identify Prospects
"Volunteers have been invaluable to the grant research process," explains Mark Lundell of International Aid. Research volunteers were trained to identify foundation prospects using internet databases and other research. The objective was to uncover grant-makers that appeared to be a very close fit for the ministry. Equipping volunteers to do this important leg-work freed up Mark to focus his attention on the most promising grant prospects.
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