Applying for a grant can sometimes be a vigorous process, but with these tips from the UHM Foundation you can get more insight into the grantmaking process!
Written by Hannah Loewenthal
Are you a non-profit organization? Or looking to apply for a grant? If so here are 5 tips on applying for grants from a funder’s perspective.
Most non-profits depend on outside funding from foundations and corporations to help progress and develop their programs and continue their work in the community. As a funder, we have seen all ranges of grant applications and have a few tips for success for your next application.
- DO NOT BE AFRAID TO REACH OUT
Our foundation team always loves to connect with our current non-profit partners as well as new applicants. Being a smaller foundation, we like to have personal relationships with organizations that we help fund. As a team we appreciate when a new organization meets with us before applying. With an initial phone call before applying, we can provide suggestions such as: how the application process works, what a realistic “ask” amount or range is at the current time, if your organization or program fits within our pillars, and much more! With that said, as a funder, we try our best to match our interests and priorities with yours’ as an organization, as well. Sometimes the programs we think we want to fund can change after such a conversation, and we may gain a better understanding of the position of your organization. However, if you do reach out and gain advice from a funder, make sure you follow that advice as best as you can. In our experience, we have seen nonprofits request a much larger grant amount than was originally discussed as a “new potential partners” or apply for a different program that one that we indicated interest in – this is not the best example for future collaborations.
If you are a new applicant, reach out to a member of the foundation team and we would be more than happy to have a call to not only explain our application process and learn more about your organization, but also so you can learn more about us!
If you are a returning grant recipient always update funders with achievements and or benchmarks that have been made. It is always exciting to hear about efforts made within the community, and it definitely makes our jobs as funders even more worth it!
- LET THE MESSAGE BE THE FOREFRONT
What is the need in the community you are working to combat? Make sure that is clear throughout your proposal. At the UHM Foundation we are passionate about our four pillars: Career Readiness, Education, Housing, and Financial Literacy. We provide funding to any organizations that have programs within those areas. By connecting your program to our mission and showing how it aligns to the UHM Foundation’s pillars, you send the message that our values connect. The more statistics and evidence of success you can share the better. Always remember, while Foundation staff may take the time to visit your nonprofit, learn more about your programs, etc…sometimes the decision makers don’t have this same time/experience, and for every person that like a heartfelt story, there are also those that make decisions by the numbers too.
Don’t shy away from the message of why you are applying for funding and what the funding can do. Be realistic about your situation, your ask amount and the needs and challenges of your organization. Funders want to know directly where their money is going to, especially if it is a large amount. Funders can also tell when a nonprofit is just “telling them what they want to hear” or is trying to force a program to fit within the pillars to gain support – in the end this will not produce a successful partnership. The more transparent the message is the better that is for the funder!
- STATE WAYS YOUR PARTNERSHIP CAN GO BEYOND THE TRANSACTION
Since the UHM Foundation is a part of a bigger corporation, we are constantly looking to provide volunteer opportunities to our Partners (what we call our employees). Whether opportunities are virtual, given the times, or back in person we have UHM Partners that continue to want to get involved in their communities. Each full-time Partner gets 16 hours of paid volunteer time off and 8 hours for part-time. Partners in every department of our company enjoy participating in volunteer opportunities either with their direct team or with bonding with others throughout the company. What opportunities does your organization have to increase engagement? Boards, committee or planning groups? New volunteer opportunities we can create together?
We as a foundation want to do more than “just cut a check”, we want this to be an impactful experience and long-term partnership for both our Partners and you, our non-profit partners.
Keep an eye out for an additional blog on “Ways your partnerships with your funders can go beyond the transaction” – where we will be exploring good practices and also highlighting three of our relationships with nonprofits and how the UHM Foundation gets involved to the fullest extent!
- BE SPECIFIC WITH WHAT YOU ASK
This goes along with letting your message be the forefront. The more specific you can make your ask and program description, the better. As funders we want to know exactly where out funds are going to. At the UHM Foundation we also look for at ways we can support an organization or program past just giving out money. If you are specific with your needs, then this gives our team a chance to be more creative and see how we make an impact to the fullest extent. Sometimes that includes telling us (probably more likely in a site visit or meeting) where you want to go in the future too beyond this proposal. We like to hear the “dream” ideas, because even if we can’t be a part of them, as a corporation we may know others that can.
- RELATIONSHIPS MATTER – NURTURE THEM
Our Foundation team and board of directors want this to be more than a financial transaction. This is a partnership and we want to be involved and help in any way that we can. The best part of doing what we do is seeing the work that our non-profit partners do within their communities. We love when we get updates on how projects are going, receive invitations to virtual webinars or fundraising events, are asked to join planning committees or collaborative groups for major issues in the cities we work in, or even provide feedback on new ideas and much more. These connections strengthen our support with our nonprofit partners, they also showcase to our internal partners how our dollars are at work in the community and why what we do matters! We want to hear the stories behind the work that is done, after all that is at the forefront of why we do what we do!
