Grants Archives - Groupfinity

Little known hacks on how to apply for grants for nonprofit organizations – with Dr. Bev Browning

#028 – Today I am speaking with Dr. Beverly Browning. Dr. Bev is the author of 44 grant-related publications, including six editions of Grant Writing For Dummies and Nonprofit Kit For Dummies. Her online courses are taught to thousands of students annually. She also has a 16-week virtual Coaching/Mentoring Program. Dr Bev says….

“You will not get funded if you are not innovative, creative, and unique.”

Dr. Bev offers resources on:

1 Grant Writing and Funding

2 Board of Directors Training

3 Strategic Needs Assessment

4 Professional Development Training

5 Proposal Development and

6 Internal Peer Review

Check out Dr. Bev’s free resources on her website – https://bevbrowning.com/nonprofit-resources/

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Resources

4 Key Takeaways

#1 Funders are looking for nonprofit organizations that are filling gaps.

#2 Check in with your local United Way to find potential funders .

#3 The work is 80% research / 20% writing.

#4 Don’t go for funding until you’ve built a relationship with the funder.

Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode

[2:00] The first step is to do an organizational assessment
[3:01] Volunteers should ease the Executive Director's responsibilities
[3:22] Give or get policy
[4:50] Executive Director should NOT be leading the SWOT analysis
[6:36] Volunteers can have greater insights than paid staff
[7:40] Nonprofit leaders may have vision but may lack organizational management
[8:37] Funders are looking for organizations that fill gaps
[9:37] You will NOT get funded if you are NOT innovative, creative, and unique
[10:00] Look at the United Way for gaps in your community
[12:55] A grant is 80% research / 20% writing
[13:35] Look for buzzwords on the funder's website
[14:20] Don't apply for funding before you've developed a relationship with the funder
[16:25] The best board members put in 15-20 hours per month
[17:20] Good relationships can overcome bad writing
[18:13] Typical foundation proposals could take 1-2 weeks for a newbie
[19:23] Most new nonprofits cannot get federal grants
[23:25] A plan for building relationships with funders

A few secrets everyone should know before starting a new nonprofit organization – with Gigi Lawrence

#027 – Today I am speaking with Gigi Lawrence. Gigi founded Nonprofit for Newbies, a consulting and networking community, to help people start new nonprofits. Gigi is a mompreneur who started off in the financial consulting world, but didn’t feel fulfilled. She knew she wanted to help others, but was unsure how. After she took a job as a nonprofit financial literacy program director she knew she had found her calling. Gigi says….

“If your foundation isn’t structured correctly and you don’t know how to explain your process. You don’t know how to explain your programs in a way that others are going to understand and be motivated to move forward with those services or that program and being involved…..

…you have to be able to sell yourself, sell your organization, and in order to sell it, you have to know what you’re selling and you have to believe in it.”

Nonprofit for Newbies either advises or refers “newbies” to one of the independent contractors in their network on:

Starting their nonprofit
Grant writing
Writing their business plan
Fundraising
Marketing
Accounting
Board Development, and
Mindset

As of this interview, her Facebook Group has over 10k members.

Gigi has a ton of free resources on her website

https://www.nonprofitfornewbies.com/social

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Resources

4 Key Takeaways

#1 Be able to clearly explain your programs and what you do.

#2 Get board members who will help you execute your mission.

#3 Have people you are serving represented on your board.

#4 Get local high school or college students to help with your social media at little or no cost.

Check out Groupfinity.com for the show notes and links for this episode.

Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode

[3:45] We have a vetted consultant netwrok
[5:30] It comes down to getting your foundation right....
[7:20] Most questions I get when people start
[8:12] Considerations when forming your board
[11:40] Have representation on your board
[12:40] Changes since the pandemic
[15:30] Use college students to help with social media
[16:45] Focus on the tasks that are a good use of your time
[17:27] Make sure you spend some time budgeting
[19:33] Voices of Color
[20:51] How Gigi got started

How to write grants for nonprofits organizations like a GURU (NO experience required) – with Teresa Huff

#025 – Today I am speaking with Teresa Huff. Teresa is a special ed teacher, turned stay at home mom, then turned grant writing guru. She began her grant writing career working with a team of grant writers, writing big federal grants. She later branched out on her own, working with clients 1 on 1. When she realized she could help more people, she developed online courses.

“I really liked teaching others because I can only write so many grants and I can only be an expert in so many areas, but I can teach other people to do it. And then they can go out and create a much bigger ripple effect together. That’s why I love doing this now – supporting other nonprofits so they can maximize their impact and teaching grant writers how to do this as well, and to be much more successful to shorten the distance from point A to point B.”

She has worked with over 2,100 students, helping many nonprofits triple their funding. Specifically, she:

Works with nonprofits to strategically lay the groundwork for grant readiness;
Trains and equips grant writers with the skills they need to be successful; and
Connect the dots between the two so we can all maximize our impact.

She has a ton of free resources on her website – https://teresahuff.com/

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Resources

Website

Fast Track to Grant Writer

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

4 Key Takeaways

#1 BUILD RELATIONSHIP – You’re not talking to dollar signs, you’re not talking to money. You’re talking to people and working with people.

#2 Funders want to see an established nonprofit and typically an established program that they can fund – they don’t want to be your first or last dollar.

#3 Be PATIENT – Grants can take a long time to write and it could take a long time to hear back.

#4 Start small with local foundations.

Show Notes

**Click the time stamp to jump directly to that point in the episode

[2:14] The best place to start
[2:52] Make sure you have a really good foundation
[3:16] You're not talking to money... You're talking to people and working with people.
[4:07] Make sure you have nonprofit status
[4:40] Grant funders don't want to beat your first dollar or your only dollar.
[5:21] They want to see how many more people you can impact with the funds.
[6:26] Generally they'll want to see an established nonprofit and an established program.
[7:27] Have a good plan in place for how are you going to sustain this after the grant funding goes away.
[8:05] Grants usually take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months.
[9:54] Federal grants and really large applications can take over 100 hours.
[10:51] if you've never written grants before, maybe start small, start with some local foundations.
[12:25] Follow the guidelines - NO extra stuff.
[12:48] Should I call the funder?
[16:13] Look for funders in your local community.
[17:10] Don't twist your program to fit the grant.
[19:57] Start with local foundations.
[22:10] Don't get discouraged if you get turned down.
[25:00] The Food Pantry story....
[31:48] The Grant Readiness Check-up.

A few secrets everyone should know before starting a new nonprofit organization – with Gigi Lawrence

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4 Key Takeaways

Show Notes

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