Folly #57: A Common Grant Application

The only six questions funders really need to ask.

This week I did something I’d never done before. I watched The Wizard of Oz on the big screen. I’d seen it a million times on TV (often hiding behind the sofa from the flying monkeys), but I saw it so differently when it was larger than life.

I noticed how physical the scenes were. The fluid, boneless movements of the scarecrow. The tail-with-a-life-of-its-own behind the lion. The dreams in color, and daily drudgery in dreary black and white.

Image with thanks to neotenist on Pixabay

I don’t want this to feel dreary. The Follies are about difficult things that funders ask as part of their grantmaking – things that can be really hard (and often don’t make sense) from a nonprofit’s perspective. Today’s post is in living color.

6-Question Universal Grant Proposal

Draft v.1

Since my real purpose here is to get foundations to move towards a universal grant application (much like colleges do with financial aid), below I offer a first draft of an application that – IMHO – all foundations and all nonprofits could use.

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Question #1: What does your mission aspire to do? What happens when your nonprofit is so successful that your services are no longer needed?

Nonprofits do difficult work and live in scarcity thinking. Their leadership is knowledgeable about the issues and obstacles. Ask them about their bigger goals, rather than just funding this fiscal year.

Question #2: What system is your work trying to change? Envision success and sustainability, and tell us how that looks.

We all know that “eliminate homelessness” is not likely to happen. But the real question is: What are the systemic factors that cause people to lose stable housing? I’ll bet your housing-related grantees have some thoughts about that.

Question #3: How does your organization define the under-resourced community(ies) you serve? What are their characteristics? Describe how these characteristics are reflected in your staff and board.

A lot of funders are moving towards checkboxes that only focus on race and gender. Nonprofits thoughtfully provide services to those who have difficulty accessing them. That may be because of poverty, immigration or ethnicity – or it may be because they are other-abled, or have faced life-changing trauma. This question is complex: let your grantees answer it in their words.

And funders, you really don’t need a list of board members. Are you going to contact them for a reference?? Nor are the machinations grantees go through to calculate percentages by gender and ethnicity necessary. What is important is how leadership represents the community that is the nonprofit’s focus. So just ask that.

Question #4: How, and how many, were impacted by your programs last year? How do you measure this? How can we help you reach more people in your priority community(ies)?

I’ve written about non-financial contributions that foundations can make, like connections and introductions. And some funders have wonderfully simple questions about program support! But just asking for numbers doesn’t allow the nonprofit to tell the story. And it’s always possible that foundations are making grants – and assumptions – about “demonstrating impact” that may not be on the mark.

Question #5: How would you use this funding? Why does this particular grant matter to you? Please upload a budget to demonstrate, using whatever format is easy to produce in your financial system.

Can we please just move beyond telling nonprofits that their staff are not valued and only count as “overhead”? Most funders request a fiscal year budget – so do your own math about largest funders, blah blah blah. You really don’t need lists of names.

Question #6: Whom do we contact if we have any questions? What online resources can we share with others to tell them about the great work you do (website, social media, etc.)? Where would we send the check?

Is a list of key staff important? Are you worried they don’t exist?? A nonprofit telling its story will also tell you about the people who make the magic happen. Or, better yet, ask for all those detailed contacts after you’ve promised funding.

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Disagree? Post a comment! I’d love to hear from you.

And a note of appreciation to Just Fund’s 4-page grant application. Some of their checkboxes make sense (mostly for grants database libraries, which really don’t make any sense when you can just search funders for an issue/geography/client on Google for free), but I still don’t think it captures the visionary work that all nonprofits do.