Writing grants can be a long, arduous process. In this past blog, we talked about five steps for grant writing. Once you have identified possible funders who share alignment with your organization’s mission and goals, you want to gather more information to make a compelling grant request.
Some helpful things to know about a possible funder before submitting a grant application are the following:
- Who have they funded in the past?
- How much have been their grants?
- What have been the projects / services funded?
- Who is on their Board of Directors?
This research is not an absolute that would change your grant proposal but would help inform the overall approach and priorities to pitch. In general you want to know the types of organizations that they have funded in the past to see if you fit into the category. For example, if the funder has only supported direct service organizations then they may not fund an intermediary organization. You would still want to ask the funder to make sure you fit their description of possible grantees but this might provide some good insight.
Secondly, it is really important to find out their typical grant funding range. You don’t want your ask to be too small when you could have asked for a higher amount based on their past funding. At the same time, you don’t want your ask too large if that is well beyond what they have funded. Again, you still want to talk with the funder about what you are proposing, the need and an appropriate amount.
Third, it is helpful to see the types of projects that they have funded. Typically, the funder will list acceptable areas of focus and uses of the grant funds. However, sometimes that information is not readily available. For example, would the funder support capital projects, capacity building projects for the organization, or the types of direct services?
Fourth, grant writing is so much more than the technical writing and submission of grant applications. It is really about building a relationship with the funder and grantee. The funder is a partner and extension of the work of your organization. As such, you will want to build a relationship with the funder including the staff and members of their board of directors.
Some funders do a good job of including this information on their website. However, we find that not all of this information is readily available. A great tool that we turn to is finding the funder’s “Form 990-PF” tax return.
What is Tax Form 990-PF?
Tax exempt organizations must file some version of the Tax Form 990 with the IRS each year to maintain their standing. Non-profit organizations file Form 990, and private foundations file Form 990-PF. The “PF” stands for Private Foundation.
The 990-PF provides fiscal data for the foundation, names of trustees and officers, application information, and a complete grants list. The last item is most helpful for your research.
The funder lists all of the organizations who received a grant in the past calendar year. It essentially answers the three items listed above: who they founded, how much and for what!
The 990-PF can also be useful for relationship building with the funder. For example, an organization’s Form 990 includes the contact information for the private foundation if they do not have a website. In addition, the 990 provides the names of the people on the board and the officers whom you might know and start to build relationships.
Where can you find the Form 990-PF for Funders?
In today’s information age, there are some great online tools to find organization’s 990s.
- Search Engines: You can search an organization’s 990 through different online search engines, such as Google by using keywords.
- Funder’s Website: Some funders will post their past 990s directly on their website, so start there.
- Foundation Center’s 990 Finder: they have developed an online search tool specifically for 990s. There are other organizations, such as Charity Navigator, that post 990s but they link back to the Foundation Center.
If you are looking to increase and diversify your funding through grant writing, contact us. We would love to learn more about your goals and see how we can accelerate your impact!
