The grant funding tools you need to secure those $$
It’s no secret that grant writers and non profit leaders are always thinking about new funding opportunities. As a grant writer, myself, it has become second nature to think first about a program’s viability and long-term impact and secondly about the funding potential.
But how do you plan for and qualify new funding opportunities? Especially when you read the dreaded “by invitation only” seen on big name or regional funders who give transformative gifts.
Check out this short list of tools that can provide real funding opportunities.
Here are my top 4 best resources (paid and free) for finding new grant opportunities:
1 —
Instrumentl
With Instrumentl, your grant work becomes effortless. Prospect, track, manage and succeed – all from one user-friendly platform. It’s an expensive investment for a group with a small budget, but for those working with $3mil+ operating budgets, this tool is priceless!
2 —
GrantStation
GrantStation’s professional researchers have built a hand-crafted database of funders that accept inquiries from a wide range of nonprofit organizations and they do not include “closed shop,” exclusionary grantmakers.
A far smaller investment, GrantStation only needs to help you secure a $500 award to justify its cost.
3 —
This might be a nonsensical option, considering its wide range of uses, but hear me out - as a nonprofit professional, my best funding resources are my colleagues working in Foundations, similar arts organizations, and as board members. By utilizing LinkedIn, I have come across grant funding opportunities I wouldn’t have known about otherwise. Follow your desired funder and wait until they announce applications are open, connect with program officers and build relationships organically. These are priceless connections that can bear fruit without spending a dime!
4 —
GuideStar
My final recommendation is to utilize your dream list of funders, those pie in the sky awards from the Melon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts, as a jumping off point for research. By creating a free account on GuideStar, you can access all of your desired foundation’s 990s, detailing who they’ve funded at what dollar amounts and through which types of funding (general operating, project-specific, etc). While this isn’t the tool that gives you a new list of funders, it can lead you to similar organizations who have received funding from your desired funders. Be ready to go down a rabbit hole! GuideStar is a must!
