Often, people ask me what foundation grant funding will do in the future. I dust off my crystal ball, check my gut, synthesize my ongoing research, and make a prediction. I have predicted before that foundation grants will be tighter in 2021 than the wave of giving that took place in 2020, but that it was still going to be much higher than it was in 2018. In this prediction, a major philanthropy researcher agrees with me!
The Lily School of Philanthropy is one of the major researchers of philanthropy nationally. As reported by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the Lily School recently published a report that predicts that foundation grants will dip by 1% nationally in 2021 and grow 8% in 2022. They note that part of the dip in 2021 isn’t significant given how much foundation giving grew from 2018 to 2020. In other words, this dip in 2021 is still going to be much more money than foundations gave in 2018 or even 2019.
The report also referenced that among the COVID granting spree by foundations in 2020, the largest share went to human services, health, and education agencies.
So what does this mean for you? It means that it is time to “make hay while the sun shines” as my mom says. There is a lot of foundation grant funding out there. If the stock market has a major correction in the later 2020s, the foundation funding will drop again. The time to grow your missions and set up sustainability for your organization is now. This is especially true if you are a human services organization, who are getting a larger share of foundation grants than normal right now.
It also means that it is time to “put your best foot forward.” With grant funding slightly tighter, you have to make the best impression. Unfortunately, grants are competitive and your application is number 43 out of a stack of 67. You have to stand out. The relationships you build now by a good first impression in your applications will sustain your organization when the next giving downturn happens.
Positioning an organization for grant success is the most important work that we do at Millionaire Grant Lady. It propels the organizations we work with to grant success. If you need help, Millionaire Grant Lady can help you to position your programs for success and write winning grant applications.
