It is no secret that nonprofits must rely on a variety of funding sources to sustain their work. Funding can come from program revenue, federal funds, and individual donors, just to name a few.
Foundation funding is also a key element of many nonprofits’ structures. Instrumental found that as of January 2024, there are over 86,000 grantmakers and that private foundations “represent the largest award source” for many nonprofits.
With so many foundations out there, many nonprofit grant writers will find themselves applying to 5, 10, 15, or more foundations each year. And each foundation will have a slightly different format for their submission.
At Millionaire Grant Lady and Associates, we know how much time it can take to repurpose and reformat content. We have seen some nonprofit grant writers handle these tasks with ease, while other grant writers find unique ways to ignore the requirements. Ignoring the grant application requirements can get your application rejected. Are you looking for an expert to guide you through the foundation application process? Contact us today to see how we can help!
In this series, we are discussing common errors we see organizations with grant writers make. If you missed parts 1 or 2, you can still check them out here.
In this article:
- Mistake 3: Grant writers who do not honor the foundation’s submission requirements
- The person reading your grant proposal is tired.
- Why do foundations limit the number of characters, words, or pages you can submit?
- Do not create strange abbreviations to sneak more words in with fewer characters.
- Do not write without spaces.
- Do not adjust the margins or font size to put more words on a page.
- Pro tip: Grant writers should revise their writing instead of adjusting the formatting.
- Conclusion
Related articles:
- “Crystal Ball” Grant Predictions for 2024: Grant Writers Impact
- You want to hire a grant writer, but is hiring a grant writer full-time the best fit?
- Nonprofit program design and winning grants
Grant Writer Mistake 3: Grant writers who do not honor the foundation’s submission requirements.
For every grant application you submit, you may notice that you are asked a similar range of questions. Potential funders generally want to know:
- What population do you serve?
- How do you serve them?
- What metrics are you tracking?
- What makes your program sustainable?
And while the many applications include the same types of questions, generally each foundation sets completely different requirements for those answers. Some answers have to be in 2000 characters, others in 500 words, others in 750 words, etc.
Who is reviewing your grant proposal?
Before we dive into how we have seen grant writers ignore grant application requirements, let’s picture in our minds a person who is reading applications for a foundation.
- This person has (likely) volunteered their time. If they are paid staff, they are likely overworked.
- Their task is to review many applications submitted by many amazing nonprofits who provide impactful services to their communities.
- They are given the job of reading hundreds of pages of materials that include budgets, IRS documents, and audits.
- They are tired. Always remember that your foundation reader is tired.
Why do foundations limit the number of characters, words, or pages you can submit?
Some foundations do not limit the amount of material you can submit. In one recent application we submitted, the foundation included a note that said they did not limit the response length so that nonprofits didn’t have to spend valuable time wordsmithing answers. This is an absolute kindness from this foundation.
When a foundation does not limit your response length, please remember that this is not an invitation (or a challenge!) to write a million words. You do not want to overwhelm your reader by submitting an overabundance of content that doesn’t directly apply to the question.
For foundations that do have character, word, and space limits, these content limits typically serve two functions:
- It gives you an idea of the level of detail they are looking for. A foundation that asks for answers in 500 characters or less is asking for less detail than a foundation that asks for answers in 4,000 characters.
- Character limits ensure that all applications will take roughly the same amount of time to review. This helps the foundation process applications more quickly and efficiently.
It is important that when you prepare the grant application that you honor any limits put in place by foundations because this makes it easier for your foundation reader to get through your application.
Grant Writer Mistake Solution: Do not create strange abbreviations to sneak more words in with fewer characters.
We have seen nonprofits create abbreviations such as ppl, bgn, org, and rd, and then use these abbreviations over and over throughout their proposal. These tactics allow you to sneak around character limits because ppl has fewer characters than people (3 characters versus 6) and org has fewer characters than organization (3 characters versus 12).
While many people would be able to identify that org means organization and ppl is people, the other abbreviations listed above (bgn, rd) are not as clear. Always keep in mind the purpose of your grant proposal—to inspire the foundation to invest in you. If you use abbreviations that are hard for your foundation reader to read, then you are not moving them to feel inspired. Instead, you are moving them to feel confused, which is never good.
Whether you are using common or newly created abbreviations, our brains do not read abbreviations as quickly as our brains read words. That means that using abbreviations will slow foundation readers down, and not in a thoughtful, pondering-your-proposal kind of way. Remember that a reader who is confused is less likely to fund you.
Grant Writer Mistake Solution: Do not write without spaces.
Many foundation grant proposals are submitted online through one of about a half dozen platforms. These platforms frequently require you to submit answers in text boxes that either have word limits or character limits.
If the textbox includes a word count feature, you can sneak words in byputtingthemtogetherlikethis. But do not do that. That is not easy to read. Once again, this tactic slows the foundation reader down, which does not improve your likelihood of being funded.
Grant Writer Mistake Solution: Do not adjust the margins or font size to put more words on a page.
For applications with page limits, organizations must remember that this page limit is put in place to help them streamline the application review process. If everyone submits 4 normal pages, then the foundation can better predict how much time it will take to review a large stack of applications. Additionally, each foundation reviewer can allocate their time better because they will know about how much time each application will take them.
When you are given a page limit, these are generally the parameters they are looking for:
- A standard page has 1” margins and a font size between 11 and 12
- Line spacing is somewhere between double-spaced and single-spaced
- Paragraphs for this type of writing are block paragraphs, meaning they are not indented and there is a blank line in between the paragraphs (like you see in this blog)
In an attempt to sneak more content onto the page, we have seen organizations format pages with .25-inch margins or no margins at all. This is bad because if the foundation prints your application, some words will get cut off because most printers cannot print to the very edge of the page. Additionally, printing copies where the margins are quite small can cause the printer to jam repetitively which will lead your foundation reader to feel frustrated since simply printing your application is a chore. (Office Space, anyone?)
We have seen organizations adjust the font size down to point 8. Unless you want your foundation reader to grab a magnifying glass to read your application, do not do this.
Adjusting the margin or the font size will allow you to get more content on the page. But the whole point of the page limit is to allow the reader to get quickly through a large stack of applications in a set amount of time.
Making your page have very tiny margins or very tiny font makes it harder for the foundation to process your application. When you slow them down, remember, you are often hurting your chances of getting funded.
Grant Writer Mistake Solution: Grant writers should revise their writing instead of adjusting the formatting.
If you need to cut words, characters, or pages to make your answers fit the foundation’s requirements, start by reviewing your writing.
- Are there places where you were too wordy? What words can you remove?
- Are there places where you included information not required by the question? How can you make your answer more direct?
- Are there places where you have repeated yourself? Decide where that information really belongs and then remove it from the other locations.
Revising your writing will make your proposal easier to read, which will make it more likely that your proposal gets funded.
Conclusion:
I know how frustrating it can be to try to rework your answers time and time again for each foundation, but avoid taking shortcuts that will confuse and frustrate your foundation reader and that could get your proposal rejected.
When you find yourself needing to cut characters, focus on how you can make your writing more direct, more persuasive, and more clear. By tailoring your writing to the foundation’s requirements, you will increase the likelihood of your proposal’s success.
