When I first got into grant writing, I was encouraged by many people to specialize. They thought the surest path to impactful work with nonprofits was to select a highly specialized niche (like Department of Education government grants) and work
On April 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced updates to the minimum salary for salary-exempt employees. This change affects nonprofit organizations by increasing the overall budget for staff salaries. This change comes at a time when nonprofits
Everyone has been affected by the last several years of rising inflation, from everyday workers to large charitable organizations. Inflation is also affecting grant trends. No matter what you may have heard, people are still giving! However, as is the
Government agencies offer many federal grants that fund a wide range of work to a wide range of organizations. These funding opportunities often promise much larger awards than private grants. For example, one recent opportunity I looked at was for
The Association of Fundraising Professional’s Fundraising Effectiveness Project surprisingly does not discuss grant funding. This is surprising because foundation grants make up 18% of all charitable contributions according to the National Philanthropic Trust. And government grants and contracts make up
Gratitude is an important “X Factor” in grant funding. You may have heard me talk before about grant “winning” versus grant “writing”. I believe you could write lots of grants with the belief that the philanthropic community owes you something
Often, people ask me about the difference between individual giving and foundation giving. They want to know if they can focus on individual giving only instead of foundation grants. What I say is that for most nonprofits, individual giving is
Are you begging for grant money? In the past, I have talked about the importance of positioning your organization for success in your grant applications. A lot of nonprofits I work with approach funders like Oliver Twist, begging for money.
What are the three most popular foundation grants right now? The difficult part about foundation grants is that all of the data we have on foundation giving is often 18 to 24 months old. Foundations file their IRS Form 990
Organizations helping child abuse survivors have a mission that resonates with most of the general public. You have to be heartless to not want to help child abuse survivors. Protecting children is something instinctual within most of us. Yet, many
