These strategies are basic but are often forgotten when swept up in the possibility of a lucrative grant. I use these steps when determining if our team will apply for any grant.

Check eligibility and mission alignment

• Review grant guidelines, and read them to the end! In some cases, limiting eligibility criteria can be hidden in the finer details anywhere, start or end, of the granting guidelines.

• Review past granted projects to identify potential mission alignment with your ideas/concepts. Do previous recipients have similar projects? similar geographical service areas? similar demographics?  

ROI (return on investment)

• Check on the total dollar amount available to grantees versus the average amount granted to recipients. This helps you determine if the numbers are worth your efforts.

• Ask about the total number of applicants versus the number of likely successful grants, or the number of successful grants in past years. For example, if most of the applications are successful, and the average amount granted works for you, I would continue with this alignment exercise.   

This statistical information is often available only upon request, so ask early (or in the next step:).

Speak with an agent from the granting organization

• Float possible ideas/concepts via a video call, preferred, or a phone call. Watch their facial expressions and listen for the tone of their voice when you talk about your projects most likely to align with their grant. What is of interest – do they lean in and want to learn more? What is a non-starter – do they break eye contact and look less engaged? Sometimes the agent can be very candid, which can be a crucial factor in helping you decide if the grant is actually aligned with your work.

Check your internal capacity

• When your team has time on on their hands, you may wish to write and apply for grants that you would not apply for when your team is busy.

• Alternately, even when my team is busy, I still find the time to apply for the grants that have a high likelihood of success.

If a grant looks good from all of these perspectives, get to work early on that Letter of Intent, proposal, or application!