FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Expense: Grants are an important revenue source for most nonprofits, but understanding the playing field and the language of funders is its own investment. Hiring an in-house grant writer will add salary, benefits, and potential time for training. By outsourcing grant writing, you can hire someone who is already experienced and save.

Expertise: Managing a nonprofit is demanding enough without also mastering grant writing. SGS will handle finding and evaluating funding opportunities, preparing proposals, meeting deadlines, and other duties, freeing up your time and mind space to do what you do best!

A Funding Strategy is a clear and actionable roadmap outlining which grants to pursue and when. 

The Funding Strategy is produced by searching grant databases and collecting 150+ initial matches. This list of prospective opportunities is narrowed to the top ~20 matches by sorting grants by eligibility, funder’s giving priorities, and past giving behavior, among other data points. We will review the prioritized list with you for feedback. If appropriate, we will work with you to contact the funder to discuss your project and understand the level of competitiveness for specific grants.

Finally, SGS will compile the best-match grants in a document outlining the details of each grant opportunity. This compilation is your grant seeking roadmap for the next 12-18 months.

The most common path for new clients is:

1. Discovery call in which we get to know each other and whether or not your organization is grant-ready.

2. SGS will provide a detailed proposal for the compilation of a Funding Strategy for your organization. The proposal will include a detailed description of the process, what will be included in the Funding Strategy, and the price.

3. If the proposal is accepted, we will schedule a kick-off meeting to ensure we understand your programs and goals.

4. SGS will begin work on the Funding Strategy.

5. After narrowing the grant opportunities to the top 20-25, we will present a draft Funding Strategy to you to review and discuss.

6. Once the final Funding Strategy has been delivered, you can use it in-house or you can hire SGS to implement the Funding Strategy. We would discuss the next steps and send you a contract amendment for your signature.

7. Upon execution, we will set a monthy meeting time to review progress and address any questions or issues.

Most organizations typically have a few items to obtain or update to be in the most competitive condition. We will discuss what your organization may need to do on your kick-off call if you choose to hire SGS to execute your grant strategy. In the meantime, some high-level questions to ask yourself:

1. Do you have your 501(c)3 designation letter from the IRS?

2. Is your 501(c)3 designation letter dated at least two years ago?

3. Do you have at least two years of Form 990 available?

4. Do you have your approval to solicit funds from your state?

5. Do you have community leaders or Executive Directors of other nonprofits who you can ask for letters of support?

No. When you engage a grant writer, you are hiring a skilled professional to produce a product: a well-crafted grant proposal. The proposal is only one factor in the decision made by the funder, and it is the only factor within the grant writer’s control.

Other factors to consider:

• Do you have a good track record of managing funds received in the past?

• What is your organization's reputation?

• How much funding is available, and how many applications are received?

• Do you have a relationship with this funder?

• What is the makeup of your board of directors? Do they have relationships with potential funders? Do they have people in their networks that would be helpful to your organization?

• Does your program have a reasonable sustainability plan?

• Does your organization have the resources to deliver the proposed services?

• Are your goals realistic?

These and other questions will determine which of the applicants will be funded.

Different grants will require different time frames. A federal grant can take 80-100 hours, whereas a small family foundation’s application may take 10-15 hours.

In either case, submitting a grant proposal involves a lot more than simply writing a narrative about your program and why it should be chosen for funding. To make the best case for your organization, we research the potential funder, gather all of the required documents, create program budgets, ensure that all instructions are followed precisely, while making your case as persuasive as possible.

A Letter of Inquiry (LOI) is generally a short description of your organization, program, and request which allows the funder to determine if they feel it's worth your time to complete a full application for funding. If so, you will receive an invitation to submit a full proposal.

Depending on the requirements of the LOI, this can take anywhere from two to five hours to produce.

Absolutely. After we have met and understand your needs, if both parties think it’s a good match, we will provide references to you.

Lead times vary greatly. Some corporate and family foundations are as quick as two to three months while government grants an some corporate and family foundations take eight to twelve months.

Funds are typically available between immediately to 60 days following receipt of the award notice. This varies based on the funder’s schedule.

NO. Grants have long lead times and can sometimes take as long as a year to be awarded.

Most grants are "restricted," meaning that the funds can only be used for expenses approved by the funder (usually the budget you submitted with your proposal, unless changes were made prior to the award).

The unicorn we look for all the time is the unrestricted grant, which can be spent however the nonprofit organization sees fit. These are rare, but they exist. The organization remains accountable for the funds and the funder will likely still require reporting that shows how the funds were spent and any impact that can be shown.

Reimbursement grants do just that - they reimburse programs for monies spent on approved items after receipts have been submitted to the funder. The funder reviews the documentation and then reimburses the nonprofit for the approved expenses. This is very common in government grants. While being awarded a grant is great, this type of grant can be a drain on your organization if you are not ready to take on the management burden or if you don’t have the funds to operate for a year while you are waiting to be reimbursed. Thus, a reimbursement grant is more appropriate for a mature, well-funded organization rather than a new or small nonprofit.

Every grant is different. Some grants allow a specific portion of the grant funds to be used on indirect costs, or overhead.

Although rare, grants that are 100% for general operating expenses are available. These funds can be spent on overhead like admin salaries, general office supplies, rent, etc.

However, organizations may be allocating to overhead items which actually belong to programs. For example, time spent providing program-related services should be allocated to Programs, not overhead. If the Executive Director is paid for a 40-hour week and s/he spends 8 hours per week delivering program services to clients, 20% of his/her salary should be recorded as Program Expense, not overhead. Understanding these points is important as funders are suspicious of high overhead expenses.