The Universal Grant Nightmare

*I'm sitting in my office writing furiously about my awesome program that will contribute to drastic community enrichment opportunities. I finish it with a huge smile on my face, attach it to an email, and send it off to the 78 funders on my hit list. Success! Who knew grant writing was so easy!*

And that's when I stumble awake in shock from my boldness to dream of such non-profit nonsense. How dare I!

The question most frequently asked to fundraisers by non-profit leaders: "Can't we just write a really great proposal and send a copy to every single funder?"

My answer starts with a capital N and ends with a capital O. As many fund seekers will learn, the concept of a Universal Grant is something comparable to that of a unicorn. It doesn't exist, and if you so choose to believe otherwise, you may be headed towards your very own nightmare. Leaders of charitable organizations often think this is the best method to cut down on time and costs but in fact, you are doing the opposite as your rate of return may be much lower than if time was invested tailoring specific applications to each funder.

Funders come in all different shapes and sizes, have a wide range of social priorities and often each with a very particular process for applying. The best fundraisers understand this very notion and are able to adapt each application and expectations to meet the priorities of the funder. Undoubtedly, I'm not suggesting you come up with a completely different proposal for each funder, but instead to use the same information but tailor it to highlight specific needs of the funder.

If you're like me and you need examples, here's one: You have a program that will provide counselling and workshops for all youth, to prevent them from being victims of abuse. You come across Funder A and Funder B who both support youth-related projects. However under their individual guidelines, Funder A only focuses on funding newcomer youth and Funder B will not cover costs for counselling. If you provide a general proposal to both of them, you may miss out on Funder A because you did not specify whether your workshops target newcomer youth or Funder B may decline because you chose to request money for counselling (which is an overall reflection of your lack of research as a fund seeker). What would be a better option may be to demonstrate to Funder A that the portion of funding you are requesting will go towards supporting newcomer youth, or perhaps highlighting the workshops portion of your program to Funder B so they are aware their funding will not go to counselling.

By having a Universal Grant, you may not be answering all the questions that the funder might have or you might be providing information that is irrelevant to them. Another big problem with having one pre-written proposal is that more and more grant-giving groups (like corporations) have moved to an online application process with stringent word limits. Hah--this Universal Grant thing doesn't seem so good now, does it?

As suggested time and time again by successful fundraisers, research is probably the most important process when identifying potential grant opportunities. If you're not sure after reading their guidelines, there is usually a contact you can reach to ask more questions or even briefly pitch your idea to see if you are a fit for them. Then customize your proposal to make it a winning proposal for each funder.

For readers who are seeking funds, what are your thoughts on the Universal Grant? What are some of your suggestions in helping to customize/tailor proposals for each funder?