About A.C. Fitzgerald
A.C. Fitzgerald & Associates is a national consulting firm providing business solutions for charities and other nonprofit organizations. Our principal goal is to help client organizations achieve their vision by developing strategies to increase income and effectiveness.
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| March 2011 |
Volume 6, Number 3 |
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What should I do next?
by Michelle Taylor & Ann C. Fitzgerald
We’ve all been there wondering: What’s Next?
You’ve identified a potential foundation funder, written a compelling proposal that followed the foundation’s guidelines and mailed in everything well before the deadline.
Then…crickets chirping.
Do you call the program officer? Send a letter? Sit and wait?
Here are some thoughts to consider before you take your next step:
- No news is not necessarily bad news. Many foundations won’t acknowledge proposals because of the sheer volume of submissions.
- Do you know whether the foundation's board has met to decide on grants? It can take several weeks after a board meeting for the foundation to inform grant recipients of its decision. Review the application guidelines to learn about the foundation's grant cycle and when grant decisions are made, or check online through Foundation Center (www.foundationcenter.org) or Guidestar (www.guidestar.org).
- Did you send a proposal to the right foundation? Not every foundation is a prospect. In fact, very few are. Did you carefully review its list of grants and its funding priorities before applying?
- Did you know what type of foundation you approached? According to the Urban Institute's National Center for Charitable Statistics, 69 percent of private foundations have assets of less than $10 million. This means most foundations do not have large, professional staff. In many cases, a donor sitting with his family around a table may make the decision.
- Did you take time to build a relationship? Or did you blindly mail a bunch of proposals? Foundations are not exactly waiting for your proposal to cry, "Thank goodness! We can now give some of our money away!" You may need to spend months - if not longer - cultivating a foundation gift through meetings and thoughtful negotiation.
- Are you treating the program officer as an ally? Some fundraisers take out their frustration on the foundation staff. Bad idea. Remember, they are just carrying out thte funding wishes of the board or the philanthropist who controls the money. Think of them as partners in the process. The program officer can be extremely helpful in making your case to the board when you get to that point.
- Did you approach your colleagues in the nonprofit sector for advice? If you know someone at an organization the foundation supports, you may want to call for advice - not to uncover confidential donor information but to get recommendations on building the relationship.
- Did you call to follow up? Foundations get calls like this all the time. Mention that you are following up on a submitted proposal. It's unlikely you will get a decision about the grant, but at least you can find out where in the process your proposal is.
What if your carefully crafted proposal is denied? Or, to think positively, what if you receive good news that you've been awarded a grant? What do you do?
Find the answers for these questions and more in A.C. Fitzgerald & Associates' fundraising manual: 100 Tips, Techniques and Templates for Persuasive Proposal Writing.
Contact Us
AC Fitzgerald & Associates, LLC
Ann C. Fitzgerald, President
www.acfitzgerald.com
(877) 528-5775
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100 Tips, Techniques and Templates for Persuasive Proposal Writing |
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