you have the basic infrastructure needed to
Do
communicate internationally? Do you have a
telephone number and email account? Do you have
a bank account where grant money can be wired or
checks deposited?
they seek to support (i.e. do they fund programs for
single mothers or orphans living with HIV/AIDS?
Do they fund advocacy projects or only direct
services like emergency food relief or health care?)
Does the funder take “unsolicited proposals”? This
means foundations accept grant proposals from new
organizations they haven’t heard from before. Some
funders do not accept proposals at all, or only invite
groups they know well to apply for funding.
If you don’t have these basic capacities, many foundations
will not consider you eligible for a grant and any application
you send them will not be considered for funding.
There can be exceptions to this rule. Sometimes human
rights groups and other NGOs working on controversial
issues cannot obtain legal status in their country.
Some funders understand this and will work around
it. However, in many cases, you may be disqualified
for funding on technical grounds. It is important to
understand this in advance before you put in a lot of
work on proposals that cannot be considered.
they fund other groups like yours? Beyond
Do
reading the foundation’s official guidelines, look for
a list of grants recently awarded by the foundation.
Many foundations list all their current grants on
their website, or in their annual reports, which are
often available for download on their website. See
if the foundation gives grants to other grassroots
organizations in your country or in your field. If the
foundation has only given grants to organizations
based in its home country or only to large
international NGOs, it may not be open to giving
a grant to your organization, unless it has recently
changed its guidelines.
COMMON REQUIREMENTS
there a limit on the organization’s budget size?
Is
Some foundations only fund small grassroots
organizations, while others only want to fund large
organizations with big budgets.
What kinds of paperwork do they require? Is it too
burdensome for your group to manage a grant from
this funder?
Does the foundation give grants of an appropriate
size? If you need $20,000, you don’t want to apply
to a foundation whose smallest grants are $250,000.
But, if a foundation gives $5,000 grants, don’t rule
it out because it won’t fund your entire budget–you
can supplement that grant with other sources of
funding to reach your goal.
Some foundations have very complicated reporting
requirements, including the collection of detailed statistical
data, which can be really difficult for small grassroots
groups to meet. Unless the foundation will offer you extra
support to help you collect the data and build your group’s
capacity, you may find that it costs more to manage the
grant than the grant is worth to your organization.
Does the foundation give grants to groups at
your stage of organizational development? Some
funders are looking to help new organizations get
started, while others want to fund well-established,
mature organizations with a track record of prior
international funding.
QUESTIONS TO ANSWER BEFORE YOU
WRITE THE PROPOSAL
Writing a proposal is like preparing a pitch, as described
in Chapter 2, only much more detailed. Before you sit
down to write, you should collect basic information
about your organization and its programs.
Does the foundation give direct grants
internationally? Many international grantmakers
give grants through organizations based in their
country that run international projects and don’t
award grants directly to groups based in that
country (see the “Note on Taxes” on page 13).
Who are you? Who are your organization’s leaders,
staff, board/advisors, volunteers, beneficiaries/
participants? How many are there? What skills and
expertise do they have?
the funder interested in your geographical region?
Is
Many foundations limit their giving to particular
world regions, countries, and even localities.
What kind of group are you? How are you structured?
How is your organization governed? How does it
make decisions?
Who is the foundation’s target population? Check
funders’ program areas and the types of beneficiaries
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