Financially speaking, is your nonprofit made of straw, sticks or bricks?
According to RAND’s Financial Sustainability for Nonprofit Organizations Research Report, “It’s not enough [for nonprofits] to have a high-impact program if there’s no effective strategy for sustaining the organization financially. An organization sustainable in the short term but not in the long term may have adequate cash but inflation will cause the value of its assets to erode over time. This, in turn, will cause the quantity and quality of services to diminish unless capital campaigns periodically bring infusions of new assets.”
Your non-profit benefits communities in remarkable ways but in order to continue making a difference, you need to obtain consistent funding. The most common way for nonprofits to continue making an impact is through securing grants.
Grants are proven to effectively fuel non-profit missions.
According to the Society for Nonprofits, once you have obtained one grant, you are more likely to receive others. It also builds your organization’s visibility and credibility. On the down side, they also note that “in the average day, roughly 2,700 grant proposals are submitted; fewer than 200 will receive funding. Competition is fierce, and the success rate is low.”
Grant research and submission involves a certain amount of strategy and thoughtfulness.
The Lesley University explains why being grant ready is paramount by noting that “most awards are based on merit, not on need. Even though a nonprofit organization may be struggling financially, another organization would sooner be awarded a competitive grant if it submitted a higher quality application.”
With over a decade of experience in applying for grants, writing grant programs for foundations and the government, peer reviewing applications, making funding decisions, and managing awards, The Woolf Group has proven track record to help organizations become grant ready and produce high quality, competitive grant proposals. We do the time-consuming research of available grants, exclude the grants you have little chance of winning, and then develop a grants calendar (a plan for applying for grants throughout the year) to maximize effectiveness and efficiency.
According to the article “Why Do So Many Nonprofits Fail?”, “many nonprofits begin with a good statement of purpose but don’t always come up with an actionable way to bring about their mission in the world. That’s why it is critical that nonprofits make long-term planning a priority”.
The Woolf Group is here to help you make a long-term plan, hone in on which grants will be the best match for your organization, and assist you with the entire grant acquisition process. You have a lot on your plate already; let us serve you so you can continue to serve your communities.