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CHAPTER 5: APPLYING FOR
FOUNDATION GRANTS
REVIEW YOUR PROSPECT LIST
Put together a list of all the prospective funders you have
and the estimated amount of money you think you can
raise from each of them.
You will need more prospects and a potential gift total that
exceeds the amount you need for your project or organization.
Not every prospect will decide to give you a grant, so you need
to be prepared to ask for more than you need. A good rule
of thumb is to have a prospect pipeline that is at least three
times the amount of money you want to raise.
This is a subset of the larger prospect list from Chapter
1 showing only the prospective foundation donors.
The Women’s Self-Help Association has so far received
$10,500 in foundation gifts, 70 percent of its goal of
$15,000 in foundation grants. The association has
identified an additional $13,500 in potential foundation
funding, three times the $4,500 needed. The association’s
full organizational budget can be found on page 25 and
a list of their current funders, including foundations who
have already awarded grants, is on page 26.
Once you have a complete list, you can create a calendar
for yourself to keep track of all your activities to cultivate
these prospects. Now you’re ready to apply for grants
from each funder you’ve identified on your list, and you
can tailor your application to the needs of each.
CHECK FUNDER DEADLINES
Some foundations have open deadlines, meaning that
they accept funding requests any time of the year. Others
have specific dates when they’ll receive proposals, but
won’t accept them other times of year. Most foundations’
grant award dates are based on when they hold board of
directors meetings where grant applications are approved.
Requests for Proposals: Some foundations only accept
proposals for specific projects that they have designed.
These are often called RFPs (requests for proposals). They
can also be referred to as calls for proposals.
Check the website and application guidelines of your
prospects, and put these dates on your calendar. If the
funder has a specific deadline, don’t send proposals after
that date (because they won’t be considered) or for months
before that date (because your proposal may be lost).
If you can’t find any information on deadlines, you can
get in touch with the contact person at the foundation to
Foundation Prospect List for Women’s Self-Help Association
PROSPECT NAME
POTENTIAL GIFT
AMOUNT
TIMELINE/NEXT STEPS
International women’s fund $5,000 Applied in February, decision by May
Anonymous foundation $5,000 RFP due on March 1
Women’s economic empowerment fund $2,500 Unsolicited proposals due in July
Corporate foundation $1,000 Application deadline in September; invite
philanthropy officer to visit program in June
TOTAL POTENTIAL FOUNDATION GIFTS $13,500
TOTAL BUDGET TO RAISE FROM
FOUNDATIONS
TOTAL FOUNDATION MONEY RAISED
TO DATE
TOTAL FOUNDATION MONEY LEFT TO
RAISE
$15,000
$10,500
$4,500
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