8 Simple Things You Can Do To Increase Your Nonprofit’s Chances Of Getting Funding
STAGE TWO
Have you been submitting proposals, sponsorship letters, and individual donor asks but not seeing much return on your fundraising efforts? If so, it could be that your nonprofit isn’t making it past the eligibility screening.
Funders receive a slew of requests just like yours. They perform initial screening, just like employers do for job applicants. To get the pile down to a reasonable size, they eliminate applicants who fail to meet eligibility criteria or who don’t present well. You know—the resume has grease stains, typos, or is addressed to the wrong company…
Here are eight simple things you may not think are a big deal but could be the reason why your organization’s proposal/solicitation letter/request is being tossed into the round file without ever being reviewed.
Your Organization’s Credibility
If your contact information includes an email with a Gmail, Yahoo, cox, AOL, sbcglobal, att, or any other personal (or free) extension, then you could be ruining your chances of getting funded. It doesn’t say “I’m a professional organization.”
Have you ever needed a service—say a car repair, filing taxes, or having your hair done? If your friend referred you to a mechanic and as you pulled up you noticed that name Catalitic Converter was misspelled? What about a hair stylist that worked out of their home—would you feel as comfortable as you would if they worked from a commercial building? Your answer may be yes, but as a grant-seeking organization, you just don’t have the luxury of not knowing if it makes a difference to your Funders.
Recommendations One, Two, Three, and Four: Invest in branded contact information.
Email
Website URL
Business telephone number
Physical address
Look the part.
You’re asking Funders to trust you with thousands of dollars. Help them get past any questions about your ability to deliver by removing any appearances that your organization is not a professional nonprofit. Perhaps you are working from a home-based office, and that’s fine, but don’t give the appearance that you’re not professional. Invest in creating a branded look.
If you use cost-effective website platforms like Wix or Weebly, pay to remove their branding. Get a custom domain name when you pay for the website. Pay for an ad-free site. For Wix, that’s about $120 a year.
Why does it matter? You’re a nonprofit, right?
Well, there are two schools of thought.
One, you are stewarding your resources and spending your money on things that matter, like your programs. But the other school of thought is that you’re struggling and can’t afford the basic necessities required to run a business.
My rule of thumb: Don’t put your organization in a position where the Funder thinks it’s the latter. Don’t give a Funder any reasons to question your credibility. Invest in the basics because you’re not there when they review your application to make your case. Remember, your proposal is competing with hundreds of other proposals, many of which have a polished professional look. Don’t take the chance.
I like Google Workspace because it has everything a startup needs in one package, reasonably priced (starting at $4.20/mo). Google Workspace has both the professional email extension and the professional business line nonprofits need to brand their organization. Send professional emails from your nonprofit web address (you@yournonprofit.org) and create group mailing lists like info@yournonprofit.org. Get Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, Meet, and more for business.
Keep all your work in one secure place with cloud storage. Access and share with your teammates whenever you need it. Collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations across devices. With Google Voice, you get a free phone number for calls, text messages, and voicemails. You can use the apps on smartphones and computers, and you can link your number to any mobile or landline number.
Be sure your extension ends in .org. Because your organization is a nonprofit. For-profits use .com as their extensions. That’s a quick red flag. Funders don’t fund for-profit companies, so your application would get tossed right away.
I use Google Workspace. It integrates easily with my SquareSpace website. I also use Google Voice. I assign my business number a special ring so that when the call is forwarded to my personal mobile phone, I am able to distinguish between a personal call and a business call by the ring tone. When I hear the ringtone, I know to answer “Amber Wynn, Philanthrepreneur. This is Amber speaking, how may I help you?”
And, you can set up a customized voicemail just for that line. YouMail is perfect for that. Funders will never be able to tell the difference between this cost-effective fix and a $200-a-month system. So, take advantage of this or a similar workaround, and brand your organization’s contact information.
Many home-based businesses use PO Boxes for their business mail. But because your nonprofit is a public charity, a PO Box can sometimes cause pause. Plenty of organizations have mailing addresses that are PO Boxes, but to have that as your primary address on your website, newsletter, brochure, and business card could be a red flag. Physical addresses present the best professional image. UPS offers physical addresses. I know it seems trivial, but again, you want to do all you can to pass the eligibility screening.
Your Organization’s Online Presence
Recommendation Five, Six, Seven, and Eight: Strengthen your online presence. Make sure that Funders’ Google searches end up working in your organization’s favor. Be sure to include your organization’s mission, program description, and impact on your professionally designed/branded website.
It’s important to understand that the first thing a Funder is going to do is google your organization. So your online presence is basically your resume. Every nonprofit needs a website. A Facebook page alone is not sufficient. Here’s why: the Funder is looking for specific information that is going to help him or her feel confident that your organization is a bona fide nonprofit. Facebook is a promotional tool. Having one is definitely beneficial, but for the purpose of increasing your chances of getting funded, a website is essential. As I mentioned above, there are low-cost options: Wix, Weebly, GoDaddy, and WordPress. There are even done-for-you options available, if you’re looking for a streamlined, cost-effective way for developing a website.
Okay, so there are four things a Funder is looking for on your website. If you don’t have them, get them up right away:
5. A Roster of your board of directors
This one is tricky because the reason Funders want to see who your board members are is to look at what type of leadership your organization has. The board is legally responsible for governing the nonprofit, that’s why they are required to sign off on contracts and agreements. So, now may be a good time to look at bringing on some powerful board members in your field if your board primarily consists of friends and family with no real weight in your area of expertise.
6. Your organization’s mission
Seems obvious, but you’d be surprised how many organizations fail to have this simple—but extremely important—statement on their website. Funders look to see if your nonprofit’s mission aligns with theirs. If your mission is to save the Blue Whale and their mission is to end illiteracy, well…that’s not a match, is it? Your mission helps them to quickly eliminate mismatches.
7. Program descriptions
Sometimes missions are so long and convoluted, that a program description helps a Funder understand exactly what it is the organization does. Be sure your website explicitly states:
What types of services your organization provides
Who it provides those services to (gender, age, socioeconomic status, and race, if applicable)
Your geographical service area
Funders have restrictions on what type of programs and service areas they fund. A program description helps them to determine if your organization is a good match.
8. Organization’s impact
Lastly, your website should clearly demonstrate your organization’s impact:
State how many clients you serve (either monthly or annually)
What type of impact your services are making in the community
Funders want to know their money is going to make a difference. The only way to know that is if you tell them what difference your services are making in your community. If you are a new nonprofit and don’t have a track record yet, consider posting a few Success Stories. Post pictures with quotes from clients, their families, and partners (Pastor from the church, Executive Director of the organization you worked with, etc.) and let them share how their lives have changed because of your organization.
These eight things could change the trajectory of your organization by increasing the number of positive funding responses you receive. Sometimes it’s the small things that make a difference. In the funder’s world, they have to eliminate as many unqualified applicants as possible to get to the truly fundable organizations. Do these eight things to help get your organization passed the eligibility screening process.
Here’s a quick reference checklist of these 8 Simple Things.