The first step to creating a feasible funding strategy or grant calendar is research. Beginning funding research can be daunting because new researchers are unsure of where to start or how to finish to such a task.

Over the last 15 years, Alaska Funding Exchange has established a process that maximizes the return on any investment an organization makes in research.

Tools
The tools of the funding research trade are found on the World Wide Web. The most useful and important of these are:

• Grants.gov, a database that can provide a daily email update of Federal grant opportunities from all departments,
• Grantstation.com, a well-organized and helpful database that is available for a subscription fee, and
• Guidestar.com, a free and user-friendly site that provides access to private foundations’ IRS forms (Form 990) detailing the gifts they’ve made.

These tools are essential to solving the “Who Funds What” mystery. The AFE research method has four steps. By categorizing each step, the research makes more sense, and results in more orderly findings.

Step One: Pre-Search
Step one is the Pre-Search. During Pre-Search, the researcher develops a short written description of both the project and the organization.

The project and agency description should include: contact information, history of the agency, its mission and future goals, project description, verified need for the project, targeted population, and a draft work plan. If possible this description should include a brief budget.

Step Two: Preliminary Search
The preliminary search begins on the internet. This is where the funders who are obviously not appropriate are eliminated from the search.

The researcher’s purpose here is to create a pool of grantmakers that are basically qualified for the project. Specifically, the Preliminary findings will include a list of approximately 20 grantmakers that support the type of organization and project under consideration.

Using either online tools mentioned above or the grantmaker’s own website, briefly read through each grantmaker’s areas of interest and funding priorities to determine:

• eligibility of the agency and project,
• the philosophical compatibility of the applicant and the grantmaker, and
• any special requirements and/or restrictions that the grantmaker might impose.

Preliminary research generally takes between 10 – 15 hours.

Step Three: Prior Award Review
After the preliminary search, the list of potential funding partners needs to be pared down to a manageable amount, usually about ten. This smaller list is created through a deeper, more intensive search of prior awards.

It is important to research a grantmaker’s prior awards to determine the types of projects and agencies they usually fund. If the grantmaker has supported similar projects in the past, it is more likely to be a good match with the current project.

Past awards can be found in several different places for different types of grantmakers.

• Private Foundations. The first place to review is the grantmaker’s IRS 990.
• Corporate Giving Programs. IRS 990s are not available for corporate giving programs, but past awards may often be listed on their websites or in press releases and annual reports. The internet is a great tool for this information.
• Government Programs. Generally speaking, State and Federal governments post prior awardees on their websites. However, if this is not the case for the program under consideration, a phone call to the department usually nets a list.

Another way to obtain prior award information is to request copies of past winning proposals directly from the grantmaker using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

When the prior award review is complete, the list of grantmakers can be divided up into “keep,” “disqualified,” and “potential” piles. “Potential” grantmakers will work for another or future project, but they would only be a distraction for this particular funding strategy.

This phase of research serves to cut down on the amount of grantmakers that will need to be contacted, and it usually takes about 10 more hours of work.

Step Four: Making Contact
The final component of funding research is making contact with the grantmakers. The purpose of this step is to seek an invitation to apply. It is essential to have a script handy when making these calls, and to review each funder’s guidelines and information before each call.

This step requires courtesy, tact, and good judgment. Time each call, making certain it is no more than 10-15 minutes long … less if the contact is in a hurry. Sometimes it is best to schedule a better time to call.

Take detailed notes during each conversation and be sure to thank each grantmaker for their time and information sincerely. If a grantmaker says “no,” do not try to “sell” the project; simply ask why and keep the funder in the “disqualified for this project” pile for future reference. Another good question in this circumstance is “Are there other grantmakers you would recommend that we speak to?”

The end result should be a list of about five funders with notes on each grantmaker including contact information, funding priorities, and a communication record that will pave the way for funding for any project.

This information can readily be integrated into a new or existing grants calendar to guide the work that needs to be done.

 

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