Grants Are Grand, But They Don't Heat the Office

Grants Are Grand, But They Don't Heat the Office

Jan. 31, 2006

By Ann Fritschner

If you're in development at a newer nonprofit, you might hear your board members say, "Go write some grants; get that big money," as though writing a few proposals will make your fundraising as successful as that of an older, more established organization. This can be especially frustrating when you're penning appeal letters, sending out press releases, writing and mailing the newsletter, cleaning the bathrooms, and generally trying to keep your head above water.

Grants are helpful and fairly easy to come by -- comparatively speaking -- when your organization is just starting out, or undertaking a new program or capital campaign. But don't get used to them. Grants shouldn't be the backbone -- the essence -- of your development plan. If they are, you'll soon find out how hard it is to make the transition to multi-level, integrated funding streams -- and how necessary.

Annual giving is defined as gifts made by individuals (primarily) that are (often) unrestricted and therefore to be used as decided by the board of directors. Larger in number and smaller in dollar size than capital gifts and endowment pledges, they often are a donor's "entry point" to your organization.

In a perfect world, the donor timeline works like this: A prospect sees your annual appeal, reads your newsletter or visits your Web site (all of which have the appropriate reply devices to encourage giving), and sends you a check or makes a contribution by credit card. Once this donor has given to your organization, it's highly likely (at least 75 percent) that he will give again in Year Two -- especially if you thank him well throughout the year and remind him in Appeal Two that he gave to Appeal One. In other words, you can count on these gifts year after year after year -- if you treat your donors right.