Grants

Asha Varghese, director of global health programs at the GE Foundation, discusses her foundation's grant process and shares keys for fundraisers seeking grants.

Look at the big picture and learn from every victory and defeat. And avoid budgeting a large grant when there is uncertainty as to the outcome of the request.

Take heart. The world needs us to be active, connecting with people while we cheerfully, aggressively promote our causes.

Whether you are a professional grant writer or a novice just dipping your toes into the world of grant writing, it is now important to stay abreast of trends that may be able to provide you with that special edge you need to secure grant awards. Two of the most predominant changes are in the area of technology (no surprise there) and attitude on the part of grant makers.

Whole Me began 11 years ago with a grassroots effort. People who worked with deaf and hard-of-hearing children saw a problem. The kids they were interpreting for in school were going home to afternoons of isolation. So they built a solution: An after-school program for deaf students. No one got paid. The office was a dining room table. Over the next decade, Whole Me grew little by little. The budget reached six figures. But it took failure in 2011 for the small organization to find a solid path to financial security.

You may be fortunate enough to have an experienced grant writer on staff, especially if your organization has a developed and long-standing grants program. But for many nonprofits that is not so, and it might make sense to hire a grant professional or consultant, at least for a limited time.

We went to just such a consultant, Jake Seliger of Seliger Associates. We asked him what he thinks the pros and cons are of hiring a grant writer on a contractual basis.

The U.S. Business Group of Sun Life Financial Inc. announced its request for applications in five key U.S. regions for Sun Life Rising Star Awards grants from nonprofit organizations that promote the academic achievement of underserved youth. Applications are available now at sunliferisingstar.com. The deadline for submissions is June 9.

What are foundations doing to make more efficient use of their grant making? The Chronicle of Philanthropy mentions four trends in current grant making that charities should be aware of: interest in tackling really big problems, making social services more effective, encouraging struggling charities to merge with or partner with stronger ones and spreading the ideas that work.

This new emphasis by foundations on pooling resources and bringing in multiple players to solve big problems could be a signal for nonprofits to look toward mergers, cooperation and cross-agency projects before even approaching a foundation.

As anyone who has researched grant prospects knows, the opportunities for funding partners are few and far between. No nonprofit can afford to leave a bad taste in the mouth of a foundation’s executives. Your grant applications will improve vastly if you keep in mind these 10 tips.

The online world is full of anonymous opinions: Diners review restaurants, students rate professors, patients evaluate doctors. Now fundraisers are getting their turn. A new website, Inside Philanthropy, is asking them to “Speak Truth to Money” and say what they really think about foundations, program officers and philanthropists.

The anonymous-ratings feature is part of a broader effort by the online venture’s founder, David Callahan, to penetrate philanthropy’s inner sanctums.