Get Grants Now

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Get Grants Now

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Chapter One

The first purpose of an organization's mission is to guide the board, staff and volunteers in all you do. The second is to let the outside world, including the funding world, know exactly why you exist. Books have been written about creating compelling mission statements that motivate and inspire. That is not the purpose of this book; but since it is the first step to successful grant seeking, it is worth spending a little time reviewing yours.

A good mission statement answers three questions succinctly: Why does your organization exist? What purpose do you serve? Who were you created to help? Take a look at the following mission statements and see if they tell you what the organization does and for whom they do it.

1. Our mission is to present and promote excellent live classical music that inspires, entertains, and engages people of all ages.

2. Our mission is to help homeless people by providing temporary shelter, finding safe and affordable housing for them, and providing them with permanent housing that includes the support services they need to maintain this housing.

3. Our mission isto provide youth, adults and families with an effective and comprehensive solution to drug and alcohol addiction.

(You likely figured out that the first organization is a community orchestra, the second provides housing for the homeless and the third helps addicts recover their lives.)

In each case, fewer than 40 words were used, and so the type of words here are the key: the type of words created a powerful and inspirational mission. These nonprofits selected words with strength and precision, words such as inspire, engage, permanent, effective, comprehensive, and solution. The language is clear, the sentence structure simple and direct.

Take out your organization's mission statement and read it through. Then call a few people - a friend, a colleague, your mother, your great-aunt Sarah - and read it to them. If they truly understand your organization's purpose from simply hearing the statement, you can skip the rest of this chapter and move on to the "Needs" chapter, next.

If they have to ask you two or three questions before getting clear about your mission, - or if your organization doesn't have a mission statement - now is the time to complete the Mission Statement Exercise below. (You might want to conduct this exercise anyway, as a way to improve or validate your current mission statement.)

Exercise: Creating a Mission Statement

Part One: Do this with the full Board of Directors since it is their responsibility to approve a final mission statement. Select or appoint a group facilitator to lead the exercise. Allow at least one hour so there is ample time for discussion. (For help, use the Create a Mission Statement Form in the Appendix.)

1. Have everyone write down five words, and only five words, that they believe are critical to understanding what their organization is all about.

2. Next, instruct them to eliminate two of these words and keep the three they deem most important.

3. Pair up board members to share their remaining three words with a partner. Each pair will come up with a total of three to four words they determine most accurate in describing your organization's purpose.

4. Put each word on a four by six post-it note in large print. Post these notes on a wall or board where everyone can see them.

5. Using these words as a focus, facilitate the group in creating a rough draft of a statement of fewer than 30 words, that describes the purpose of your organization and the people you serve. Don't worry about the exact wording: it is the ideas that are important at this stage.

Part Two: Ask for four or five people to do this next step.

1. Have them each make a phone call to someone they know who is not close to your organization. Ask that person to listen to the rough draft of the mission statement to see if he or she understands the purpose of your organization.

2. The caller group will then get together before the next meeting to share what they have learned, and to revise the mission statement based on their learning.

Part Three: After the caller group provides the facilitator with the revised mission statement, send this revised statement to all board members to review in advance of the next board meeting.

1. Allow enough time at this meeting for all members to have input on the new statement, and to make revisions if needed.

2. If there appears to be a lot of disagreement about the statement, repeat Part Two with different board members.

3. Conduct a formal vote by the Board approving the final revision of the statement as the mission statement of your organization.

When you have completed this exercise, you will have a brief statement that is compelling and capable to attract funders' attention. It speaks from the heart, it is daring, but it is not unrealistic. It is challenging, but it is not impossible to achieve. It serves as the cornerstone of every proposal you will write. Ideally, you can call it the "Board Approved" mission statement in your proposal.

However, if the proposal is due in three weeks and the Board has not even decided if they want a new and improved version of the mission statement, don't hold up your proposal. Use some form of the current mission statement that clearly explains what you do and for whom you do it. Just don't call it a mission statement in the proposal: refer to it as your organization's purpose, or reason for being, or some other less formal name.

Whatever you choose to call it, you now have a mission statement with which you can move on to the next step in seeking grants to support what your organization does.

Key Points to Remember

1. Your mission statement serves two purposes: to guide the board, staff and volunteers in all they do, and to let the outside world know what your organization does.

2. Your mission statement explains the purpose of your organization and the people you serve.

3. A good mission statement is brief and uses powerful words.

4. Mission statements must be board approved.

5. If you don't have a board approved mission statement that would make a good basis for your proposal, write a strong statement that explains the purpose of your organization. Just don't call it a mission statement.

Chapter Two

What is the focal or root need that you are trying to meet by writing this proposal? All nonprofits have needs and often they include more money - but your organization's need for money won't get you any points with funders. I have spent much of my life working in understaffed and overworked nonprofits with great missions and limited resources. It was always a challenge to determine each day what task was most important - so many needs, so little time.

Key to developing your proposal, you must distinguish your organization's general "need" from the "specific need" that an awarded grant will meet. What the funders want to know is what do the people you serve really need and how will this grant you are requesting help them to get it.

The examples below take the mission statements for the three nonprofits in Chapter One and use them to create needs statements for particular programs.

1. Children in elementary school need music education. Your orchestra can fill the gap and provide this education, both in the schools and in your concert hall.

2. Some of the residents in your homeless shelter who have made great progress in getting their lives together but who can't yet afford their own apartment, need some assistance in moving up to supportive housing.

3. Some men in your addiction recovery center who have overcome their addictions but lack specific work skills, need workforce training.

You can see in each of these examples that the need directly reflects back to the mission statements we reviewed in the previous chapter. Needs most often call for either the expansion of an existing program, or the creation of a new one. In both cases, the need must relate to the mission of your organization.

The next step in the development of your need statement calls for a little community research: does anyone else have a program that meets this need? If the answer is yes, you may want to explore a collaborative relationship to meet this need. Most funders strongly encourage nonprofits to collaborate.

You know the need. You may see it every day, so it may become mundane to you. Therefore, you must marshal both your emotion and your objectivity to state it clearly, passionately, and visually. Paint a picture of the problem, describe what could happen if the need remains unmet, and delight in telling the potential funders what the good will look like when they agree to meet the need! Use vivid and provocative language that opens the readers' minds and touches their hearts. Bring the readers to feel the difference their funding could make for the children, the homeless, the people in recovery and their families.

I like to look at the need statement as an "acorn" and the final funding request as the "oak". Everything you want to create a fabulous, fundable program should be in that acorn. As you follow the steps outlined in this book, you will grow that acorn into a sturdy, productive oak tree that could shelter your organization for years to come.

The acorn requires sunlight, air and water to become an oak tree. What do you require to grow your clients' need into money? First, you have to be able to state the need in one sentence. Use strong verbs, and absolutely avoid jargon. Every industry has its own jargon and the nonprofit world is no exception. Read the needs statements below:

1. "We need to provide sequenced development concepts based on the elements of orchestral music to elementary school students."

2. "We need to provide supportive housing for clients who cannot function without sequential transitional assistance."

3. "We need to offer diverse employment skill units to encourage those lacking in marketable skills to achieve maximum potential."

Unless you have worked in the field of music education, homeless services or addiction recovery respectively, these statements may be confusing - or meaningless. A funder would be more likely to respond to one of these needs statements:

1. Students need the knowledge and understanding of instrumental music in their early educational experience in order to reach higher achievement levels in all their academics.

2. Men and women who are not yet ready to live on their own need to move into rooming houses or apartments that have counselors to help them develop the skills and behaviors they need to live on their own.

3. Residents in recovery need a variety of training classes to help them discover and become skilled at work they like to do, so that they can earn money to support themselves and their families.

Once you have created your needs statement, add a second sentence or phrase to clearly relate it to your mission. Don't expect that the funders will automatically get it: it is your job to tell them how meeting the need will help you achieve your mission. Do it clearly and succinctly - and avoid passive voice at all costs. (See Bonus Chapter). This will establish your organization as the ideal one to meet the need that this program seeks to meet.

One good way to check out the usefulness of your needs statement is the "Aunt Sarah" method. As you did with your mission statement, call some friends or family who do not clearly understand the work you do. Read your statement to them to see if they understand what you are asking the foundation to fund. If they get it, you are ready for the next chapter. If not, it is time to do the exercise below.

Exercise: Creating a Needs Statement

A. Answer each question completely:

1. What is the specific need of your clients that this proposal will address?

2. How does this need match the mission of your organization? (If there is no match, stop right here because it does not make sense to seek funding for something which does not match your mission.)

3. What work has your organization already done to meet this need? Is this proposal to expand the work you are currently doing?

4. Do you have to create a new program to meet this need?

5. Who else in the community is working to meet this need? Can your clients use the services of an already existing program in another organization? (If so, stop right here because it is unlikely you will get funding for duplicating services.)

6. Is there another organization with a similar unmet need in your area? Does it make sense to create a collaborative proposal? If so, talk to them before proceeding.

B. Based on your answers to the above questions, write one, clear needs statement (one to two sentences) upon which you will base your proposal. (If this is a collaborative proposal, both organizations will need to agree on this statement.)

Key Points to Remember 1. Funders are interested only in the needs of the people you serve, not in your organization's needs. 2. Funders encourage nonprofits to collaborate to meet the needs of their clients. 3. Make your needs statement brief, clear and compelling. 4. Avoid using jargon and passive voice.

Chapter Three

You clearly understand your mission, you have identified an unmet need that matches your mission, and you are now ready to create a program to meet that need. Let's work with a program mentioned in the previous chapter.

Organization: Hometown Symphony Orchestra

Mission: Our mission is to present and promote excellent live classical music that inspires, entertains and engages people of all ages.

Need: Students need the knowledge, experience and understanding of instrumental music in their early educational experience in order to be inspired, entertained and engaged by it for a lifetime.

This need has arisen because the school committee recently cut all funding for instrumental music education in elementary school classrooms. Previously, the curriculum for grades four and five included instrumental music, and a significant number of students pursued a music education well beyond those grade levels. They joined the school band and orchestra, performing for school plays and special events. Some had ultimately pursued music careers.

One of the elementary school music teachers who had played for the Hometown Symphony Orchestra knew that its Music Director had a strong commitment to music education for elementary school children. This teacher requested a meeting with the Music Director to explore the potential for the orchestra to fill the void left by the elimination of funding for instrumental music education.

The idea of working with the school children excited the Music Director and many of his musicians. He met with his Board President and Executive Director to determine their interest in partnering with the music teachers in this project. This meeting led to a brainstorming session that included orchestra members and music teachers. From this meeting came a program design that would bring small groups of musicians into the school over the course of the year to introduce students to the major instrumental groupings, and to engage them in an "up close and personal" way with the feel and sounds of many instruments.. Brainstorming session participants got most excited about their decision that a live concert in the orchestra's performance center for all the children would conclude the year long program.

Given the scope of the project and the number of schools involved, everyone agreed that the ideal structure for the program would be to provide it once every two years to the fourth and fifth grade classes. This way, every student would enter middle school having received at least some education in instrumental music.

All involved understood that this was a fairly expensive project and that raising the money to support this program would require a committed and collaborative effort between the schools and the orchestra. The next step was to determine the specific project costs so that the orchestra and the school department could develop a plan to raise the needed funding.

Key Points to Remember 1. Make a strong connection between your mission and your reason for wanting to meet this need. 2. Bring the program staff , the administrative staff , and key board members into the planning process as early as possible. 3. Make sure that you also bring any collaborators into the project planning as early as possible.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Get Grants Now by Jane B. Ford Copyright © 2009 by Jane B. Ford, M.Ed.. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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