If you are interested in improving your organization’s grants performance, you have to identify areas where you are not meeting your full potential. This publication discusses five ways in which organizations commonly fall short in grants performance and suggests solutions that can make a dramatic difference.
Implementing Good Practices and Systems
Strong grants performance in measurable areas such as programs researched, programs applied for, and funds awarded typically requires solid practices and systems to be in place. Implementing the solutions described below will increase your grants success in noticeable, measurable ways.
Problem #1: Lack of Grant Awareness
At the top of the list of problems for most organizations is a lack of awareness of all potential grant opportunities. While some departments may be aware of the funding available, others don’t know where to start. Constant turnover in grant-related positions means that employees new to grants need to learn the grants landscape, something that typically requires 12 to 24 months of training. Because there are myriad funders and a huge variation in the quality and timeliness of the information they publish, many governments miss dozens of relevant opportunities each year.
Solution: Grant Information Systems
Organizations that are serious about grants increasingly rely on third-party grant information systems. These systems allow local government staff to search across federal and state funding agencies, determine eligibility, understand requirements, and proactively identify the right grants for projects instead of reacting to grant announcements. Grant information systems allow staff to focus on writing the grants and managing them as opposed to searching aimlessly. The best systems are completely comprehensive, have tight timeliness standards, are clearly organized, and have original research to give their users a leg up in the grants process.
A uniquely useful tool for ongoing research is eCivis’ Grants Network. Not only does Grants Network contain thousands of grant programs at the federal, state, and foundation levels that are updated daily, but organizations can also find original analyses, program officer tips, and examples of strong previously funded applications.
Problem #2: Grants Not a Priority
Grants are one of the few mechanisms to recover the federal and state taxes of your constituents. While grants are critical, they are not directly constituent-facing. Many leaders don’t put emphasis on grants; therefore, staff has little incentive to do the work involved in securing and managing them. A clear connection exists between lack of priority and grants underperformance.
Solution: Set Expectations and Follow Up
Leadership needs to understand the fundamentals of grants and set clear expectations that funding will be pursued for all viable projects. Grants should be part of the budget and discussed at board meetings at least once every year. Managers should have updates quarterly from heads in grant-active departments, and leadership should expect a periodic report that includes a summary of all grant-related activity and comparisons with previous periods.
Problem #3: Lack of Performance Measurements
In most decentralized organizations, few leaders and managers know what the organization’s grant performance is or what it should be. Poor-performing organizations not only don’t have grant-related goals, they also can’t accurately measure performance from year to year.
Solution: What Gets Measured, Gets Done
High-performing organizations measure crucial components of their grants process. At a minimum, an organization should be able to measure the following by department: grants considered, applications in progress, applications won/lost, grants under management, and grants closed out. It is imperative for an organization to know if it is out of compliance on any grant program. The most advanced organizations use systems to give them clarity on hundreds of grant programs.
Problem #4: Lack of Proper Planning
The least successful grant organizations are reactive ones that begin their grant planning with the receipt of an agency notice of funding availability (NOFA). Reactive organizations rush to complete the application, creating incomplete or poorly written applications and ill-conceived projects. The result is extra work, wasted energy, late nights, and rejected applications.
Solution: Plan 12 Months in Advance
Effective grant organizations plan months or years in advance, predicting which grants will resolicit and discussing their projects with the funding agency before the grant is available. Projects should be well planned in advance. Doing this allows the organization to have a well-developed project and most of the grant application completed before the agency releases the solicitation. Governments often “tag” a grant and discuss their project with the funding agency before the solicitation. As federal and state spending bills are passed, staff should determine whether funding for the program has been appropriated. A good grant information system will provide grant updates after the spending bills are passed.
Problem #5: Failure to Sell
There are far more projects in communities around the country than there is funding available. Many times, poorly performing organizations are faceless to funding agencies, and it’s easier for an agency to reject someone it does not know than someone it does.
Solution: Sell your Organization, Sell the Project
Local government staff needs to develop a relationship with the grant program officer in order to get insights into how to craft the proposal for maximum success and to be on good terms with the funding agency. While agencies have differing policies on when they will meet with cities when they have grant applications pending, not having a presence prior to your application puts you at a serious disadvantage. Leadership needs to make sure that federal and state agencies are aware of their efforts and previous accomplishments. This can be coordinated by your legislative affairs person or through your lobbyist.
By identifying which problems your organization faces, you can apply the solutions that will dramatically increase your grants-related knowledge, processes, and overall success.
