http://fundsnetservices.com). It’s accessible, free of charge, and has pages of international funders listed.
Talking to potential funders
Some funders indicate in their grant database profiles or on their websites that a potential grantseeker should call and speak to one of their program officers before submitting a letter of inquiry or attempting to submit an online e-grant application request. The purpose of this request is to circumvent any applicants that have funding requests that do not align with their mission, values, funding priorities, or preferred geographic areas.
In other words, funders do not want to be bothered with unnecessary paperwork from organizations they do not intend to fund. This saves time on their part and on your part. Don’t chase lost leaders, aka funders not interested in receiving any form of written information from you or your organization.
If you do have an opportunity to email, call, Zoom, or meet in-person with a potential funder, you might wonder what you should say. Here’s a few short lists of guiding scripts for every possible form of contact with potential funders:
Contact via email:
Introduce yourself and your organization to the funder.
Tell the funder why you are contacting them (shared mission, previous funding from them, Board of Director connection, attendance at one of their technical assistance meetings or webinars, or some attention-grabbing connection).
State your problem.
Give the solution.
Share the amount of funding needed.
Ask for permission to submit a full funding request based on their guidelines.
Thank them for their time.
Proofread and send the email.
Follow up in five days.
Video meeting or telephone contact:
Be ready!
Have a written script!
Have a timer (or a three minute hourglass).
Keep it simple!
Speak with a smile!
Take copious notes!
In-person meeting:
Prepare a folder with relevant information on your organization.
If you are going to work with a fiscal agent, make sure to include at least one fact sheet about the fiscal agent.
Take a copy of your IRS 501(c)(3) tax-exempt approval letter.
Listen to the funder and take notes, if needed.
Do not be overzealous! Do not talk for more than three minutes at a time.
Using a letter of inquiry or intent to comply with pre-application guidelines
Many foundations state in their published guidelines that they prefer the initial approach to be a letter of inquiry, which is a one- to three-page letter in which you ask about their interest in receiving a full grant proposal from your organization. This letter allows the funder to make sure that what you’re requesting is within its area of interest and funding award range. Nowadays, some foundation funders require a brief letter of inquiry because they’re overwhelmed with requests for funding and the letter is a way to weed out applicants.
Candid is one source for linking to foundation websites to view their funding guidelines. Another way is to use your favorite Internet search engine to locate the funder’s website. Checking a funder’s website provides you with the most current guidelines. You may also find that some foundation funders have online inquiry forms; others request a letter of inquiry. However, not all foundations, particularly smaller local foundations, have websites. If the foundation doesn’t have a website, be sure to get in touch with the contact person identified in the Foundation Center’s foundation profile.
Utilize the following sentence count suggestions to practice crafting your own Letter of Intent:
All requests for funding must be on grant applicant letterhead, unless otherwise specified by the grantor, which can often be the case in electronic LOI forms and those with upload options. This introductory format gives the funding agency a clear visual affirmation of the applicant organization, its location, and how to contact the applicant in writing, by telephone, or by email.
Call the funder to verify the gender, name, title, and address of the contact person. After all, to make a professional impression with the letter of inquiry, the contact person’s information must be correct. Verifying contact information is especially important when you’re contacting a funder whose first name is gender ambiguous, such as Terry, Pat, or Kim. Find out whether that person is a Ms., Mrs., Mr., or Dr. Respect titles and use them to reach the right person the first time.
In the first two sentences, introduce your organization. Tell the funding agency who’s sending the letter, your nonprofit status, and why. For example:The Grant Writing Training Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation located in Arizona. As director, I am writing to invite your organization to be a financial stakeholder in the foundation’s mission to provide affordable training programs.
In the next two to four sentences, plant the seeds for your needs. Share startling facts and statistics about the problem your organization seeks to address with grant funds:Annually, the foundation is approached by approximately 40 small- to mid-size nonprofit organizations that want to host a Grant Writing Boot Camp at their location. The typical potential site host is an intermediary agency like the United Way or the state-level association of nonprofits. Given this discouraging economy, board members, volunteers, and inexperienced staff members at many organizations are all given the task of grant writing; few, if any, have experience and most don’t know how to begin this massive technical process.
In one sentence, note how you want the recipient to be involved. Ask for the funding agency’s investment or partnership in your efforts to provide specific programs and services to the target population:Our board realizes that the foundation cannot financially afford to accept all invitations for training partnerships; however, with your assistance, we can at least develop a productive training schedule to meet the demand for our programs.
In no more than three sentences, show the funder your plans by writing futuristic global goals. For the example here, I’d write something like “The foundation’s goals are to” and then add the goals.
In no more than seven sentences, sell, tell, and ask directly for help. For instance, sell the funder on the problem or need that the grant funds will address, tell the story in plain language, and ask for grantfunding support, including the amount of funding needed:Other nationally accredited grantseeking and proposal-writing training programs are often three to five days in length and charge $2,000+ per registrant. Feedback from previous attendees