8 Reason Requests for Funding Are Often Declined
1) FAILURE TO DO RESEARCH—FOR YOUR PROGRAM, OR OF THE FUNDER.
Examples:
- Applying for $7,500 to a funder which only gives grants up to a maximum of $5,000, and only in the Greenville/Spartanburg area.
- Claiming your program will decrease teen pregnancy by 10% in the 29464 zip code area, when identical programs have never had more than a 2% success rate.
2) NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE OF DEMAND /NEED FOR THE PROGRAM.
Examples:
- Applying for money to begin a program in eight public schools to get the students to volunteer with civic projects—with no indication that any of the schools want the program, support it, or will even allow it under their roof.
- Asking for money to strengthen the self-esteem of 150 teens in a particular neighborhood by offering cultural programs, arts events, and opportunities to socialize—with no indication that any teens will actually come if the programs are funded and offered.
3) NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE THAT THE PROGRAM REALLY NEEDS FUNDER’S MONEY (not cost-effective; other sources available; budget’s inflated; in-kind is available)
Examples:
- Asking for funding for a daycare center in area that needs one—but when the cost per child is computed, it comes out that the cost is too high per child each year for very routine services.
- Having a budget that includes a line item for speakers at community meetings related to youth issues—oblivious to the fact that organizations, such as the Office of Children, Youth & Families, distributes a handbook of expert speakers eager to talk about hundreds of youth-related subjects, and they’ll do it for free.
4) OUTCOMES ARE UNCLEAR, OR EFFECTIVENESS IS NOT LONG-TERM.
Examples:
- Funding is requested for 50 inner-city youth to attend summer “enrichment sessions” at a local museum – with no indication of what they’ll end up with that’ll last beyond the 45 minute sessions they may (or may not) attend.
- Asking for funding to hire a consultant to develop a long-range plan for an agency – with no mention of how the plan might be implemented once it’s finished.
5) ORGANIZATIONALLY WEAK — UNDER RESOURCED TO ACCOMPLISH STATED GOALS & OBJECTIVES.
Examples:
- Requesting support for a program which, from the request and by common knowledge in the community, is clearly a one-person operation which would go under if that person moved out of town or took on a different cause.
- A small, unstaffed grassroots program (which has never had more than $1,250 in its treasury at any time and has never had any working committee structure) asking for a grant of $50,000 to begin a new small non-profit business to employ local residents.
6) NOTHING UNIQUE ABOUT THE PROGRAM, DUPLICATION OF EXISTING PROGRAMS, OR LACK OF COLLABORATION.
Examples:
- Requesting money for an after-school program for latchkey children in a neighborhood that already has an in-school, after-school program, as well as a local Y with additional after-school programs.
- Asking for funding for an environmental awareness program in one public school to enhance the students’ understanding of science and ecology as an after-school extracurricular activity — without inviting the math department or the science department of the school into the plans, for them to integrate the program into their curricula.
7) POOR TRACK RECORD/BAD REPUTATION
Examples:
- Applicant is known to have accepted funding in the past, with poor program results — and failed to fully complete the evaluation questions repeatedly provided by the funder.
- Rumors have abounded for years that the applicant has used contributions given for one program to keep another, under-funded program, alive in the agency.
8) BAD FORM OF “THE ASK”.
Examples:
- Misspellings; too brief when more length was allowed; claims made which some expert readers know to be inaccurate; part of requested information is omitted entirely either because it was overlooked or an answer would have been inadequate; esoteric abbreviations and jargon are used without explanation.
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The people at the "Born To Read" program have proven that if you start reading to babies, they will grow up to be readers, which solves a lot of other problems along the way.
How to Seek Grants:
List of Grants
Coastal SC Funding Sources (PDF)
Related ContenT:
Links for Non-Profits
Reasons Requests are Declined
Organization Endowment - Invest in your own Future
Organizations with Endowments
Organization Endowment Sample Agreement (PDF) |
