Nonprofit Articles

As grant development specialists, we have seen our fair share of grant proposals. Although guidelines and priorities change between federal and state agencies and foundations, the backbone to all great proposals comes down to a dance between three different things: logic, clarity, and flow. These three elements seem basic in nature, but they are more nuanced in practicality. This article provides some helpful tips to help you have a successful submission.

While generally new to federal funding agencies, cost analysis is not new to corporate operations. Typically, as the name implies, a cost analysis, focuses on the implementation costs of a program without regard to the ultimate outcome, and sets the foundation for future economic analysis. It is an important element in determining the suitability or feasibility of a potential project, and, as such, it is an increasing requirement for federal funding.

Successful nonprofits need sustainable scalability to produce greater impact. Strategic spending in areas deemed “overhead” is critical in accomplishing this growth, but presents several challenges to organizational leadership. “Overhead” seems to be the proverbial dirty word within the nonprofit arena. But why?

Check out this white paper to read more about countering the overhead myth through evaluation.

Most of the time, it is very clear what your short and medium outcomes are and how they will be measured. It is, oftentimes, the long-term outcomes that are harder to nail down especially if the duration and funding of a project is less than the long-term outcome evaluation allows. Elusive, ill-defined, abstract, and immeasurable long-term outcomes will knock you out of the running in today’s competitive grant market – go back to the drawing board. Funders need to see confidence in your program theory.

Addressing bias in research is not something that many nonprofits think about. Bias can occur in planning, design, data collection, analysis, and publication of results. Without addressing it, the credibility of your findings (and thus your program) is drawn into question. If your organization does not take the necessary precautions to do research correctly, you could be making program and resource decisions off of bad data and missing the mark entirely.

Are you nervous about your defense or upcoming presentation? It’s important to know what to do and what not to do to make your presentation a success. Additionally, how you deliver the presentation is as important as what you say in order to effectively communicating your message.