Not-for-profits (NFPs) seeking to stand out in a competitive funding environment must be clear about their goals before applying for grants, according to an expert trainer and social enterprise founder who won millions in grants for his cause but missed out on many more.
Community Directors trainer Jon Staley hosted a three-hour intensive course, Finding Funding and Winning Grants, last week, drawing on lessons from the social enterprise he founded.
Speaking with Community Directors Intelligence about effective fundraising, Staley said successful NFPs relied less on luck and more on alignment, governance and purpose.
He repeatedly returned to the theme of clarity. “Be explicit about what you do and why it matters,” he said.
Any successful funding, Staley said, begins with a clear sense of why an organisation exists and the change it seeks to create. Funders expect to see evidence of a direct line between the problem, the solution, and the impact and want reassurances that their investment is tied to their goals.
Clarity of purpose, he said, must flow throughout the organisation, from the boardroom to frontline workers, and means everyone is working towards the same mission and seeking the same impact, which reduces the temptation to “chase shiny things” or grants that don’t match the organisation’s purpose.
Organisations with coherent goals and strategies are more capable of delivering on their promises and communicating clearly about their achievements through impact stories and data, Staley said.
Those qualities help convince funders that their support will deliver real value, and created more opportunities for funding for organisations.
“It’s all about creating a story about why you’re a good organisation to fund.”
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