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Building Your Grant Strategies for 2025

By Robert Yoo, Senior Grants Consultant


January is a great time for your nonprofit to revisit its grant strategies for 2025. The process of finding and securing grants can be an emotional rollercoaster for many nonprofit fundraisers, especially given the increasing need for funding and the limited amount of grants available. It can be frustrating at times when you invest so much time and effort in grant submissions when you don’t hear back from funders or find out that your grant was declined.

 

This is why it’s important to review your grant strategies on an ongoing basis. Here are a few ways to help ensure your organization is well-positioned for the grant opportunities that you pursue this year. Remember, grant writing is not just about asking for money – it’s about building partnerships and demonstrating your organization’s impact for the individuals, families, and communities you serve.

 

Review your grants calendar

  • Review your grant submission calendar to confirm all the LOI and proposal deadlines you’re planning on pursuing this year are up-to-date and set reminders to make sure you don’t miss any opportunities.

  • Make sure you have a good handle on all your reporting requirements and communicate them with your program teams well in advance of report deadlines so that you have enough time to gather and analyze all the program data you’ll need.

 

Research new grant opportunities

  • The institutional funding landscape evolves every year. Grantmakers often offer new funding opportunities and/or shift their existing priorities, so it’s important to stay informed.

  • If you haven’t already, consider investing in grant search engines like Foundation Directory Online, GrantStation, Instrumentl, or Grant Watch to identify opportunities aligned with your organization’s mission and impact. Regularly check websites like the Washington Department of Commerce, FundHubWA or Grants.gov for public funding opportunities your organization may be eligible to pursue.

  • Work with your board, peer organization networks, and other internal and external stakeholders to identify potential connections you may have with institutional funders.

  • Grow and diversify your grant revenue streams so that you’re not overly reliant on a few funders. Ensure your organization pursues a balanced mix of foundation, corporate, and public funding opportunities to mitigate potential fundraising gaps.

 

Build cultivation and stewardship strategies for new and existing funders

  • Develop concise and compelling introduction emails, letters, and call scripts for new funders that are tailored to their grantmaking priorities.

  • Create a cultivation activity plan and calendar to track when and how you’ll engage your current funders. Some ideas include sending them your organization’s newsletter or annual report, creating quarterly program impact updates to share with them, or inviting them to site visits and special events.

 

Update and refine how your organization defines its impact

  • Review your organization’s key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure they align with your mission and funder priorities.

  • Collaborate with your program teams to develop a strategy and timeline for collecting impact data on a regular basis that works for your organization. For example, you can create a shared Excel spreadsheet for impact metrics that you or your program teams can update on a quarterly basis to help streamline the grant reporting process.

  • Research funder grantmaking priorities and how other nonprofits in your field are defining their impact to generate new ideas for your organization. These strategies are always helpful for strengthening your organization’s case for support. 

 

Create compelling narratives

  • Revisit, refine, and reframe how you describe the who, what, when, why, and how of your organization’s work.

  • Tailor your grant submissions to what funders are interested in supporting and make sure you’re answering the questions they’re asking in their proposals. When possible, try to connect with funders before submitting to get insights on their priorities and whether your organization’s programs and services align with them.

  • Demonstrate your organization’s value through inspiring storytelling backed by data. Generally, it’s good to keep your narratives simple and compelling with a clear outline of how grant funding will help ensure your organization can achieve its stated impact.

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