Smart Strategies for Seeking Grants From Small Private Foundations

Many nonprofits focus their grant seeking on the wealthiest foundations, ignoring the 84,000 family and small foundations that are each worth $50 million or less.

Yet small foundations often have easier application processes, and competition for their support can be a lot less stiff. Plus, the number of small foundations has grown considerably in the past two decades. Seventy percent of family funds in the United States are less than 25 years old, according to the Center for Family Philanthropy. And, last year, giving among small foundations was up 18.3%, according to Foundation Source, a company that provides administrative services to small private foundations.

Even as the number of large foundations accepting unsolicited proposals dwindles, a quarter of these smaller foundations will still review proposals they did not request from nonprofits.

In a white paper titled Applying for Funding from Family Foundations, Page Snow, chief philanthropic officer at Foundation Source, highlights findings of a survey of 120 family foundations and offers tips for building relationships with these grant makers. She recommends tactics that differ from those employed in seeking support from larger foundations.

For example, “when you’re dealing with a small foundation, the proposal is usually the last step in the cultivation process, not the first,” she writes. Seventy-five percent of the foundations surveyed said they do not accept unsolicited requests for several reasons, including a fear that they will be inundated with requests, a desire to be anonymous, and the belief that they already know which groups they want to support.

While this may sound discouraging, survey respondents also said that they appreciate new ideas; they just prefer to get to know an organization before supporting it. Ms. Snow advises nonprofits to deploy board members to meet family fund directors in low-pressure situations. She suggests “informal ‘friendraising’ events that allow smaller funders to get to know your organization and its board members.”

The report also suggests that, rather than investing in a professional grant writer, groups consider hiring a professional volunteer coordinator to develop meaningful opportunities for philanthropists to get involved with an organization.

If you succeed at building ties to a family fund through your board members and you are asked to submit a proposal, here are a few tips from Foundation Source to increase your chances of getting a grant:

• Communicate via email, rather than snail mail or in-person meetings.

• Make sure your request is within the foundation’s grant-making guidelines.

• One size does not fit all; avoid sending generic requests that have not been customized to a specific foundation’s giving priorities.

• Clearly state your goals, plans, and measures of success.

• Make a strong case for the need for your project.

• If other donors support your project, share that; it strengthens your credibility.

• Explain how your organization complements the work of other nonprofits addressing the same cause and what makes your group unique.