Category Archives: Derek Link

Grants Are Like Donuts

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, loves donuts….maybe a little too much. Here are some useful thoughts on sustainability and balanced funding:

Organizations sometimes consume grants like I eat donuts, fast and furious. Grants come in lots of flavors just like donuts. There’s federal maple bars and state chocolate covered, even foundation cream filled, and each is delicious!

Grants are sweet and taste good when you get them, but like donuts, they’ll always run out and leave you wanting more. Building a budget only on grant money is dangerous to your fiscal health, just like building a diet on donuts can be hazardous. Grants can leave your budget bloated with costs you can’t easily erase when the grant is gone. Just try to get rid of a valuable employee! Just as donuts can leave you with some extra pounds and health problems, grants can lead to budget problems.

Here are 3 things to remember about grants:

  1. Plan for sustainability from day one of each grant.
  2. Build sustainability into the grant as much as possible in terms of equipment costs, training for existing staff, and organizational capacity building.
  3. Pay attention to developing all legs of the fund raising stool while the grant is funded.

So treat grants like you should treat donuts, as part of a healthy balanced budget (diet). A few donuts won’t hurt, but making them the central part of your budget could lead serious shortfalls as grant funding runs out.

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Get the tools you need to round out your fund development menu.  Become a member of GrantGoddess.com!

Grants Are Like Donuts

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, loves donuts….maybe a little too much. Here are some useful thoughts on sustainability and balanced funding:

Organizations sometimes consume grants like I eat donuts, fast and furious. Grants come in lots of flavors just like donuts. There’s federal maple bars and state chocolate covered, even foundation cream filled, and each is delicious!

Grants are sweet and taste good when you get them, but like donuts, they’ll always run out and leave you wanting more. Building a budget only on grant money is dangerous to your fiscal health, just like building a diet on donuts can be hazardous. Grants can leave your budget bloated with costs you can’t easily erase when the grant is gone. Just try to get rid of a valuable employee! Just as donuts can leave you with some extra pounds and health problems, grants can lead to budget problems.

Here are 3 things to remember about grants:

  1. Plan for sustainability from day one of each grant.
  2. Build sustainability into the grant as much as possible in terms of equipment costs, training for existing staff, and organizational capacity building.
  3. Pay attention to developing all legs of the fund raising stool while the grant is funded.

So treat grants like you should treat donuts, as part of a healthy balanced budget (diet). A few donuts won’t hurt, but making them the central part of your budget could lead serious shortfalls as grant funding runs out.

————————

Get the tools you need to round out your fund development menu.  Become a member of GrantGoddess.com!

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Realism on Grant Funding

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, has a few thoughts to share on realism when you are seeking grant funding:

Grants are not a gift of money, and grants are not given blindly. Don’t think that because you have a good idea and a nonprofit, someone will simply like the idea and give you money for it. That is an unrealistic view of grants that I run into frequently, and which leads to disappointment.

Grants are:

  1. Investments, not gifts
  2. Established for targeted causes, not scattered about like birdseed.
  3. Given to credible organizations and people with credentials, not for pipe dreams.
  4. Carefully monitored fiscally, not an open checkbook.
  5. Measured for impact, grant makers care what happens.
  6. Limited, not a bottomless well.
  7. Time sensitive, even federal grant funds have a definite season for applying.

The bottom line is that in order to get a grant, there must be a credible organization run by credible people. It is not enough to be a nice person with a neat idea. Working to establish a detailed plan and budget, establish a responsible organization, and building a competent staff with credentials all contribute to being in a strong position to receive grants.

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Want support foryour grant writing efforts? Try GrantGoddess.com!

Realism on Grant Funding

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, has a few thoughts to share on realism when you are seeking grant funding:

Grants are not a gift of money, and grants are not given blindly. Don’t think that because you have a good idea and a nonprofit, someone will simply like the idea and give you money for it. That is an unrealistic view of grants that I run into frequently, and which leads to disappointment.

Grants are:

  1. Investments, not gifts
  2. Established for targeted causes, not scattered about like birdseed.
  3. Given to credible organizations and people with credentials, not for pipe dreams.
  4. Carefully monitored fiscally, not an open checkbook.
  5. Measured for impact, grant makers care what happens.
  6. Limited, not a bottomless well.
  7. Time sensitive, even federal grant funds have a definite season for applying.

The bottom line is that in order to get a grant, there must be a credible organization run by credible people. It is not enough to be a nice person with a neat idea. Working to establish a detailed plan and budget, establish a responsible organization, and building a competent staff with credentials all contribute to being in a strong position to receive grants.

——————————

Want support foryour grant writing efforts? Try GrantGoddess.com!

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

The Basis of the Debate over Philanthrocapitalism

Non-profit consultant and expert grant writer, Derek Link, shares some information on the debate surrounding Philanthrocapitalism in the non-profit world:

There is often a separation between donors, those of us who give money to causes in order to feel good about helping, and the doers, the volunteers and staffers who do the work of organizations that receive the money. Philanthrocapitalism challenges this model through the creation of organizations that don’t simply distribute donated wealth, but which actually engage in commerce to create wealth for distribution.

The debate over the concept of Philanthrocapitalism challenges the fundamental underpinning of charity, that nobody should become wealthy by doing charity work; for in doing so, that person is personally benefitting from charity dollars. Mother Theresa is perhaps the most visible patron saint of self-sacrificing charity work. She gave most of her life to the poor in India, living among them each day. People like Mother Theresa contribute to a fundamental belief that to do good one must sacrifice, that in order to understand the needs of those you serve, one must feel their pain, and live with the mission at some level.

The Philanthrocapitalism paradigm is challenging the natural order of the charity world. Many people engaged in charity work are employed at low wages and they accept these sacrificially out of commitment to the cause. They sacrifice higher paid jobs in the for profit world to serve a cause. The incursion of capitalists into the world of philanthropy is unsettling to those who think a non-profit executive or consultant earning $200k or better per year is in effect robbing valuable resources from the cause.

The concerns about the potential for corruption of civil society ideals via Philanthrocapitalism are understandable because most non-profit organizations still rely on the trust and goodwill of donors. Non-profits do not want to be painted with the broad brush of recent capitalist corruption. Just witness the hotly debated compensation levels of Wall Street executives and how that has damaged the image of the free market capitalists.

What would happen if the compensation levels of non profit executives were to become widely known? This is public information, just not considered newsworthy yet. The average struggling American worker may feel justifiably outraged that their donated dollars are making people wealthy instead of providing the services they donated toward.

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Related Posts:

Changing Lives through Social Entrepreneurship

Is Your NonProfit a Closed Organization?

Does Philanthropy Serve the Common Good?

——————————–

Visit GrantGoddess.com for grant writing and non-profit development resources.

 

The Basis of the Debate over Philanthrocapitalism

Non-profit consultant and expert grant writer, Derek Link, shares some information on the debate surrounding Philanthrocapitalism in the non-profit world:

There is often a separation between donors, those of us who give money to causes in order to feel good about helping, and the doers, the volunteers and staffers who do the work of organizations that receive the money. Philanthrocapitalism challenges this model through the creation of organizations that don’t simply distribute donated wealth, but which actually engage in commerce to create wealth for distribution.

The debate over the concept of Philanthrocapitalism challenges the fundamental underpinning of charity, that nobody should become wealthy by doing charity work; for in doing so, that person is personally benefitting from charity dollars. Mother Theresa is perhaps the most visible patron saint of self-sacrificing charity work. She gave most of her life to the poor in India, living among them each day. People like Mother Theresa contribute to a fundamental belief that to do good one must sacrifice, that in order to understand the needs of those you serve, one must feel their pain, and live with the mission at some level.

The Philanthrocapitalism paradigm is challenging the natural order of the charity world. Many people engaged in charity work are employed at low wages and they accept these sacrificially out of commitment to the cause. They sacrifice higher paid jobs in the for profit world to serve a cause. The incursion of capitalists into the world of philanthropy is unsettling to those who think a non-profit executive or consultant earning $200k or better per year is in effect robbing valuable resources from the cause.

The concerns about the potential for corruption of civil society ideals via Philanthrocapitalism are understandable because most non-profit organizations still rely on the trust and goodwill of donors. Non-profits do not want to be painted with the broad brush of recent capitalist corruption. Just witness the hotly debated compensation levels of Wall Street executives and how that has damaged the image of the free market capitalists.

What would happen if the compensation levels of non profit executives were to become widely known? This is public information, just not considered newsworthy yet. The average struggling American worker may feel justifiably outraged that their donated dollars are making people wealthy instead of providing the services they donated toward.

——————————–

Related Posts:

Changing Lives through Social Entrepreneurship

Is Your NonProfit a Closed Organization?

Does Philanthropy Serve the Common Good?

——————————–

Visit GrantGoddess.com for grant writing and non-profit development resources.

 

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Grants for Individuals – A Funding Sasquatch?

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, provides some clarity about the availability of government grants for individuals:

I get phone calls, emails, and tweets from people who need a grant for something they want to do like open a coffee shop. These contacts come from individuals, private citizens, who are not affiliated with a non profit organization. These well-intentioned folks just have an idea and need some money to implement it.

The problem is that grants for individuals are kind of like Sasquatch – Many people believe they exist, but nobody I know has ever seen or captured one. Because of this I put grants for average individuals into the “myth” category, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist, it just means I’ve haven’t seen any that give money to start a business. The two individual grants I am aware of are, 1) college grants that you apply for through a college financial aid office, and 2) grants for high level research scientists.
I know there are people who would argue with me and they’d probably take me out to their garage to show me plaster impressions of RFP’s and/or whip out a photo album with fuzzy pictures of big hairy grant checks. But until I see the beast for myself, I will remain a skeptic.
The main reason I am hesitant on this subject is that I have a suspicion the people perpetuating the myth are making money from it. I suspect these people are the unsavory characters I’ve seen on television who work hard at selling books full of free government information.
I know I am sounding a little like Simon Cowell after a weak American Idol performance, but that’s because I don’t like snake oil salesmen. It bugs me when people are misled by a false promise of easy money. Good opportunities take hard work in my experience, and they’ve only come knocking after I was well-prepared for them.
If you want to be a business owner, prepare yourself. Go to classes about being an entrepreneur, read blogs about business, read the Wall Street Journal, join the chamber of commerce, etc. And while you’re preparing, save some money so when you go and ask for help, you’ll have credibility because you have some skin in the game.
If Sasquatch is out there, it’s going to take some looking. Get online and do some research on government websites where they have free information about grants. Try grants.gov where all the federal grants available are listed, go to a federal business assistance center, go to the chamber of commerce, and if all of these sources don’t turn up an individual grant for you then, write a business plan and look for investors.
Having a dream is great! Finding someone to finance the dream is almost as hard as finding Sasquatch.

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Interested in grants for your non-profit organization of school?  Contact us at GrantGoddess.com!

Grants for Individuals – A Funding Sasquatch?

Non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link, provides some clarity about the availability of government grants for individuals:

I get phone calls, emails, and tweets from people who need a grant for something they want to do like open a coffee shop. These contacts come from individuals, private citizens, who are not affiliated with a non profit organization. These well-intentioned folks just have an idea and need some money to implement it.

The problem is that grants for individuals are kind of like Sasquatch – Many people believe they exist, but nobody I know has ever seen or captured one. Because of this I put grants for average individuals into the “myth” category, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist, it just means I’ve haven’t seen any that give money to start a business. The two individual grants I am aware of are, 1) college grants that you apply for through a college financial aid office, and 2) grants for high level research scientists.
I know there are people who would argue with me and they’d probably take me out to their garage to show me plaster impressions of RFP’s and/or whip out a photo album with fuzzy pictures of big hairy grant checks. But until I see the beast for myself, I will remain a skeptic.
The main reason I am hesitant on this subject is that I have a suspicion the people perpetuating the myth are making money from it. I suspect these people are the unsavory characters I’ve seen on television who work hard at selling books full of free government information.
I know I am sounding a little like Simon Cowell after a weak American Idol performance, but that’s because I don’t like snake oil salesmen. It bugs me when people are misled by a false promise of easy money. Good opportunities take hard work in my experience, and they’ve only come knocking after I was well-prepared for them.
If you want to be a business owner, prepare yourself. Go to classes about being an entrepreneur, read blogs about business, read the Wall Street Journal, join the chamber of commerce, etc. And while you’re preparing, save some money so when you go and ask for help, you’ll have credibility because you have some skin in the game.
If Sasquatch is out there, it’s going to take some looking. Get online and do some research on government websites where they have free information about grants. Try grants.gov where all the federal grants available are listed, go to a federal business assistance center, go to the chamber of commerce, and if all of these sources don’t turn up an individual grant for you then, write a business plan and look for investors.
Having a dream is great! Finding someone to finance the dream is almost as hard as finding Sasquatch.

————————–
 
Interested in grants for your non-profit organization of school?  Contact us at GrantGoddess.com!

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Move Beyond the Low Hanging Fruit of Funding

Something that is easy to obtain in business is usually called the low hanging fruit. Of course these days, there’s not much fruit left on the trees and the low hanging stuff is always the first picked. This post is about how you reach the fruit that’s higher up and harder to harvest.

It’s easy to pick low hanging fruit because it’s there within easy reach, you don’t have to seek it out. These are the volunteers that give lots of their time, the donors who write regular checks, the agencies that give you grants every time you ask, and the corporations in your area that give you regular donations. These are you low hanging fruit, and it’s good. You don’t have to climb any trees to find it.
 
But how can you move beyond the low hanging fruit?
  • Get a ladder – Sometimes you need to go where the fruit is. Meet with people, get out there, network, shake hands, kiss babies, be known.
  • Don’t pick one side of the tree – Fruit grows all over the tree. Remember that there are companies, associations, foundations, wealthy private donors, and online fund raising functions. Get all the way around the funding tree.
  • Don’t forget to care for your trees all year – Care and feeding is crucial to ensure there’s a good harvest each year. Feed them, fertilize them, prune them, try to keep pests away.

So, to wrap up this long-winded metaphor…..when you are tending an orchard of donors, there’s more than just low-hanging fruit to be picked during your campaigns, but harvesting it is going to take some extra work!

———————–

This post was written by non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link.
 
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Have you seen our free grant writing and program evaluation webinars?

Move Beyond the Low Hanging Fruit of Funding

Something that is easy to obtain in business is usually called the low hanging fruit. Of course these days, there’s not much fruit left on the trees and the low hanging stuff is always the first picked. This post is about how you reach the fruit that’s higher up and harder to harvest.

It’s easy to pick low hanging fruit because it’s there within easy reach, you don’t have to seek it out. These are the volunteers that give lots of their time, the donors who write regular checks, the agencies that give you grants every time you ask, and the corporations in your area that give you regular donations. These are you low hanging fruit, and it’s good. You don’t have to climb any trees to find it.
 
But how can you move beyond the low hanging fruit?
  • Get a ladder – Sometimes you need to go where the fruit is. Meet with people, get out there, network, shake hands, kiss babies, be known.
  • Don’t pick one side of the tree – Fruit grows all over the tree. Remember that there are companies, associations, foundations, wealthy private donors, and online fund raising functions. Get all the way around the funding tree.
  • Don’t forget to care for your trees all year – Care and feeding is crucial to ensure there’s a good harvest each year. Feed them, fertilize them, prune them, try to keep pests away.

So, to wrap up this long-winded metaphor…..when you are tending an orchard of donors, there’s more than just low-hanging fruit to be picked during your campaigns, but harvesting it is going to take some extra work!

———————–

This post was written by non-profit consultant and grant writing expert, Derek Link.
 
———————–
 
Have you seen our free grant writing and program evaluation webinars?

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com