Several international NGO professionals share their top tips for building relationships with grant funders.
Before writing the grant
- Do your homework on the context: What is going on in the community? What can your organization offer that uniquely solves a problem?
- Do your homework on the funder: First and foremost, make sure you are going to the right funder. Understand how to work in their framework. Think of how you can improve on existing programs.
- Network with funders: Find out who works in your region or city and invite them to your events.
- Collaborate with other DPOs to build strong partnerships for grant proposals.
- Be a positive resource to the donor and international development community.
Writing the grant
- Consider a project proposal as a reflection of your organization: The proposal should reflect your mission.
- Have a clear goal and priorities.
- Have a clear plan with outcomes: Have about three strategies with specific outcomes for achieving the goal.
- Have a clear, practical and coherent timeline.
- Be realistic: Be clear about what you can and cannot do.
During the project
- Credit your donor: Thank your donor at events and add their logo to signs and on project materials (follow the donor’s guidelines)
- Invite the funder to project activities and recognize and thank your donor at these activities.
- Share updates regularly about your project: Your funder wants to know how you are doing.
- Have clear monitoring and evaluation plans.
- Be transparent about your problems with implementing your projects.
After the grant
- Share the results: Tell stories that show the impact of your project.
- In reports to funders, be clear about how the funds were used.
- Reflect on lessons learned. Donors want feedback on how their support can be most effective, and they rely on your feedback to do make improvements.
- Think long term: Focus on building networks over the long term and continue to build on these relationships after the grant has ended.
