by David Tandet Are grants for operating expenses the new funding model? Short answer: not by a longshot. Long answer: In some instances. The bottom line is that the funding agency is awarding a grant to the nonprofit that gives strong indications it can do what it says it’s going to do. And what it [...]

by David Tandet The other day I was talking with an old friend about the topic of raising money. My friend is a fundraising consultant – and she’s very good at it. Anyway, at one point I  happened to make the supreme verbal boo-boo. I referred to her work as “funding consultant.” “It’s never ‘funding [...]

by David Tandet When a nonprofit positions itself as the best organization to provide the solution to a problem, it means staying the course for the distance. Three elements should be present for the agency to accomplish its goals and achieve mission integrity. These elements are fluid and can quickly disappear. Organizations that make attaining [...]

by David Tandet “See ya,” Ziggy Void hopped off the ski lift chair he was sharing with Marcia Tomberlin as he continued blabbing away, “at the bottom, slowpoke.” Ziggy veered to the left and began skiing down the trail without waiting for his partner. Even for Void, it seemed like obnoxiousness to the nth degree. [...]

by David Tandet A fundraiser friend in Santa Barbara was complaining about the difficulty of making more people aware of the non-profit she was doing pro bono work for, while keeping the organization’s costs down. “Have you tried Google Grants?” I asked. “What’s that?” “Just the best thing since sliced bread. Your 501(c)(3) might be [...]

(if you can find one) by David Tandet PART ONE Finding a great grant writer is like winning the grand slam . . . . . . because there really is no training ground for grant writers out there. There are no minor leagues, and relatively few decent classes. The process of training a grant [...]

by David Tandet Community foundations are tax-exempt public charities. As the name implies, their goal is to benefit specific regions, and the way they work is that individuals, families, and organizations establish permanent funds. These funds form the economic structure of the foundation. Money is distributed by the foundations through various means, one of which [...]

by David Tandet The most profound grantwriting rule I ever learned is “the donut rule.” A long time ago I heard William Rosenberg, founder of Dunkin’ Donuts, being interviewed. The interviewer asked Mr. Rosenberg the secret of his success. Rosenberg answered, “Give customers what they want, not what you want.” Actually, that’s similar to an [...]

by David Tandet If you’ve been around a library, bookstore, coffeehouse, or airline seat in the last few decades, you know who Sue Grafton is — “A” is for Alibi . . . “U” is for Undertow. I saw an interview with Ms. Grafton and she said she took classes to learn about police procedural [...]

Moving Forward Together by David Tandet One of the concepts Jonathan O’Brien stresses in his groundbreaking book Right Before You Write is the desirability — make that necessity — of collaboration among potential grantees. It’s an idea whose time has come with the intensity of a gazillion dollar project. The idea of nonprofits working together [...]