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Grantwriting Jargon

posted on Wednesday, November 07, 2007 10:30 PM

capacity-building — This is a particular category of grant, where the non-profit seeks funding which will expand their reach or make them more self-sustaining. One example of a capacity-building grant is obtaining funds for a development person who can raise money from other sources and move the organization toward being self-sustaining.

sustainability – Once you get started, how will you continue this project or program? Will you be dependent on the funder for some time into the future? This is an important consideration for foundations in particular. Foundations in particular seem to be averse to funding operational costs of existing programs, preferring to fund new projects or provide seed money. One of our guest speakers characterized this as a subject of growing debate in the philanthropic community, and it’s possible that they may be more open to funding operational concerns in the future. Government grants and corporate sponsorship don’t seem as averse to this type of funding.

cost-sharing — A popular term, if you can use it. Basically it means that someone else is putting up some of the money, and thus the foundation gets more bang for their buck.

dissemination — How you will share the project with others. Will an article be published in the New York Times? Will you present results at conferences? Historically, this is of particular concern to agencies that fund basic research, but over time this is also more of a concern for foundations.

leverage — Another popular term, if applicable. Will foundation money enable you to better use existing resources?

cultivation — the process of forming the very particular type of professional relationship between funder and fundee. As described in the course, this seems like a truly complicated art. Our instructor emphasized the need to be “non-cheesy” — slick, stereotypical salesmen types will lose out to genuine but strategic human beings in this business. Funding agencies prefer projects which are both aspirational and realistic.

stewardship – the process of taking care of a grant and its funder after the grant is made. Thank-you notes, progress reports, and invitations to view the results of the work are all appropriate. Getting a grant from a funder more than once is impossible without this.

the original blog post can be found here

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