How Grantors can get better investees (and take less time doing it)

Many grantors I talk to complain that they can't get enough applicants. So we created a post on how grantors can improve the quality of the applicants they receive.

• Create an efficient way to manage the application process with software:
  
  • Submittable
  • Foundant: https://www.softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/grantmakers-profile/
  • Fluxx: https://www.softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/fluxx-profile/
  • Others; https://www.softwareadvice.com/nonprofit/grant-management-comparison/p/all/?segments=457
• Raise awareness
  • Retargetting your website visitors with Google Ads
  • Google provides up to $10k per month to non-profits so consider getting a GoogleAds Grant
    
  • Promote your grant on LinkedIn to your target audience
• Target specific grantees with email campaigns. They can be found at:
  • Global Innovation Exchange
  • Impact Alpha
  • Winners of similar grants in the past
• Make the application more attractive to the best entrepreneurs
  • Have shorter first round applications
    • Great organizations are busy and they prioritize their time such that they prefer short application to a long one
  • Give information on grant that enables an entrepreneur to determine if they want to apply. When I’m applying to a grant I want to see how big the award is and how many are given to determine if it’s worth my while. More awards means more chances. I also check to see how quickly they will make the award. Some grantor say on their website: the award will be made in 6 months. If it doesn’t I check to see what the grantors track record is. If they previously had a deadline in January but didn’t announce the winners until December most likely it is going to take 12 months again for them to make an award.
  • When I apply for a grant I always try to reach out to previous winners to see what their experience was like. Sometimes they say the paperwork and delays made the award not worthwhile. Once I had a funder wait two months to send us our grant because their check signer was “on vacation” (on top of the 12 months we already waited) and we nearly went out of business. I can’t recommend working with them in the future.
• Check your rating on GrantAdvisor.org, on Google Maps or on Facebook
  • The best grantees check your rating to see if you'd be good to work with
  • Solicit feedback for your organization from grantees: http://funderfeedback.org/
• Raise your profile
  • PR audit (compare yourself to Gates Foundation, Rockefeller, Ford, UKAID, USAID, GIZ, Shell Foundation, or whoever is in your sector) compare your 
• Things not to do
  • Go to conferences (it takes lots of time)
  • Physical road shows (also lots of time and $$$)
  • Print ads (unless they are hyper targeted like an ad in a local newspaper for a geographically specific grant)