Cultivating and stewarding grantmakers are important steps in the grants cycle, as this is your chance to develop relationships and lasting partnerships that can sustain your organization in the long-term. However, it can be easy to fall prey to missteps and missed opportunities as you perform outreach. This article outlines a few of the most common errors we see nonprofits make in the process.
But first, a few definitions:
- Cultivation is the process of establishing a relationship with a prospective funding partner, often with the aim of securing an invitation to apply for funding or support advocating for your organization in the proposal review stage.
- Stewardship is the process of maintaining and growing a relationship with a funding partner over time, with the aim of securing renewal grants or opportunities for long-term funding for the organization.
Without further ado, here are 5 common mistakes we see organizations make – and advise our partners to avoid! – during this crucial step of the grant cycle.
1) Not cultivating funders at all
Grant writing can be a time-consuming activity, so it’s tempting to skip the step of reaching out to a prospective funder before clicking “submit”. While you can often submit a “cold” proposal and still see success, there are a myriad of benefits for engaging in cultivation.
For example, I’ve had many experiences where a program officer was able to answer questions and advocate on behalf of a proposal to a foundation’s decisionmakers, such as trustees, because I had had one or more conversations with them prior to submission.
Additionally, by speaking with program officers, you may get nuanced insight into what funders are interested in supporting, appropriate ask amounts, and more. You might even learn that they’re not the right funding partner for your organization, thereby saving you time and effort putting together a proposal that is not going to result in funding.
While it is difficult to quantify the impact of cultivation, there is no question that opportunities that are cultivated have a higher likelihood of success.
Finally, it’s important to note that cultivation is essential in order to pursue foundations that only accept proposals from organizations they’ve invited to apply.
2) Cultivating the wrong person
We’re big fans of research at Elevate for many reasons, but when it comes to cultivation, doing the proper research ahead of time can spare you a wild goose chase. Depending on the size and structure of the foundation, who you cultivate will look different.
For example, you might start by reaching out to:
- Program Officers and other staff or consultants;
- Board Members or Trustees; or
- Thought leaders and others in the field who know the grantmakers and can champion your work. For example, if you work for an affordable housing organization and are part of community coalitions, is there a local leader that can leverage their relationship with a funder and facilitate a connection?
In order to determine the right place to start, consider:
- The makeup of the foundation’s staff – if they have program officers for specific issue areas, these are probably the individuals you need to get to know!
- The type of foundation – small family foundations may make decisions at the behest of Trustees, so you’ll need to start there.
- The foundation’s influence in the field – if cultivating a major player in your field that everyone wants a meeting with, you may be best served by identifying someone who can make a “warm” introduction.
By doing your due diligence, you have a better chance of identifying the right person for outreach, thereby increasing the impact of your cultivation activities.
3) Giving up too soon
Reaching out to a funder can make one feel vulnerable, so you may hope to do it once and see results. Unfortunately, if you don’t have a warm connection that can introduce you to the right point of contact at a foundation, it’s likely going to take several tries to get a response.
Elevate typically recommends making at least 3 attempts at outreach before you pause outreach to a prospective grantmaker and move on. Remember: no response is not necessarily a no forever. You can always circle back to a no-response funder periodically after your initial attempts, especially if you have updates to share. Be persistent!
4) Not having a plan for your first conversation
While a cultivation conversation is an opportunity to introduce yourself and the great work your organization is doing – which you know like the back of your hand – it’s still important to come prepared to meetings or phone calls so that you can make the most of the conversation and the time you have with the foundation’s representative.
Preparing talking points in advance (with as much or as little detail as you need, depending on your comfortability with cultivation) can help guide a conversation and keep you on track so you don’t forget anything.
This is also a great chance to make use of the research you’ve done ahead of time! Be sure your talking points align your organization’s work to the funder’s interests, point out opportunities for the grantmaker to make an impact, and include a few questions you want to ask them in order to prepare an effective grant request.
5) Not following up
After you are awarded a grant, many funders require a report detailing the work that was completed during the grant period and the impact their support had on your mission-driven efforts. Reporting is a key aspect of funder stewardship! (For more on this, check out our blog post on Grant Report Basics!)
Not all grantmakers ask for reports, but this doesn’t mean you should leave them high and dry! Even if a report isn’t technically required, funders appreciate hearing how their money was used and how their support helped to further your mission. This type of stewardship can help reignite a relationship with a funder and set you up for potential funding in the future—which is especially useful in instances where you are stewarding a first time donor.
For more on cultivating relationships with your funding partners, check out our other blogs on the topic, including Five Ways to be Pleasantly Persistent with your Funder Cultivation and 5 Tips for Converting a Funder “No” into a Future “Yes”.
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