As a grant writer who has seen thousands of grant applications, there are certain scoring elements I see consistently that grantors use to score grant applications. Please consider the following in preparation to compete for grants;
Know your business “facets”- ie., is your business woman owned, veteran owned, does it reside in an economically disadvantaged area, and similar. Facet’s don’t increase the pool of prospective grants- that’s generally nearly always far larger than can be processed. Incorporating these elements into the grant strategy better aligns your mission to the grantor missions, and equally important, it can greatly reduce the number of grant competitors.
Logo and branding: Make sure your business has a professional and recognizable logo and branding, as this can make a big difference in the perception of their organization by grantors. Logo’s are now generated with AI, can be had in under an hour, and are low cost.
Website: Check that your business has a well-designed, user-friendly website that provides information about their organization, mission, and services.
Social media presence: Ensure your business has a strong social media presence, as this can be a valuable tool for networking and spreading awareness about their organization. At the very least have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn presence. Doesn’t have to be heavyweight or require a ton of time. A simple post once every couple weeks that you upload to each of these sites and link them to your business website.
Business plan: Have a least an executive summary level business plan that outlines goals, objectives, and strategies for achieving success.
Budget: How much grant money would be ideal? If your business is generating $150K a year in sales, a million dollar grant would be a tremendous liability instead of an asset. This is because you have to account for every dollar granted; landing an enormous grant would require your operation to instantly hire high quality people in high visibility positions. My rule of thumb- apply for a grant equal to half of your last year’s revenue. Then repeat the grant process once or twice per year going forward, each round with successively greater amounts. This approach is more likely to allow your business to incorporate the changes the funding would enable.
EIN: Ensure that your business has an EIN (Employer Identification Number) from the IRS, as this is a necessary requirement for many grant applications.
By taking these steps, your business will increase its chance of securing grant funding.