136: Nonprofit ROI: 5 Tips to Stay Relevant to Funders and Win More Grants - by Teresa Huff

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The ROI of Grant Writing

In my recent TEDx Talk, I talked about the Real ROI of Grant Writing. In the business world, ROI means Return on Investment, but it’s a different mindset in the world of grants. We’re talking about a Return on Impact. In today’s podcast episode, I’ll tell you more about the R in the ROI of grant writing and how knowing this can save you frustration and time so you can write more proposals. 

What is the ROI Framework?

Funders need to know they will get a Return on Impact for investing in your nonprofit. This means you need to convince the funder that your nonprofit is Relevant, Optimized, and Interacting in meaningful ways. 

ROI of Grant Writing: 

• Relevant

• Optimized

• Interacting

5 Steps to Evaluate Relevance

One question I wish more nonprofits would consider is, “How do I know if my organization is relevant?” I recommend the following five steps to determine if and how  your organization is relevant to the community, the funders, and the grants you are applying for:

1. Determine if organization is truly relevant in the community.
   Take a critical look at your mission and goals to evaluate if you are serving a real need in the community. Make sure you have the statistics and testimonials to back up your mission statement. If necessary, go back and define your goals more closely. 

 

2. Analyze if your organization is relevant to the funder’s mission and goals.
   Make sure you are applying to funders whose mission and goals align with yours. There are consequences to both your organization and the funder if you just chase the money. 

Now that you’ve determined your organization is relevant in the community, and your mission is relevant to the funders, the next step is to find relevant grants.

3. Avoid irrelevant research.
   Research can be fun, but there are millions of grants and many ways to search. Don't get lost in the never-ending grant search rabbit trail. You don’t need ALL the grants; you just need to find the good-fit grants.

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