Go For Grant Financing For Non-Profits

Bill Warner Sunday, June 07, 2009

With the stimulus money coming down hill like an avalanche on steroids, now is the time to really get familiar with the grant programs that your business might qualify for. Take a look at this article in entrepreneur.com that makes the point in detail. I am by far not an expert at getting grants, but I have gotten my first one for a new non-profit organization that we are creating to support entrepreneurs. As I think through the experience so far, there is a lot of similarity between filling out a grant application and writing a business plan.

Grant writing discipline

Just as in planning your business, preparing for a grant application has similar discipline:

  • Establish quantitatively the market you intend to serve, and make sure it is focused on the consitituency that the grantor requires.
  • Explain the service you will perform, insuring that it truly meets the needs of the market cited.
  • Show that you will be performing a unique and differentiated service. You cannot be redundant with other organizations.
  • Clearly identify the results you will achieve over time, usually expressed as jobs or revenue created. You would be surprised at how many applications don’t nail this one.
  • Lay out a clear plan of launching your service and executing the plan you are committing.
  • Create a well thought out budget that ties to your plan of execution, clearly showing your use of the grant funds.

All of this sounds pretty familiar right. Well it is. Use the same concepts as if you were writing a business plan.

Filed Under: Financing a Company, Starting a Business



Bill Warner is the Managing Partner of Paladin and Associates, a business consulting firm in the Research Triangle Park area of central North Carolina, and is the Chairman of the Triangle Accredited Capital Forum, an angel investor network with over one hundred members throughout the southeast.

Hi,


•  We have just added your latest post “Paladin and Associates is an executive advisory team that works to eliminate the roadblocks to success.” to our <a > Directory of Grant Programs </a> . You can check the inclusion of the post <a > here </a> . We are delighted to invite you to submit all your future posts to the <a > directory </a> for getting a huge base of visitors to your website and gaining a valuable backlink to your site.


Warm Regards

Project Grant Team

http://projectgrant.info


kelvin
Monday, June 08, 2009

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