Welcome back to another post full of grant writing tips!
We all know rejection is never fun. And if you're in the arts world, you're probably very accustomed to it. But thankfully, when it comes to applying for grants, there are ways to get the decision reversed. Read on to find out how!
In the grants writing realm, you can appeal a rejection decision and explain how you determine that your project meets the requirements of the grant, similar to how one gets a second opinion from a doctor in the medical field if they don't believe the diagnosis is right. There are usually five reasons why a company may reject your grant proposal: your budget, your project, the timing of your proposal, clarity of the proposal, or the goal of the project. Sounds pretty simple, right? After all the work you've put into your initial application, it's possible to still see some fruit from it after tweaking a few things (you can certainly ask funders for feedback if they reject you, and most will usually give a reason). I'll go into each of these reasons in greater detail.
Your budget
Your budget is crucial. Not only does it give you a clear picture of how much money you need to raise, but it also gives funders an idea how much of your budget they're able to provide. If you're getting rejected for this reason, it's either because you're asking for too much money for your project, or for the scope of your project there is likely too little you're asking for. Or there are many numerical errors. All of these reasons point to a lack of proofreading over the budget. You need to have accurate numbers, not just fudging digits, so that the funders know accurately how to financially help. If it's not clear to them, they may pull out, like they do in Shark Tank. So then, what you can do is adjust your budget (see what you're willing to go without/fund another way or, take a closer look at all possible expenses and what your project actually needs), and craft something more solid.
2. Your project
You're funding a gallery exhibition, but your funder is an organization that funds marine biology research projects. Both of these don't sound like they go together. Unless the exhibition is made up of art showing all the complexities of marine life, and your partners are already deep-sea divers that photograph stuff underwater. Then you may get away with it. Bottom line is, if your project isn't something your benefactor will usually fund, then you may need to either look for other places to apply to or, as I described in my example, show how they can meet your needs by crafting a compelling argument. (Note: only do this if you know for sure that your project and the kind of stuff they fund actually goes together, and you for sure have followed the guidelines and requirements. Don't go applying willy-nilly to random organizations without fully comprehending what it is they can do for you.)
Oftentimes during the appeal phase of grant writing, you will need to craft a compelling argument to reverse your decision. This includes gathering all the bits of evidence that contradict the notion that your project didn't meet the requirements and piecing them together concisely to get your point across. When you do that well, and have someone look over your appeal to eliminate any gramamtical errors and keep the word count (if there is a word limit), you'll be golden.
3. The timing of your proposal
You shouldn't submit proposals after an established deadline, obviously. But if your desired benefactor just completed funding for the fiscal year from their own budget, or they are already in the middle of producing one of their own big projects, it may make more sense to wait and re-apply later. Timing is everything. Typically, organizations, businesses and non-profits plan their fiscal year (the way they structure their calendar to keep track of finances) to end in late September, as the government fiscal year starts in October. This is why when applying for grants from local cultural councils, the opportunities usually have deadlines in October, as they rely on money from the government. Log this in your memory, kids. Just like school, the fall is when the money stuff starts. (And this will vary by organization, so just ask the company itself when they'll be taking grant proposals again.)
4. The clarity of your proposal
This to some degree falls under point # 2. There are a bunch of weird writing errors in your proposal. Or it's not clear what your project is (see grant writing post # 1). Or what you'll be using the money for (see grant writing post # 2). Can't really afford to be vague and general here, folks. Your funders deserve to know precisely what they'll be investing their money into, especially since you'll have to send in a report of how you used the money during tax season (more on that in a later post). So make sure you cover all your points!
5. Your goals and your funder's goals
This may also fall under point # 2, but to be honest, you have to know what you're creating and why you're creating it (see grant writing post # 1, again). Your project typically has to meet some goal in order for people to fund it. If, for example, the objective of your book launch party is to sell more books, and the goal of your benefactor is to promote AIDS awareness, it's easy to see how things don't fit unless you're writing something like Rent. Your goal and your funder's goal have to align in some way. So if you have mismatched goals, you won't be able to help them and they won't be able to help you.
Basically, you get 5 chances to resend your proposal to the same benefactor, if they don't tell you why they came to their decision. And there are other ways to make up the difference that grant funds don't cover. Get creative: you can clear out your closet and do a yard sale, partner with a local bakery and sell danishes outside your church or in the town square, and a bunch of other things, even IndieGogo. I've done some of these things myself, so I definitely concur that getting in front of the people is a good plan B in order to raise money.
That's all for this post, guys! Hopefully you're enjoying your summer and all these tips are inspiring you to persevere and keep the momentum going in your grant writing process!
Stay educated,
Alexia
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