Are small grants worth the effort?
A nonprofit client approached us with an interesting question: Is it worth my while to go after small grants (around $1,000 to $10,000) if it’s going to cost me $500+ to have them submitted? She wondered if that money might be better spent on other fundraising streams that bring in more money.
We argued that even small grant awards are worth her money. And not just because we’re the ones getting paid to write them. Here’s why:
Why you should consider these opportunities
1. For new and small nonprofits, theses grant awards are realistic goals. Generally, the larger the grant award, the more complex the application, the bigger the funder, and the greater the competition. Start small and get a few under your belt first, then work your way up as you grow.
2. Even small grant awards can leverage other funders, thus multiplying their “worth.” No foundation wants to get on board with a nonprofit unless they see other foundations making the same investment. It makes the overall investment more secure — and more convincing. So if you have a list of a handful of foundations supporting your nonprofit, even with awards of around $5,000, more foundations will want to jump on board.
3. Get your foot in the door with a funder with a small grant award. Then, go back the next year and ask for more money. If you demonstrate in your post-award report that you achieved your goals and ran an outstanding program, you will be in a good position to see your grant award grow year after year.
4. These applications tend to be proportionally less complex, so they’ll likely take the grant writer less time to complete. Thus, they cost your nonprofit less than a bigger ask on a more complex application. There are certainly some exceptions to this, but generally your investment in grant writing services is proportional to the ask amount in the application.
So going after small awards are not a waste of time. As with any form of fundraising, grant writing can grow over time to include bigger funders and larger grants, but it takes time to get there. And you have to start somewhere.
Interested in learning more about our grant writing services? Contact us.
David Butler
04.06.2024 at 07:08Very true statements for nonprofits getting started and pursuing grant funding. It also prepares the organization for the reporting requirements that come with larger awards.
Laine Seaton
10.09.2024 at 11:41Great article! I have a nonprofit client who asked this same question. I felt they shouldn’t discount the $5,000 grants right away because they’re building their grants program, and also, many of the $5,000 funders on their list are renewal or lapsed funders, so I see these as a priority to go after along with approaching new funders.