What Is a Grant? (and What It’s Not) [Episode 002]

Hey friends! Today I want to start with some of the very basics about grants, because whether you are a freelancer or you’re a nonprofit leader, you may be hearing things like, “Just get grants!” or, “Why don’t you write grants to fund that?” “Why don’t you do some grant writing?” And you may have no idea where to start.

You feel like a deer in the headlights thinking, “Yeah. If there’s money out there, why can’t I find it? Or why can’t I win these applications? Where are they?” It feels like everyone is getting grants except you.

So in these next couple of episodes, I want to go through some of those basic questions with you and lay the foundation for some of these fundamentals about grants.

What is a grant?

First of all, today we’re going to talk about what a grant is. Let’s start with the basics so that you understand what kind of grant writing I’m referring to.

Grants are a process of applying for funding to be used for a specific cause. The grants I work with are generally given to nonprofits and mostly a 501(c)(3), which is a specific type of tax designation.

For example, this might be a food pantry or a local homeless shelter, but the key is that they are a 501(c)(3). Non-profit grants can also go to schools or government agencies such as a health department or library.

There is a small handful of grants out there for businesses and individuals, but that’s not what I’m referring to. Those are few and far between, even though sometimes people seem to think they can get a grant for any random idea. If that were the case, we would ALL be rolling in grant funds.

What a grant is NOT

Just a side note here. I’m not talking about the emergency funding that’s going around right now with COVID. I’m talking about the normal grant world.

First of all, you can’t use a grant to install a swimming pool in your backyard. Sorry. And you can’t get grant funding to pay your bills.

You typically can’t get grant funding to start a nonprofit either. This is a common misconception. I’m generalizing here, but if someone says they got a grant to start their nonprofit, it’s probably more like a sponsor or a donor who agreed to fund their startup costs rather than a formal grant application process.

What a grant IS used for

Now let’s talk about what a grant IS. A grant is a very specific type of financial assistance. It must be used for a specific purpose that is outlined in the application.

There is a process you have to go through to receive a grant. Each funder, each grant maker, will have an application typically on their website, and specific guidelines that you need to follow in order to apply. And it will say who can apply, who cannot apply and deadlines, geographical restrictions, anything like that, that they put in place. These will vary quite a bit from one funder to another.

The three Rs of grants

Grants involve three Rs: Restrictions, Responsibility, and Reporting.

• Restrictions means that if you put certain things in the application that you said you would do with the money based on their guidelines, then you need to spend the money the way you said.
• The responsibility piece is that you will implement the program according to how you said you would in the application. Same with spending the money. If you receive the money to buy books for your after school reading program, you can’t go out and decide to buy fitness equipment. You have to stay within that same umbrella of what you had applied for. You need to use responsible management as you’re implementing the program and managing those projects.
• And finally, the reporting piece. You need to follow up with reports to the funder. They will probably have deadlines and a format that you need to follow for this, but it’s not just free for all. They don’t hand over the money and say, “See you later. Thanks for applying.” They want the follow-up.

Grant funders want to know that their money is making an impact and going to where they expect it to. This is their way of investing in the community.

They’re looking for their ROI. In the business world, that’s the return on investment, which is kind of the same concept, but this is more of a return on impact as opposed to getting their money back. They want to see that if they’re giving their money, it’s creating a ripple effect in a bigger impact than if they were just keeping it to themselves.

That’s a high-level view about what grants are. When I talk about grant writing and getting grant funding, this takes you through the expectations and gives you a very basic foundation. Check out the other episodes for more details on specific topics. If you’re ready to learn more, go to www.teresahuff.com/learn.

If you’re considering a career in grant writing, head over and take my free quiz, “Do you have what it takes to be a grant writer?” at www.teresahuff.com/quiz.

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