By Sydney Stapleton, Grants Development Consultant (Higher Education)
Picture this…
You’ve just submitted a grant application and you feel you made a compelling argument for your project and have a good chance for being funded. You wait patiently to hear back and when you open your email one morning you see a message from the funder. You open it with a smile on your face but as you begin to read it your smile slowly turns to a frown. “Thank you for your application, however we are sorry to inform you that your project was not selected for funding this round.” As you skim through the rest of the email you think “What happened? Our application was great!” and then your mind moves to “Well what do we do now….”
While you may feel down in the moment, it should help to know that getting a grant award isn’t easy! Different grant programs have different acceptance rates, and most are very competitive. For example, in 2019 the National Institute of Health received 54,903 research project grants and funded 11,035. That is an acceptance rate of only 20%! According to the Society of Nonprofits, on any given day, roughly 2,700 grant proposals are submitted with fewer than 200 receiving funding.
There are many possible reasons why a project isn’t selected by a funder. It could be that their capacity to give just wasn’t high enough for your project’s budget or maybe the number of applications this round with the same priority as your project made it a tough field or perhaps the funder has totally changed funding priorities. The reason may also be the quality of the proposal. Did you answer every question, and stay within the budget and page limits? Did you have your application proofread by a third party before sending it along? With so many competitive applicants, it is an uphill battle to get funding so if you don’t get a project funded in this round, don’t fret! Below are some steps to take in order to improve your chances for funding next time around.
First
Take a deep breath. It can be very frustrating to put in hours of work for an application to not receive funding. Take some time to reflect on all you did to get to this point and know that it will only make your job the next round that much easier.
Then
Ask for reviewer comments from the funder. Large national funders like the National Science Foundation have the capacity to provide feedback and smaller family foundations may be run by volunteers who do not have the ability to share reviews with every applicant. If the funder is able, ask for a full debrief, in which you are able to chat with them about your application and why it was not chosen OR ask for general notes in an email, the rubric that the funder used and how well you scored on it or copies of reviewers’ comments. It may be intimidating to ask for this feedback but remember, grant funders want to award money, so they are typically eager to help you improve and hopefully share in their mission later. You will want to verify your eligibility to reapply, if that is your plan. Some funders don’t allow organizations to apply back-to-back or within a certain time frame so be sure to verify that in the grant application guidelines.
Not matter the form reviews come in, the insights they provide are going to be a huge asset when submitting applications in the next round of funding, either as a repeat applicant or to a different grant. Read through their reviews and see where you can make improvements. Maybe your idea was strong, but they wanted more details about how your project would be evaluated. Perhaps you went over the page limit by only a paragraph and were disqualified. Whatever it may be, those notes will be helpful in addressing the issues the funder had and should be taken into consideration for your next application.
During the review process, you can also take that opportunity to develop a relationship with the funder. Many funders want to know what they can do to improve upon the application process so provide feedback on the grant cycle. If you receive a survey about the process, be sure to fill it out. If your funder is local, invite staff or representatives to events they may be interested in. By building a relationship with a funder, your organization will be able to showcase why they should want to partner with you and fund your project.
Look to see who was chosen for funding this round. Knowing who won an award can provide good insight into what the funder is looking for and if your project seems like it is a good fit. You can often find a whole history of past award winners. This information can often be found on funder websites or through press releases from the funder or the award winners.
Look for a new set of eyes. This is true for any grant application but is especially true for one that you are resubmitting. They can help ensure all your overall ideas make sense and check over the little details. After editing and reading an application several times, you are bound to miss something. A fresh set of eyes may notice that your forgot to update the dates in your timeline or forgot to change a name of a person who is no longer working on the project. Those little finds can be the difference between an award and a rejection.
Not receiving a grant award can feel like a defeat, but the road does not stop there. Get your application review material if available, check your eligibility for back-to-back applications, get to know the funder better, and get another set of eyes on your new application. Practice makes perfect and that is very much the case with grant writing. Think of it as a learning opportunity and win the next round.