By Michael Paddock, August 2012

Companies selling into the public sector are increasingly offering their customers help with identifying and pursuing grant opportunities in support of the community’s efforts to initiate projects that, not coincidentally, make use of the company’s products or services. Indeed, the US federal government alone provides over $400 billion each year in grants, much of which goes to support purchases of products and services by public sector organizations in their communities. State governments and private foundations also deliver a significant amount of their support through grants.

Grants Office has been a leader in providing expert grant consultation and funding information that powers successful grant support initiatives at some of the world’s largest and most trusted companies. After ten years of providing these services on behalf of our clients to gym teachers, college presidents, police and firefighters, and public servants at other institutions around the world, we have worked through many of the challenges associated with navigating this potentially very profitable process.

It’s a widely held belief among the community of grantseeking professionals that grants development pursuits that are not driven by the applicant/potential recipient will be doomed from the start, because the projects would lack the authenticity of an initiative that had been developed organically by the municipality, school, or hospital.

Of course, grant-funded projects around the country that have been entirely developed by the applicants have advantages. For one, they address what at least some local officials believe to be pressing needs among their constituency – a group with whom they ostensibly have regular and direct contact. Homegrown projects also usually have buy in from at least a sampling of community leaders, particularly those whose personal and organizational objectives are likely to be advanced by the project.

But projects developed in conjunction with vendors – even vendors who stand to profit from the project they are espousing – can be well-conceived and provide a major benefit to the community receiving the funding, particularly for projects that require some technical sophistication. After all, many vendors are experts in their businesses. Whether you’re talking about a planning grant to improve the efficiency of school bus routes, a telehealth grant to expand cardiology services to remote rural clinics, or a networked monitoring system to enhance the security of your water system, you can leverage vendors (who will probably be getting business from the funded project anyway) for their experience in implementing similar projects, their understanding of local needs in the context of a technical project plan, and their access to pricing estimates and configuration drafts for the elements of the project that fall within their spheres.

For companies offering grant support and the community institutions considering accepting it, here are a few things to keep in mind – tidbits we at Grants Office have developed over the years and which might help set appropriate expectations on all sides.

1.  Start by identifying the need

The community’s need should drive their purchase specifications, not the other way around. Funders can easily recognize (and reject) applications that appear to be for securing toys for the applicant. Instead, focusing on addressing a need in the community or in the applicants’ capacity to advance its mission will not only make the project more appealing to funders, but it will also lead to a much more successful collaboration between vendor and customer.

2.  Grants fund projects, not products

Funders frown on proposals that look like wish lists, without a clear objective and a credible action plan. Therefore, the project plan should not be an afterthought. Instead, work out what needs to happen to make the project successful at achieving specific, measureable objectives. Then calculate what products and services will be needed to support the plan.

There are many grant programs aimed at supporting specific local projects, and they have names like the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program, Investing in Innovation, and Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants. There is not likely to be a “specific product” grant (unless you sell body armor to police departments or body scanners to airports), so don’t look for it. If you’re having trouble finding grant programs that can include specific products, consider getting help from a professional grants development firm.

3.  Follow normal procurement

Grants can create additional budget for products and services, but grant-funded procurements still have to follow local policies and procedures. Customer’s should avoid making guarantees to the vendors they’re working with about follow-on business, just as vendors should avoid pressuring customers for promises they can’t legally make. Rest assured, in most cases, the trusted vendor who has brought added value to the customer relationship will get the business, though it may not be a sure thing from the outset.

4.  Think big, but not fast

Although federal funding in particular can enable even small, rural organizations to make big purchases, the process is lengthy. It’s not unusual for a federal grant to be $300,000 to 500,000 or more, which may be more than a small applicant would ever be able to spend on a single project. Depending on the grant program(s) you are applying to, it may take up to 18 months from the time the application is submitted to begin spending money. Of course, it often happens in less time, but it pays to be prepared for a long-term commitment.

5.  Keep it in context

Vendors contribute valuable expertise as well as products and services to the project, but the public sector customer receiving the funding is ultimately accountable to the funder for how they use the money. For that reason, the recipient of the funding should take the lead in managing the project, to ensure they can directly address any changes to the initial plan for the project and accurately report their progress to the funder. 

Even well-meaning vendors can derail a project from its original intent, often just because the vendor’s problem solving strategy often tends to rely more on a product or solution-centric approach. Therefore, the recipient agency should never relinquish oversight of the project to anyone else, even if it may seem easier in the short term to do so.