Don't Wait for the Data
The time to pursue major grants is now.
I’m not suggesting you merely raise your revenue targets or identify more prominent funders. Like major gifts, these high-end private awards require a mindset and structure that elevate your work.
First, you’ll want to give name to your plans.
If your office is not yet talking about major grants as a category, what’s holding you back? Maybe you’ve looked for data to make the case.
If Only
The grants space lacks consistent, reliable data. Yet you might need to convince your boss, or yourself, the extent to which high-end private awards deserve attention.
If you’re like me, you crave charts showing the average private grant size, year over year, in your nonprofit’s niche. You want to know the number of awards at various sizes. You want to see how many funders are consolidating their awards into fewer, but larger, sums.
All of this is public information. It’s just not compiled in a useful way.
Our field issues surveys published by commercial and umbrella organizations, but most rely on unscientific methods and small samples. I’m speaking with researchers who I hope might take on something more comprehensive.
While we wait, I see more and more evidence that grants are indeed growing in size, especially among nationally-oriented foundations.
Foundations Are a Bigger Deal
The fund development field largely ignores foundation and corporate giving because Giving USA says that they make up 19 and 4 percent, respectively, in the most recent giving “pie.” Most of the remainder comes from individuals.
I’m not suggesting the data is wrong, but it applies to a limited slice of our sector. At least 67 percent of US philanthropy comes from individuals if yours is a religious organization. The same might apply for a university or a hospital.
Most of the groups I work or volunteer with are human services organizations. They are civil rights groups. They focus on health, community development, or science. Some lean on government funds. They all rely on private grants well beyond what the data suggests.
If I had a dollar for every nonprofit leader that asked me over the years why their giving ratios don’t match those of Giving USA, I could make a nice individual contribution myself!
Anecdotes Aplenty
Early in my career, I was part of the United Negro College Fund team that secured a $1 billion grant from the new Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. That $50 million over 20 years was groundbreaking at the time.
Just this week, The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s weekly Grants Roundup lists three grants over $100 million.
In 2022, a foundation made a $1.1 billion award. Remember it? If not, that’s because neither the donor, the Benificus Foundation, nor the recipient, Stanford University, were standouts in a year of mega philanthropy.
Trends among my clients and the nonprofits I follow suggest that there are many more large grants to be had than there were even a few years ago. Last year was a banner one, far beyond the Mackenzie Scott largess.
If your organization has secured some moderate grants relative to your budget size, you’re ready to get in the major grants game. You don’t have to play for sums in the millions. Aim to push your organization to meet its next-stage dreams.
Got Your Number
When I began taking pastel classes, I was no artist. As my work improved and people threw the word artist my way, it felt awkward. I am no Picasso, but as I began to embrace the term, I took my work more seriously. So did others.
Call the top 5-10% of your portfolio major grants and set yourself up for the respect and direction you need to succeed. Words matter.
Add major grants to your organization’s vocabulary and set an expectation that you’re up to something big.
What comes after the terminology? If you don’t already, subscribe to take this journey with me and a group of talented, driven peers.
For now, the most transformative early step comes in giving name to the change you seek to make.
If your office is pursuing major grants in an organized way—acknowledging that organized is a relative term—I’d love to hear from you. Message me in the comments below or via email. Let me know what what’s working and where you’re facing challenges.