From Scrambling to Soaring: A Four Step Plan to Elevate Your Grant Strategy for Long-Term Growth

Are you winging it with grant applications? Or do you juggle grant writing across multiple team members – but have no clear owner driving the work? Are you realizing the potential to develop deeper partnerships with granting organizations and ensure more stable, predictable funding streams?   

Whether you have a dedicated grants team, part-time grant writing contractors or anything in-between, the proper stewardship of grant funds requires organization and planning.  

The following suggestions will help you formalize a grants strategy and grants management process that supports cultivating relationships with foundation supporters and bringing key staff and leadership along on your organization’s fundraising journey.   

Step #1 Establish Structure and Alignment  

First, consider mapping out your team’s process of completing a grant application step-by-step. Specify how and when key staff partners contribute to the work of vetting and securing grant funds. Include the entire life cycle of a grant, from researching opportunities, ensuring eligibility/fit, drafting and submitting the application to post-award stewardship and reporting.  

Clearly communicating with your colleagues in programs, finance and leadership about how they support the process will allow you to proactively address these organizational needs: 

• Clear decision-making 

• Understanding of roles 

• Pipeline development and ROI tracking 

• Team buy-in 

Step #2 Identify Potential Foundation Funders 

Dedicate staff or volunteer time to researching grant prospects. You may want to invest in tools that support grant research, like Foundation Directory Online, or you can access information that is shared publicly, like funder lists on peer institutions’ websites.  

Professional associations like Associated Fundraising Professionals, are also great resources for learning about grantors that may align with your mission and they often host networking events with funders.  

Your mission will likely fit within multiple focus areas, so don’t automatically rule out any adjacent causes or issues in the sector. For example, a youth program may be eligible to seek funding related to not just education, but also workforce development, arts and culture, mental, behavioral, physical health and others.  

Once you have gathered a list of prospects and explored potential connections through your board and volunteers, assign the appropriate team member to make an introduction to your organization.  

Track your efforts along with specifics about the funder including: funding cycle, application due dates, type of funding (general operating or program-specific), special interest areas, etc.  

Step #3 Focus on Building Relationships  

Although different from individual giving, private foundations and government offices are still operated by people.  

Any opportunities to connect with them personally and discuss areas of impact can ensure alignment in your shared priorities and support a strong grant application. Corporate and community foundations typically have a contact or point person, while smaller and family foundations may have limited or no staff, so tailor your outreach appropriately. 

Understanding mission alignment and eligibility requirements with each funding opportunity is crucial before applying. Create a touchpoint by contacting the funder to clarify questions and build these considerations into your approach:  

• Would your organization be more competitive applying for restricted/project funds or unrestricted/general operating funds?  

• Does this approach align with your organization’s funding needs?  

• Would an onsite visit augment your application?)  

If you’re able to have these conversations with the funder, it saves you both time in the long-run and allows you to build the relationship.  

Alongside specifics about the funding opportunity, track when an application is submitted and the appropriate date for when to follow up, which is another opportunity to connect personally with the funder.  

Tip! Identifying trends like success rate by funders’ interest areas, regions and types of foundations will inform your grant funding strategy ongoing. 

Step #4 Plan Ahead and Prioritize 

Due to the myriad of activities and programs your development department may be managing, continuous review of upcoming and current grant projects with your team will allow you to clearly assign and prioritize opportunities with consideration of staff capacity.  

A pipeline or calendar-oriented tool for all staff to reference centralizes fundraising initiatives cross-departmentally and allows greater efficiency of developing program/project descriptions, budgets, timelines and partnership opportunities.  

Thus, internal and external communications can be streamlined and understanding of priorities are consistent.  

While the administrative task of updating the pipeline may be delegated, strategic guidance and prioritization of upcoming and ongoing projects must be driven by departmental leadership. It should be reviewed at departmental meetings and on a regular cadence at the leadership level. 

If your team has been juggling grant deadlines, unclear roles, or flying by the seat of your pants, you’re not alone — and you don’t have to keep doing it that way. With a little structure, the right tools, and a long-term mindset, you can turn grant writing from a scramble into a steady, strategic part of your fundraising success. It’s not just about submitting applications — it’s about building real relationships, aligning your work with your mission, and creating long-term impact. 

Want some help getting there? Reach out to our team — we’d love to explore how we can support your fundraising efforts and help you move from scrambling to soaring.