1. “If we pay you and don’t win a single grant, we’ve just wasted the community’s money. Can you guarantee a return?”
We can’t control the a funder’s decision, but we can guarantee we have a system in place to put your best foot forward with them. With our service, you’ll have high-quality outreach, ready to catch provision. And remember, we aren’t just trying for a win; we are building a permanent funding engine and building you a portfolio of funding assets as we go, with guidance from someone with tons of experience.
2. “How can you possibly capture the heart and spirit of our ministry as well as we can?”
That’s exactly why we start with auditing your current position. Our job isn’t to write our own words; it’s to interview you and extract your ‘DNA’ into a Master Application. Once we have that source of truth, we are just the translator who turns your passion into the technical language foundations need to see.
3. “Is now really the time to get into grant funding? We have a lot of big things coming up.”
We hear that, but six months from now, you’ll likely still be right where you are now. Grants have a long lead time, often 6-9 months from submission to check. If we wait until you need the money, it’s already too late. Stewardship means planting the seeds today for the harvest you’ll need next year.
4. “That monthly fee is equivalent to a part-time staff member. How is this justified?”
A part-time staffer requires training, benefits, and management, and they likely don’t have access to databases like ours, and surely won’t have a proven strategy. For the cost of a part-timer, you’re getting an entire ‘Grant Department’ that is already trained and ready to produce high-quality grants and provide top-notch strategy on Day 1.”
5. “Some grants have strings attached and we don’t have the staff to handle reporting when we win.”
That’s the beauty of the retainer program. We don’t just find the money; we help you manage the relationship. Our monthly strategy meetings ensure your data is being tracked correctly throughout the year so that when report time comes, it’s a 15-minute review for you, not a weekend of panic.”
