5 Strategies to Increase Your Grant Success Rate
Beyond the Application
Most nonprofits focus all their energy on the grant application itself. But the organizations with the highest success rates know that winning grants is about much more than just good writing. Here are five strategies that can transform your grant success rate.
1. Build Relationships Before You Apply
The best time to introduce yourself to a funder is before you need their money. Many foundations welcome inquiries from potential grantees. Attend funder briefings, connect at conferences, and reach out to program officers with genuine questions about their priorities.
When you've already established a relationship, your application isn't coming from a stranger—it's coming from a known entity. That familiarity can make all the difference.
2. Apply Only Where You Fit
This might seem counterintuitive, but applying to fewer grants can actually increase your funding. When you focus on opportunities that truly align with your mission and capacity, you can invest more time in each application and submit stronger proposals.
Quality over quantity isn't just a cliché—it's a winning strategy.
3. Tell Stories with Data
Funders want to see impact, and the best way to demonstrate impact is through the combination of compelling stories and solid data. A single story about a person your organization helped brings your work to life. Data about how many people you've served shows your scale.
Together, stories and data create a powerful case for support that neither can achieve alone.
4. Learn from Rejection
When a grant application is declined, don't just move on. Reach out to the funder for feedback. Not all will respond, but many are willing to share insights about why your application wasn't selected.
Use that feedback to strengthen future applications. Every rejection is an opportunity to improve.
5. Diversify Your Funding Sources
Organizations that rely too heavily on a single funder are vulnerable. The most resilient nonprofits have diverse funding portfolios that include grants, individual donors, earned revenue, and other sources.
When you're not desperate for any single grant, you can be more strategic about which opportunities to pursue.
Putting It All Together
These strategies require investment—of time, of effort, of relationship-building. But the payoff is worth it. Organizations that approach grant seeking strategically consistently outperform those that treat it as a numbers game.
GrantMatcher helps you implement these strategies by identifying the grants that truly fit your organization. Instead of casting a wide net, you can focus your energy on the opportunities where you're most likely to succeed.
Start matching with grants that fit your mission today.
