Why Grant Applications are Problematic

There is a well known blog called Nonprofit AF that is written by a hilarious and knowledgeable nonprofit Executive Director, Vu Le.  He writes regularly about the common issues faced in the field, particularly about the relationship between nonprofits and funders.  

One of Le's many articles that are applicable for grant writers is titled "Foundations, it’s time to stop using grant applications to distribute funding".  This doesn't discount the skills and tools you may have as a grant writer, but it is important to have a clear understanding of what is broken with the current funding environment that your proposals will be facing.  Here are a few areas Le points out as problems:

-  Wasting of time, energy, and resources:  Think about how many hours you are spending developing a grant proposal.  Now think of those hours in terms of an hourly wage and how much that would cost your organization for your time writing it.  "Even successful grant applications are problematic. According to this article, 46% of grants cost more than they’re worth, when we factor in how many hours are spent on them and multiply these hours by average wages per hour by both people who write the grants and those who review them."  (Vu, 2019)

- Reinforcement of power imbalance:  I'm sure you have learned in your research of potential funding sources that it's YOUR responsibility to meet THEIR priorities and expectations, even though at the end of the day you and your project will be what actually serves your community.  "[A grant application] sets up one side as the benevolent giver, and the other side as the supplicant, the taker." (Vu, 2019)

- Perpetuation of the myth of meritocracy:  "Grant applications give the illusion of fairness and objectivity. If every nonprofit has the same chance to apply... there's a 'level playing field'... right?" (Vu, 2019)  But fairness is not part of the funding process;  your relationship with the funder can give you an advantage, as well as politics, reputation, bias, and a host of other factors.

- Furthering of inequity: One thing I appreciate about Vu is his advocacy for equity throughout the nonprofit field, and funders have a major influence on this.  "90% of philanthropic dollars, as I and other leaders in the sector keep saying, go to white-led organizations." (2019)  Grants specifically targeted to organizations serving or led by communities of color, not mentioning all other areas of diversity, tend to be smaller, more competitive, and generally have more burdensome applications both due to the expectations of funders and the capacity of organizations to complete them.

So what can we do?  We can understand the challenges, do the best we can to create the strongest proposals in the environment we are faced with, and, whenever we have the ability to do so, advocate for changes that improves these processes.  I hope you will take some time to look at Vu's blog for more great insights.