We Need a Grant Within a Year. Is that Long Enough to Get One?

Question: We Need a Grant Within a Year. Is that Long Enough to Get One?

Answer: No, it isn't. Grants are not a quick funding solution. Funders take quite a long time to make decisions about sizable grants, although sometimes funders will have short funding cycles for certain types of projects. That is rare though.

You also need to consider the time spent preparing your proposal, finding suitable funders, and cultivating those funders. When beginning a grants program, it may seem to take forever to secure that first grant, but once your program is part of your organization's ongoing fundraising efforts, you are likely to have several grants in progress at any given time so the space between getting funding will seem shorter.

For your project, you will want to think about seeking initial funding from other sources, such as individual donors, churches, civic groups, earned income, or your own operating budget.

But do go ahead, while you are doing that, and start the process of preparing a grant proposal. Then you can impress the funder by having part of the funding in place and a program that is already up and running. The other alternative is to wait to start up that new program until you do have funding from a foundation or corporation.

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