Stay Safe AND Dream Big – on Promises to Grant Funders

You want to impress potential funders with what you can accomplish if funded, and you want to aim high because you are doing this work to radically improve the world – but you don’t want to over-promise and under-deliver, then risk not getting your grant renewed for a second year. So what do you do? Will funders be understanding if you don’t reach the high standards you set?

Generally, funders want to know what you will achieve with their support, not what you hope for, but may not reach. I have created a system I use with many of my clients to balance their internal aspirations with their promises to funders.

Before explaining it, I’ll define the usual grant terms for those who don’t know them, and those who do can skip this list.

  • Objectives are measurable promises to funders about what your organization will do by the end of the grant period, like how many people you will serve.
  • Outcomes are measurable promises to funders about what will change for those you serve because of the work you did by the end of the grant period, like improvements in their health.
  • Indicators or benchmarks of success are measures that will show your work was successful by the end of the grant period; it is best for them to be a mix of objectives and outcomes.
  • Funders who ask for indicators or benchmarks of success generally use them instead of objectives or outcomes. Some funders ask only for objectives and use the term to include outcomes or ask only for outcomes and use the term to include objectives. You only need to consider the difference between the terms if they ask for both, otherwise, it is best to include a mix of objectives and outcomes under whatever term they use.

 So how high should you aim in your objectives/outcomes/indicators of success section?

I recommend 10-15% below what you expect to achieve. This way, if everything goes as planned, you can report to funders how fabulously you succeeded, exceeding your promises. If obstacles come up, you are likely to still be able to say you achieved what you promised to do.

And what about your big dreams? Anything you are not extremely confident you can achieve, set as an aspiration. This is not official grant lingo, but an additional term I created. Agree within your organization on the top aspirations, so anyone who has a chance can work toward them, and you will be more likely to achieve them. Do not include your aspirations in grant proposals or donor materials, since you do not want to have to report that they were not accomplished. However, if they are achieved, absolutely do add them to your grant reports, annual report, appeals, etc.

This system of working with promises and aspirations supports you to both stay safe with funders and achieve your big dreams about how you want to change the world.

Leave a comment