One Easy Step To Finding New Funding Opportunities

Grant writers tell us all the time that one of their biggest frustrations is the difficulty they have in tracking down new funding opportunities for their organization… especially funding programs that are a fit for their specific project. We understand this is a big challenge, and want to provide you with an idea that absolutely any grant writer can begin to implement as part of his or her regular routine.

There Are Thousands Of Funding Opportunities For Grant Writers

Before we unveil an easy step you can implement to begin to uncover new funding opportunities, it is important to know that, in Canada, there are an incredible number of funding programs that exist. Even with a lot of opportunity available, it will take some work, some research, and some perseverance to track down the right opportunities for you and your organization, but they are there.

Here is a glimpse at the current granting environment in Canada:

• 10,000 foundations, with more than 700 new foundations registered each year;
• 680 corporate foundations; and
• 550 Federal and Provincial Government programs.

That is a lot of funders to explore, and the opportunities continue to grow each year. We show you these numbers to give you some hope and encourage you not to give up in your quest to find the funds you need to do the great work you need to do in your community.

There Is An Important Untapped Resource

GrantsEdge has the privilege of conducting grant writing training throughout Ontario, and during those workshops and seminars, we like to take a few minutes and have the grant writers participate in a short exercise. With blank pieces of paper in front of them, we ask them to write the following three headings: Foundations, Corporations, and Government. From there, we give them five minutes to populate their page with all the funders they know under those three categories.

YOU TRY IT: Take five minutes right now, before you continue reading, to see how many funders you can get on the page under each of those categories.

How did you do? In most of our sessions, we find that, on average, grant writers are able to list five to seven specific funds or funders. Of course, we sometimes have an expert in the room who can rattle off 20 or 30 funds, and that’s awesome, but for many, their actual understanding of the funders that exist is somewhat limited.

Through the exercise, we have also begun to understand that the funders that grant writers do know typically fall within the Government or Foundations categories. It is the corporations that have funding opportunities that most don’t know much about.

It’s time to begin to explore and pursue those corporate opportunities as you build your grant writing calendars.

What Are You Doing This Weekend?

We have titled this blog post, “One Easy Step To Finding New Funding Opportunities,” and the exciting thing to understand is that you can implement this step within the regular routine of your life.

For many of us, after a busy week of work, running kids to programs each evening, and volunteering at our local organizations, we save at least a part of Saturday for running our errands, completing the items on our to-do list, and spending time with family and friends. Here is a typical Saturday (sometimes Sunday) for me and my family.

• I wake up early on Saturday morning and get groceries at Loblaws before it gets too busy.
• On my way home, I fill up my car with gas at Petro-Canada.
• After putting the groceries away, we go to Hudson’s Bay so I can buy a new shirt for a dinner we are going to later that night.
• While at the mall, I stop by Bell to ask a few questions about my cell phone.
• Later that night, we end up at The Keg for dinner with friends.
• Before I go to bed on Saturday night, I send an email to The Co-Operators, my insurance company, to let them know my son will no longer be on our auto insurance policy.

It’s been a full day of getting jobs done and having some fun along the way. But, in the midst of my busy Saturday, I have come across at least six corporations that offer various funding programs to groups and organizations within their community.

What Plans Do You Have This Weekend?

There are funding opportunities around us and available to us each day. Of course, not every one of these corporations are going to be a fit for the program or project you are looking to run, but you don’t need them all to be a fit. You may only need one or two to provide you with funding you need to do the work you want to accomplish.

Begin To Add Corporations To Your List

If you are looking to expand your funding opportunities, exploring the funding programs and sponsorships that Corporations offer is an easy step to incorporate, and an action you can assimilate into the routine and rhythm of your life.