Looking for grants but not sure where to start? You’re not alone. Whether you’re a nonprofit, entrepreneur, or small business owner, the process of finding funding can feel overwhelming. The good news? You don’t have to begin with giant national foundations—there are plenty of opportunities right in your own backyard. In this post, we’re sharing practical tips, favorite tools, and real advice from grant writers to help you find the right funding (and stay motivated through the process).

Where do we look for grants?

One of the best ways to find grants is to start local! Before you begin applying to nationally or internationally known grant programs like Gates Foundation or W. K. Kellogg Foundation, start with your community-based funders, banking institutions, and corporations. Relationships are crucial to the grants process and most grant makers are hoping to make an impact in the communities where they live and work, so that’s where I recommend spending much of your energy. 

 

Take a look at your congressional leader’s website – often they link to funding opportunities relevant to organizations in their communities. Get to your library – some libraries also offer free access to Foundation Directory Online, which is a great database to learn about grant opportunities. There are also several grant databases available that you can use to identify funding opportunities such as Instrumental, GrantStation, and Grant Gopher.

 

An easy way to do this as a business owner is set up a conversation with your local chamber of commerce or business support organization. If you sign up for their newsletters as well, you’ll get notified! 

We’ve also put a list of some of our favorite resources at the end of the blogpost. And we’ll keep on adding more as we find them!

 

 

 If I don’t get a grant, what do I do? 

Rejection is part of the grant process. Get used to hearing “no.” Only an estimated 10-20% of grant applications submitted get awarded each year, according to the National Council of Nonprofits. Those are tough odds even for the best quality grant submissions. But there are some steps you can take to improve your chances of being awarded in a future cycle.

 

First, review any feedback you receive from the grantmaker or see if you can arrange a meeting to discuss feedback. Some grantmakers welcome this meeting and others don’t for a number of reasons. Some grantmakers clearly state their policy around this on their websites, so check there first. Second, do a little bit of detective work: Who was awarded? Are there themes among the projects funded? This may give you further insights into how your project and the funder’s goals align. Third, arrange for an external review. Get an outside perspective on your proposal and ask for specific feedback. Organizations like the Unfunded List, provide these reviews for low-cost. Finally, make a plan for your next submission. Document any notes from conversations or reviews that will help you improve your application in the next cycle.

 

How do I know if a grant is right for me? 

As you consider each grant opportunity, take some time to evaluate whether it’s actually a good fit for your organization. Sometimes it can seem appealing to pursue a funding opportunity, but given the timeline, application requirements, or grant management requirements, the award doesn’t result in a net gain. So be honest about whether time spent pursuing a grant will be ultimately worth your organization’s resources and staff time. I recommend using a Go/No Go or grant feasibility tool (you can find these online) to determine if each grant you might pursue is worth it. This tool will help you evaluate areas such as: mission alignment, allowable costs, staff capacity to prepare the application, staff capacity to manage the grant and reporting requirements, amount of funding, etc.

 

It’s sometimes helpful to search the funders website and look into the organizations that have received funding from them before. That can also be a good indicator if the grant opportunity is right for a business or organization like yours.

What emails should I sign up for to get notified of opportunities? Where do I start?

Start by subscribing to email lists of the grantmakers your organization most align with. Often you’ll not only learn about grant opportunities, but also learn about their priorities, any shifts in their focus area, and current grantees. Another great resource for grant opportunities is your state’s nonprofit association. In Massachusetts, we have the MA Nonprofit Network, but we also have Philanthropy MA. Several community foundations share opportunities in their emails and organizations like Berkshire Funding Focus, also share relevant opportunities for the community.

 

As a business owner, you’ll also want to sign up for emails from your local chamber of commerce and other entrepreneurial support organizations. In the greater Northampton area, we’d recommend:

 

The Greater Northampton Chamber of Commerce

The Valley Community Development 

The Northampton Arts Council (for arts-related grants: Megan has received several of these for her tutoring company)

Massachusetts Small Business Development Corporation

The Massachusetts Economic Development Council

How do you find the time for it?

 

Since grants are often deadline-driven, it’s easy to be surprised by a soon-to-be closed grant opportunity if you’re not intentional about your grant process. Planning and strategy are critical when it comes to grants. Serious about it? Block an hour a day to search for grant opportunities and develop a grant calendar that maps out the grants you’ll pursue over the course of the year. Carve out some time at least once per month to review these opportunities and plan for the upcoming months. By reviewing your grant calendar regularly, you can determine plans in advance for connecting with grantmakers, preparing your application, and dealing with technical problems. Prepare materials in a natural cadence aligned with your organization’s fiscal year: prep a folder with the commonly requested documents such as audited financial statements, IRS Form 990s, budget, and annual report as they become available.

 

It also helps to have accountability partners. Grab another business-owner-buddy and set a time every other week to search for and write grants together. The Sphere Northampton is playing around with the idea of Money Mondays, where we’ll come together to work side-by-side on either budgets or grants. Sign up for our email list and we’ll keep you posted!

 

Chat GPT: yay or nay? 

We think there is a place for AI in the grants space, and by all means, we should use tools that can make our work more efficient. But it requires intentionality. Chat GPT, Claude, Grantable, and other AI tools can be useful for developing outlines, preparing a mock rubric to review your proposal, helping you identify ways to reduce the character count, etc. but you have to first start with quality prompts. I have heard others aptly caution that with AI, “if you put garbage in, you’ll get garbage out.” Also keep in mind how AI learns…If you’re using a free tool, it’s likely you are the product. That’s an important consideration when using sensitive stakeholder data or proprietary information.

 

One way that we’ve found is helpful in particular is dealing with the word and character limits in grant applications. AI can be given clear character specifications and help you get under those limits (but don’t forget to proofread and check its work!).

 

Where do we look for grants as non-profits?

For grant research, Candid’s Foundation Directory Online is the most comprehensive and easy to use. It’s expensive, but many libraries have subscriptions, and you can also pay month by month. Many large foundations put out regular communications-read them to understand what issues they’re addressing, what they’re funding and who their leadership is. Sign up for all the newsletters you can, read local papers and follow funders on social media.

Relationships help when you’re looking for non-profit funding—and know that you may not get the donation the first time you ask. It’s also important to make your case clearly and everywhere that you can via marketing and networking. If you’re on a funder’s ‘radar’ it will help you rise to the top of that pile of requests they’re reading, or, at the very least, being well known will help them better grasp what you’re discussing in your grant application. 

 

How do we reach out to “Invite Only” funders

If there is a general email address or phone number, try reaching out. Before you connect make sure your 30 second elevator speech is airtight. Introduce yourself, give your speech then tell them you are looking for funding partners for your project or organization. Is your program a fit for them? Could you apply? 

If there isn’t an email or phone number, send a mailed letter with the same message along with your marketing materials, include photos, if possible, and a clear way to contact you. Don’t spend much time doing this though, a more effective use of your spare time is to network with local funders or hone your marketing materials.

Resources:

Ladies who launch grants database

https://spherenorthampton.com/

Valley CDC

Guidestar.org

https://grants.gov/

https://candid.org/find-us?zip=&go=Find+Location

https://www.unfundedlist.com

https://www.thehartford.com/small-business-insurance/small-business-grants#owners

 

Looking for more grant writing support? Join us at Funding, Flexibility, and Fondue on Sunday, April 13 from 1-3 pm EST. Find more information on this sweet event here.

About the Authors:

Alice Rich Lewis is a Florence-based grant writing and grant research consultant for non-profits through her company, Access Grantwriting. She helps her clients find new potential funding sources, write grant applications and strategizes with them on the best way to connect with funders. Before she was a consultant, she worked as a fundraiser for small non-profits, so she is sympathetic to how stretched development staff can be.

 

Tiffany Thibodeau’s career spans 15 years as a math and science certified classroom teacher for K-8 students, recognized for her exceptional ability to deliver engaging and effective math curricula, earning an “Excellence in Teaching” award. Her commitment extended beyond the classroom as she actively coached fellow teachers on instructional strategies to deliver math and science curriculum. Introduced to grants by applying for them for her classroom, Tiffany has over five years experience in grant writing & fundraising and communications. Leveraging her classroom teaching and nonprofit experience, she launched Tiffany Thibodeau Consulting, a grants consultant specializing in STEM education, youth workforce development, and college access to improve outcomes for young people.  

 

Dr. Megan Allen is the project manager for The Sphere Northampton, making sure all the pieces fall in place, deadlines are met, and the team has what they need to succeed. She keeps things moving forward strategically, thoughtfully, and awesomely. She’s also helped lead The Sphere in securing over $325,000 in grant funding and donations. Megan is the founder and owner/operator of the Community Classroom, a tutoring center in Florence with a team of 25+ certified teachers. An education nerd, she is a National Board Certified Teacher who has worked in several roles in education, including an elementary and special education teacher in Tampa, the Educator in Residence at University of Central Florida, and as the Director of the Master of Arts in Teacher Leadership at Mount Holyoke College. Megan most recently worked as the Director of Partnerships for the National Network of State Teachers of the Year, the professional home for all state teachers of the year (another nerdy fact: she was the Florida 2010 State Teacher of the Year).