Small Business Concierge Silicon Valley Spring 2023

Preparing Small Businesses for Grant Olympics

By: Radio Biz Coach Margaret Jackson ¦ AM1220

In today's world of uncertainties and learning to adapt to living in a pandemic and now post-pandemic and its aftermath, grants have become more available to small business owners. Grant funding is a competitive process and should not be entered into lightly. You will compete against other small businesses for that grant money. It could be a local, statewide, national, or international competition. Whatever it is, you want to compete strongly in what I like to call the Grant Olympics. It takes preparation and time to compete formidably for grant funding. Winging it rarely ever works. If it is a crisis and the grant funding need is immediate, you will not compete well. Competing for grant funding under pressure, stress, and urgency is not a combination for success. If you want to compete well for grant funding, start preparing for the competition before you need crisis mode funding. If it is a crisis, hire a grant-writing expert to help you think through your responses. Invest in a couple of consulting sessions to help you respond competitively. It is imperative to think it through; getting ready to compete is critical to successful grant submission. Are you prepared to compete for a grant? My top five steps to get you started with grant funding competitions.

1. Be sure to submit a grant prepared. Do not dart into it unprepared. Thinking about how you want to compete in the grant process is essential. Start by creating a funding plan or pipeline.

2. Assess the need. Assessing areas that need funding will help you determine an organized order of funding the goals.

3. What are your funding goals? How much money do you need to raise? Use an Excel spreadsheet to calculate each funding goal. Develop a budget. Create a narrative for using funds and provide a reasonable explanation for each category and item on the budget.

4. Learn the grant language. Read. Read. Read. Do your homework. Grant funding opportunities come in options and topics; examples include startup grants, grant contests, dream fund, rent relief, city, state, and county, small business innovation research, small business technology transfer program, and many others. Be aware of grantors' terms and language, so ask questions when you need help understanding.

5. Hire a seasoned grant writer. Make it a collaborative effort and learn the grant writing ropes. Do not ask grant writers to write for free; pay them on the back end. Many grants will have language in the announcement of not using the funds to pay the grant writer. It is your responsibility. Pay the grant writer and learn the ropes.

Applying for grants with short online applications is a great way to get your grant writing feet wet. However, do not blaze through it like a bat out of hell, thinking it will be easy to win that $2,500 grant is wrong rational. Take time and consider your responses; every response to a question matters. It is a competition, and you will only win some of them, but you can win a lot of them using the best grant writing practices.