One of the questions I get the most from y’all is whether I know of any nonprofit start-up grants. The need for nonprofit start-up funding is huge, and today’s post is your guide to finding it.

On the one hand, I love getting this question because I know the folks asking are brimming with passion and excitement and plans. But on the other hand, I know that starting any type of business–for-profit or nonprofit–comes with its challenges.

Perhaps the most significant of those challenges is where to get the money to get off the ground.

So today, I’d like to share some advice and best practices for finding funds to start a new nonprofit, as well as some tips for setting yourself up for long-term financial stability. 

(Because, after all, the goal isn’t just to get the money to get going, it’s to have the stability to keep the doors open for years to come.)

Are there nonprofit start-up grants?

Generally, nonprofits do not support their start-up phase with many grants.

Why?

Because grantmakers want to see an organization has a proven track record of success in their programs and that they have a level of financial stability before making an award.

For the same reason that I don’t recommend any nonprofit design programs to fit a funding opportunity, I don’t advise new nonprofits to depend on grant funding.

That being said, there are some easier grant opportunities out there, with less stringent application guidelines, some of which might be good fits for newer nonprofits.

One place that I recommend looking for these is your local community foundation. You can simply Google “[city name] community foundation,” and something will come up. If you don’t have one in your city, look for a city nearby or Google your state.

Another place I look is large corporations with a presence in my nonprofit client’s city/area. They are more likely to give to small startup nonprofits than family foundations.

What other sources of nonprofit start-up funding exist?

You might be wondering if new nonprofits aren’t generally able to secure grant funding, where else they might look for support.

One prime avenue for nonprofit start-up funding is individual donations. As you recruit your new board of directors, you can set expectations for board contributions and fundraising. And, as you grow your presence in your community, in-person and online, remember to be on the lookout for potential donors. 

You might also rely heavily at the beginning on your nonprofit journey on in-kind gifts, of both materials and time. (And a word to the wise: Keep track of these in-kind donations, just as you would monetary donations. Note the dollar value of in-kind donations. All of this information will support a picture of your organization as financially responsible and stable when it comes time to apply for grants.)

In addition to donations, new nonprofits can consider a fee-for-service model. Not only is this model growing in popularity, but there is some behavioral science research that shows that people value things they pay for more than free things. So, your program participants might be more invested in your program if they are required to pay (even a nominal fee) for the service.

How new nonprofits can set themselves up for long-term grant success

Just because new nonprofits aren’t likely to win grants in their first couple of years doesn’t mean that those years aren’t important for long-term grant success.

Consider that grants often require years of financial statements, submitted 990s, and numbers that indicate programmatic success.

If you are a leader of a new nonprofit, you can set yourself up for success by keeping up with your financial documentation and IRS reporting requirements. And, as you design your new programs, you can build monitoring and evaluation into them from the beginning. This way, you’ll have months or even years of data to show that your programs work. Similarly, you can set up a system for collecting testimonial responses and/or case studies from your program participants.

When it comes time to write a grant, you will be thankful that you have all of this information on hand.

Your next steps

As you’re setting yourself up for long-term success with grants and securing funding for the here and now, I also want to encourage you to think about your plan for learning how to write grants.

Most of us weren’t born knowing how to put together a strong grant proposal. (Not even me!)

It takes time to learn how to write grants. The two most common paths I see folks taking to learning grants is through lots of trial and error (this is the hard way) or by learning in an online course (not exactly a cakewalk, but much easier and less time consuming).

If you’d like to get started on your grant writing learning journey, I invite you to sign up for my free 1-hour grant writing training.