10 Ways Foundations Roadblock Grantee Funding Access

"As grantmakers, we should honestly count how many barriers we create that prevent grant seekers from applying for funds or sharing good ideas with us."

Let me explain how the magic gets killed. On our way to Magic Kingdom, we had to deal with seven barriers to entry before we could actually enter the park. We had to:

1. Wait at the parking toll booth and pay for parking
2. Wait in line for the free shuttle to take us from the parking lot to what we thought was the park (it was actually the Disney “transportation center”)
3. Figure out that we were not yet at Magic Kingdom, and either stand in line for what appeared to be a 45 minute wait to take the Monorail or notice that
   there was a much shorter line to take a Ferry
4. Take the Ferry to Magic Kingdom
5. Wait in line to pick up our tickets at Will Call
6. Wait in a separate line to have our bags checked
7. Wait in yet another line to have our fingerprints scanned and linked to our Disney Pass

We had fun, we rode rides, we had our picture taken with princesses. But my most vivid memory was exiting the park at 5:00 pm (long before the park closed). The employees were gone, the ticket windows were closed. All you saw were gray cement structures. No Mickey Mouse waving goodbye, no signs telling to you come back real soon, no reminder of what a wonderful time you just had, or incentive to encourage you to visit other Disney parks. Nothing.

Foundations are well positioned to wrap a meaningful and memorable experience around their grant distributions. Yet, intentionally or unintentionally, foundations repeatedly set up roadblocks that make it difficult for great ideas and great nonprofits to be funded or leave grantees amidst the tumbleweeds once a grant is finished.

Here are just 10 of the dozens of barriers to entry that I have seen:

1. No information available about the foundation or its guidelines
2. Vague funding guidelines
3. Lack of contact information for foundation staff on websites
4. Messages clearly stating “we don’t accept unsolicited proposals”
5. Refusing to discuss project ideas with nonprofits
6. Lack of communication with grant seekers once proposals are submitted
7. Unanswered emails and unreturned voice mails
8. Requiring applicants to obtain matching funds within 3 weeks in order to submit a proposal
9. Working with an applicant on a proposal for 6 months and then telling them they aren’t going to fund it because their priorities have changed
10. Using proposals as a way to surface new ideas, but not funding them

And similar to my Disney experience, the end of the grant period can be quite lackluster and a lost opportunity for learning, creativity, and expansion. Here is what typically happens: Toward the end of grant the foundation’s grants management system sends an automated message to the grantee that their final report is due. The grantee fills out the report and mails it in. The program officer is too busy to read it, and it gets filed with the grants management system. The grantee can apply again if they want to (although some foundations require they wait 3 months to a year to reapply).

No conversation. No real learning about what worked, what didn’t, what challenges or opportunities the nonprofit learned that could be shared with the funder. No brainstorming new ways that the nonprofit and foundation could partner. No sharing with the nonprofit the names of other funders it might pursue. The funder-nonprofit relationship simply ends, and all the energy originally exerted to bring both parties together just dissipates.

As grantmakers, we should honestly count how many barriers we create that prevent grant seekers from applying for funds or sharing good ideas with us. Then, we should ask ourselves what messages these barriers send, which can be eliminated or reduced, and how we can be more welcoming, transparent, responsive, and encouraging. Similarly, we should think of our relationship with the nonprofits we fund as a relationship, with mutual learning and sharing, and value for both organizations beyond the grant itself and beyond the grant period.

In other words, we should look for every opportunity to keep the magic alive.

Kris Putnam-Walkerly is a nationally recognized philanthropy consultant, president of Putnam Consulting Group, Inc., and Chair of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers.