Tip #20: Focus on Funders that Fit

Kindly provided by Kerri Tilby-Price from Exult (helping non-profits grow).

We are often asked how you can massage your project or programme to fit a funder's criteria and the short answer is; you don’t.

There are nearly 1000 different funding avenues available throughout New Zealand, all of which have different combinations of criteria based on project, expense, purpose, beneficiaries, region and any other manner of things. In almost every case, there are far more applications for funds, then there are funds to give away, so they are looking for the best possible fit – not one that kind-of-sort-of fits around the edges.

It is more effective to spend time searching for a handful of ‘great fit’ funders and do your applications really well, than send dozens of applications that are probably not going to be successful anyway. Not only does it waste your time, it wastes their time also.

ENM has a spreadsheet of funders that might provide funding for environmental groups, along with closing dates when known. Email coordinator@enm.org.nz if you would like a copy of this spreadsheet.

To get weekly details of upcoming funding rounds and their criteria, you can subscribe to Tonic Magazine for $99. Email rosie@exult.co.nz for details.

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