By Robyn Zimmann Senior Consultant at Cain Nonprofit Solutions It’s that time of year when all the annual fund letters from various organizations are starting to pile up on my desk. What have I already done this year? Turns out I’m part of the herd – according to a new study by data axle,…
The National Endowment for the Arts (or “NEA”, for short) is the Federal funding agency for arts and culture organizations in the United States. They have several grant opportunities each year and most arts nonprofits usually want a piece of that pie. Of course, whether or not you actually get a piece depends on…
All grant proposals are different. Some have strict requirements and lengthy lists of questions. Others ask very few questions and don’t require much in the way of hard metrics. But regardless of what type of proposals you may be working on at this moment in time, there is one thing I can say with certainty:…
Lately, I’ve engaged in multiple conversations with fellow grant professionals and colleagues in the nonprofit space about the issues and challenges facing our country right now. From #MeToo to BLM to COVID-19 to the 2020 election, many things are changing and evolving in our world. And of course, that means changes to the nonprofit sector,…
This past March, COVID-19 shut down much of the country and arts and culture organizations with it since you can’t really fill concert halls, theaters, museums, and classrooms without putting your patrons (and staff) at risk. But now it’s August, and rather than seeing the improvement and steady re-opening that many of us originally…
During the Coronavirus quarantine, I’ve lost track of how many Skype calls and Zoom webinars I’ve participated in, but let’s just say it’s a lot. Some have been client calls. Some have been calls with colleagues. And some have been webinars from grantmakers and other grant pros. The latter calls have actually been the…
Candid’s Foundation Directory Online (often called ‘FDO’, for short) is one of the many available options for conducting online grants research and creating a grant strategy. However, in order to use it you must have a subscription and that, of course, costs money. So I often hear from many of my readers and subscribers…
Things are incredibly strange and scary right now. Everything seems uncertain, our routines, have been upended, and on top of it all most of us are worried about the wellbeing of our organizations as well. As you probably know, most of my clients and readers come from nonprofits in the arts and culture…
In January, most of us are full of optimism and plans for the year ahead. That’s great, but as the year rolls along and builds up steam most of us start to be pulled in lots of different directions. You have needs, your family has needs, and you still have goals you need to…
Say goodbye to 2019 and hello to 2020. This year promises to bring big things in a variety of arenas – politics, science, and technology, just to name a few. But I also hope that it will usher in great successes and milestones for YOU personally and professionally as well as for the organization…