There are many paths towards making a difference in the world with your philanthropy. You might start your own nonprofit or advocate for something you believe in. Probably the most common path donors take–which this question addresses directly–is funding nonprofits.
If you choose this path, it is important to acknowledge that it is that they–not you–who are on the ground, doing most (if not all) of the heaviest lifting. So it’s really not much of a stretch to say that your single most important job is choosing your grantees wisely, then doing everything you can to help them deliver the best possible results.
How to do this? It might be helpful to break it down into two big pieces: the “what” you do with your grantees (what we call the “Six S’s of Grantmaking”), which includes a number of activities, namely:
How do I find a set of organizations I might want to support?
How do I research and evaluate organizations I might fund (some call this “due diligence”)?
How much money should I give to any one organization, and how should that money be given? For example, should I give it all at once, or make funding contingent on results? Should I attach any restrictions to my funding?
How do I–and any advisors, staff, or family members–make the final "go/no go" funding decision?
How might I support grantees beyond just writing a check?
Should I continue to fund my grantees? For how long?
Case Studies
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The Bridgespan Group
According to Steven Rothstein, president of the Perkins School for the Blind, if it takes a village to raise a child, then it takes a “big village” to raise a child with disabilities. It also takes a donor with a special kind of focus, patience, and willingness to learn.
Articles
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The Bridgespan Group
If you can check many of these markers off your Monday morning to-do list, then you’re probably well on your way to giving smart.
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The Bridgespan Group
This guide will help you make better grant decisions more quickly. Some call this process “due diligence”—learning enough about the results, leadership, financials, and operations of an organization to make the right investment decision, while respecting the limited time of its busy leaders.
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The Bridgespan Group
Developing an effective relationship with your grantees, one that each of you might honestly characterize as a partnership, is not all that different from developing any other healthy human relationship.
Deeper Dives
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The Bridgespan Group
Many nonprofit leaders seek reliable funding but are not sure how best to pursue it. Well-meaning donors can unintentionally exacerbate the problem, stating that they want to promote grantee sustainability but then pursuing grantmaking practices that undermine this goal. New research from Bridgespan offers a road map for nonprofits to identify and develop the right funding model, and donors can help with this process.
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Grantmakers for Effective organizations and ASF
Offers support in communicating your grantmaking decisions to nonprofits
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Center for Effective Philanthropy
Explores what grantees value in their relationships with program officers and identifies four keys to success. Five high-performing program officers share their stories.
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GrantCraft
Sharing your grantmaking decisions with grantees can get complicated. This guide offers some basic rules to help you say "yes" and "no" to grantees.