The Language of Grants

Writing effective nonprofit funding requests and for-profit contract bids (RFP responses) takes time, patience, and an understanding of the terminology of grant applications. Carefully studying and practicing your Grantlish — the language of grants — can give you a huge boost when you sit down to put your ideas on paper.

Any funding source you approach will have questions about your legal authority to apply for a grant award. After all, you need to prove that you're not just someone who's decided to call yourself an organization and start asking for grant money. Although the wording may vary slightly from one application to another, the cover documents and narratives of grant applications and cooperative agreements all ask for the same basic information.

Don't hesitate to call the funding source for assistance if you have any questions this or any portion of the application.

The basic qualifications you're asked to provide probably will include the following:

Legal name of organization applying: Be sure to list your organization's legal name here. For charitable organizations, the legal name is the one that appears on their IRS 501 (c)(3) letter of nonprofit determination. If you're a nonprofit organization, attach your IRS letter to prove your nonprofit status. For cities, townships, villages, and county units of government, which have a different classification of nonprofit status, the legal name is the incorporated name.

Type of applicant: Select the appropriate applicant category on federal and state grant applications and cooperative agreements. The list usually includes the following choices: state, county, municipal, township, interstate, intermunicipal, special district, independent school district, public college or university, Indian Tribe, individual, private, profit-making organization, and other (specify).

Most grant opportunities and cooperative agreements are earmarked for nonprofit organizations. If yours is a for-profit, call the funding source first to see whether your organization is eligible. If it isn't, look for an eligible partner to act as the fiscal agent.

If an organization is waiting on nonprofit designation, it's common to partner with a nonprofit to act as the fiscal agent.

Year founded: Enter the year that your organization incorporated or was created.

Current operating budget: Supply the applicant organization's operating budget total for the current fiscal year.

When it comes to money, supply information that portrays the truth and nothing but the truth!

Employer identification number and DUNS number: This portion of the form asks for the seven-digit EIN (employer identification number) assigned to your organization by the Internal Revenue Service. The EIN is also called a taxpayer reporting number.

Dunn & Bradstreet

The DUNS Number is a unique nine-digit identification sequence that provides unique identifiers of single business entities while linking corporate family structures together.

Organization's fiscal year: Indicate the 12-month time frame that your organization considers to be its operating year. The fiscal year is defined by the organization's bylaws and can correspond with the calendar year or some other period, such as June 1 to May 31.

Congressional districts: On a federal grant application, you need to list all the congressional districts in which your organization is located and your grant-funded services will be implemented. You can get this information by calling the public library.

Knowing and developing ties with representatives in Washington and at your state capitol is critical. You always need friends in high places.

Contact person information: Name the primary contact in your organization for grant or cooperative agreement negotiations, questions, and written correspondence.

Not all executive directors run programs on a daily basis or have the right answers about information in the grant application. Make your contact person an individual who helped write the grant and who's quick enough on her feet to answer tough technical questions from the funder, especially by phone. Keep the Executive Director abreast of grant-related developments.

Address: Provide the current street and/or mailing address for the applicant organization. Never use a post office box as your only address; doing so makes it appear that your organization isn't a permanent one.

Telephone/fax/e-mail information: List the contact person's telephone and fax numbers (with area code) as well as her e-mail address. Before sending off your application, double-check your typed entries; transposing numbers is all too easy — and then you wonder why no one calls!