Top 13 tips to steward your nonprofit grant funder relationship

The relationship with your funder does not end after signing the grant agreement, receipting the check, or even final reporting. 

How you care for that relationship after you get funded has a significant impact on how funders perceive you and how they speak to you to others. And yes, they do talk to others about you.

While you must acknowledge their support, communicate with them often, and help them to see that they made a wise investment in you, there are things that you can do both immediately after the award and even post-award that go above and beyond.

Let’s face it; institutional funders are people too, and thus, the same principles of stewardship of donors apply here just as well.

Here are some things you can do to steward grant funder relationships beyond the basics. 

1. Call them as soon as you get notified of the award to thank them. 
2. Send a handwritten notecard, thanking them for their consideration.
3. Have the program person send a note sometime later to share their excitement
4. Have a beneficiary share how the work is impacting their life
5. Invite the funder to take a tour of the space where you have put their money to use.
6. Capture the funded work on video and send it to the funder, demonstrating the impact
7. Have beneficiaries share their stories in a video or card
8. Send several quotes from beneficiaries on a flyer.
9. Invite funder to participate in a focus group or an advisory capacity
10. Invite funder as guests to an organizational event and give them tickets to share with others
11. Share periodic updates by email, phone, etc., and include challenges and delays as well as good news.
12. Even after the grant is over, continue to update how their support is making a difference.
13. Share your product with the funder, such as a snippet from your performance.

Please don’t make the funder believe that once you get the grant, it is all over! Prove how vital their funding and your relationship are to those you serve. Prove this by being intentional and strategic and by going above and beyond. It’s easy to neglect this important relationship once you have the check, but by using some of the above tips, you will stand “head and shoulders above the rest!”

Consider grabbing a copy of my Best Practices In Social Media that include the different types of posts you should be using and a suggested weekly calendar.

Development Consulting Solutions has a team of experts who can meet your needs by serving as your grant reviewer, grants researcher, proposal template developer, and ongoing grant writer.  Check out our list of grant writing services here.  Contact us today to discuss your grant writing needs.

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