After you establish that there is a good fit, then the relationship building becomes a continuous process that begins before you write the proposal and spans many years—yes, years! Good communication with your funders should never end, even though you may stop receiving grants from them. Once a relationship exists, funders like to receive progress reports about how the organization or program they funded is doing. They may also take an interest in other fundable ideas that your organization has developed. See what other grantmakers have to say about this:

Many funders offer grantseekers the option of contacting them via e-mail with questions and funding inquiries. Some grantmakers even provide direct e-mail access to their program officers from their websites; others may have an “info@” e-mail that is routed to the appropriate staff person after review. In either case, e-mail is a valuable tool for stimulating further, more meaningful, contact because it provides you with an opportunity to briefly introduce yourself, your organization, and the program needing funding and at the same time it gives the program officer the time he needs to review your information and respond. E-mail is far less demanding for program officers than a phone call and less wasteful than paper documents. The key is to keep it brief! You can also request an in-person meeting or time for a phone conversation in your e-mail, which then provides the funder with options for communicating with you.

Before you telephone a funder to describe your idea, be prepared. The person with whom you speak may have only a short time for a conversation, and you need to be ready to provide the highlights of your organization’s program within a ten- to fifteen-minute conversation. This time frame includes the time it may take for the person to ask for clarification of your points. Remember that you are not selling your organization’s program to a funder; you are attempting to make a connection between the program and the funding institution’s interest areas. You are also building a long-term relationship with the funder and with this particular representative, so listening carefully to the funder’s needs and providing information the funder wants is extremely important.

More funders are starting to request a letter of inquiry (or LOI) as the first step in their funding process. An LOI provides the funder with a “sneak peek” at your organization, target audience, and prospective program, without requiring the grantseeker to develop a full proposal at this early stage. After the funder has reviewed the information in your organization’s LOI, you may or may not be invited to submit a full proposal. Even though an LOI is a preliminary step, you should treat it as a vital part of relationship building. It is an integral first interaction of what you hope to be many interactions with the funder. If you are asked to submit an LOI, check to see if the funder has specific LOI guidelines. If it does not, the following list suggests what information to include, as a general rule:

Many grantseekers dream of having face-to-face meetings with prospective funders prior to submitting a proposal because they want to get not only clarification from the funders on key issues but also an opportunity to “prime the pump” and get the grantmakers excited about the program even before they receive the proposal. Unfortunately, preproposal funder meetings are few and far between, because funders simply cannot accommodate every nonprofit’s request for them. Additionally, some funders are leery of these meetings because they do not want to raise unrealistic funding expectations in grantseekers. Managing grantseeker expectations is of the utmost importance to the vast majority of funders: they certainly want to encourage the submission of proposals for programs meeting their interest areas, but they do not want to raise false hope at the same time. Remember, every foundation and corporate grantmaker has a limited amount of funding available for grants every year. That said, if you know someone who already has a strong relationship with a funder, this individual may be able to help you set up a meeting. After doing your funder research, think about whom you know who may also know your organization’s prospective funders. Understand also that any early meeting you may get with the grantmaker will be very preliminary and in no way ensures that your nonprofit will receive funds from this source.

Letter of Inquiry Review Questions