Most nonprofit organizations start small when it comes to fundraising. Individual gifts and local grants may be all a new organization can hope for in terms of donations. However as an organization grows it should seek out ways to increase it's grant income and expand its means of gaining donor support.

The Right Person For the Job

One very basic way to increase donated income is to hire a development staff member who can concentrate their full time to researching means for growing the organization's funding base. It is difficult to spread out the duties of a development officer into other areas of running the nonprofit and still expect them to be able to take advantage of every opportunity to pursue funding. This is a position that should be left to do what it does best.

Research

Learning what research tools are available for locating the best funding sources is an important way to increase grant income. Organizations like The Foundation Center are overflowing with information and means to track down the best funders for every project. The Foundation Center's website could not possibly have more ways to become better at learning how to increase donated income. It even offers online classes and workshops to educate grant/proposal writers more fully on what funders are looking for.

Other such research sources are the Chronicle of Philanthropy and The Council on Foundations. Both are focused on identifying who's giving what to whom and where they're giving it. It is important for a grant writer to understand exactly what they are asking money for and how far reaching the outcomes of the project will be. If your project is of local interest then a more local/community/state funder is likely the best source of income. If your project could have impact on a national level you will want to look at larger more nationally focused foundations. All of this research is time consuming but in the end it means that you will be asking the right people for the money.

Networking - The People Factor

Hopefully your organization's Board of Trustees is made up of well-connected people who will be indispensable to you as you seek funding. It can be an important step to ask a trustee to speak in support of a project to someone in a decision making position with a foundation. If your trustees don't know anyone directly at the foundation you're interested in they may know someone who does. It's hard to follow the charitable through-line of a project by pieces of paper only. When you connect people to speak directly to one another your project comes across in a more humane way with funders.

Writing Skills

Naturally learning to write excellent grant proposals is key to increasing income. The Foundation Center outlines basic elements that all funders look for:

1. Summary - A clear statement of what your proposal is about.

2. Qualifications - What makes your organization the right on for the project?

3. Statement

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