We often have excellent “if only” or “what
if” ideas, but then we get stumped about where to go from there. The best way
to move forward is to break the task into stages and address each in order. The
first question is, what do you want to accomplish?
Here’s how it works. You decide you want to
reduce tobacco smoking. Great! But that’s too big for one project. You need to
narrow it down. First consider how big of a project you and your organization
can handle. One large organization could probably manage a project costing up
to $1 million. A smaller group may need to limit aspirations to a $100,000-$250,000
project. I wrote a public health grant for a group of organizations applying
together to make a big impact in one city, and the project was awarded more
than $7 million. That was because they had a clear plan, clear goals, and
enough feet on the ground to get the proposed work done.
You’ve decided your organization can handle a
medium sized project, in the $250,000 range. Could be more, could be less, but
that’s a starting point for both your plan and your efforts to find funding. Since
you can’t do everything, you must narrow your focus. This decision should be
tightly connected to your organization’s mission. Your other programs have
primarily adult clients, so you will likely want to focus on adults, not
juveniles. That’s your expertise. Do you want to reduce smoking in public
places? In job environments? Or would you rather design a person-based program
rather than a location based one?
Your adult programs focus on helping
individuals change behaviors; you provide psychological counseling, money
management guidance, and transition from welfare to work assistance. It would
make sense to focus on the individual, rather than public policy.
Now you have it! You want to reduce smoking
in adults through counseling and behavioral management, which utilizes your
established areas of expertise. You want to design a program with a budget cap
of around $250,000, which fits the size and capacity of your organization. It’s
time to use that information to find an organization that wants to accomplish
the same thing within that budget limit. It’s time to find a funder.
