The Five Factors of "Fit"

By Maureen Terese McCarthy

Grants professionals talk a lot about finding a "good fit" for a proposal. What does that mean? How do you do it? Use these five criteria to determine whether a funding opportunity is right for you.

1. Mission 

A funders wants to advance their own mission. As the applicant, you need to demonstrate how your project will contribute to the advancement of the mission of the funding organization. A "good fit" is therefore when your goals align with the goals of the funder. For example, if your project will provide 100 winter coats to kids in Toronto, a good fit would be to approach a foundation whose mission includes serving Canadian youth or one that aims to provide basic needs to individuals in the Toronto area. 

2. Approach

Sometimes, even though there seems to be mission alignment with an organization, the approach or strategy of the funder is not aligned with your own. For example, the mission of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is "to create a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life." Providing coats to kids in Toronto may align with that mission statement, but Gates focuses on a Global Grand Challenge strategy whereby the foundation invests in organizations and teams tackling the root causes of global issues such as disease and poverty.  Although your coat project is worthy and mission-aligned, it would not match with the foundation's approach.

3. Audience

A good funding fit aligns with the populations served by the project you are proposing. For example, a Boston-area community foundation may support projects providing winter coats to youth--but only in Boston. A Toronto-based foundation may provide basic services to Toronto residents---who are seniors. Double checking the geographic and demographic targets of a funder will save time and heartache. 

The other vector of constituency to consider is who is eligible to apply for grants from the organization. What I like to call your funding best bets are those opportunities where you and your organization are part of a small group of eligible applicants, for example, a professional association to which you belong, or a religious organization with which you are affiliated. 

4. Budget

It is important to find grant opportunities or funding programs where the award amounts align with the scale of your organization's need.  If you need $5,000 to purchase coats, you should not apply for a federal grant with a maximum budget of $2 million, even though you might be eligible. The time it would take to apply for the grant would not be worth the return on your investment, and a $5,000 ask is unlikely to be funded in a $2 million program, because the scale of the program is misaligned. Look for funding where the funder's investment level matches your impact. 

5. Timeline

Finally, the practical limitations of time can affect a grant opportunity's fit. If you need funds to run a program planned 3 months in the future, a grant that will release funds 12 months from now may not be the best option.  If  you find the perfect program, but the grant application is due tomorrow and you have meetings scheduled all day, you may have to add a reminder to your calendar to try again next cycle. 

When all five of these criteria match up, you've found your perfect funding fit! How does your team assess fit when it comes to funding opportunities?