Posted on July 25, 2012
Richard Marker offers some great tips to “help funders stay on the right side of right” and allow for the best funder – non-profit- relationship. In his article I especially agree with the point that “funders should hold their grantees to standards of personnel practices which they would expect of a quality run organization, and fund accordingly.” He also writes of funders going on site visits to learn about the organization they are funding but to keep in mind that if it is just mere curiosity about the organization, a site visit may not be the best option since “your very presence will lead a non-profit into the assumption that you are open to a proposal or have made a decision to fund them.” Another important tip Marker gives explains about the “expectations and relationship after the grant is given” and how “there should be more reduced expectations from a small 2 or 3 person start-up” noting that it is “important for funders to set expectations which are proportional to the size of the gift and the abilities of an organization to respond.” This article is beneficial to all funders and grantees and can lend some support onto how to best handle grants and relationships with non-profits.
