1) desired elements that your Circle may seek
in potential grantees (e.g., specific charitable issues of focus such as the
homeless). Your Circle may want to try to identify charities that seek to fund a
pilot, program, project or event that offers something needed, new and beneficial,
or at least worth exploring for the community. Pilot and short-term
programs are particularly beneficial in exploring new areas as they are
limited in budget, size and duration. Some charities might
seek funding for research, advocacy and policy analysis vs. specific and
finite programs and projects. Funding the latter type of organizations
may promote your Circle's goals even more than a myriad of short-term
programs or projects, but you should review closely how such
organizations apply their analysis for the betterment of the community, whether
anyone reads or uses their literature, and how they determine "success"
under grants (i.e., when they know they have accomplished their goal).
Whether longer-term research projects or short-term pilots, it helps to have
your grant applicants articulate success so your Circle knows whether the
grantee has achieved its goals and completed the program or project.
2) requirements that your Circle will need to have/specify
in its request for grants (such as 501c3 status) to be in accordance with
the IRS and any host under which your Circle may be handling its
grant-making.
- Non Profit (Tax Deductible) Status: If your Circle's donations are to be tax deductible, all
grantees must provide you with a copy of their IRS document showing that they are a valid
non-profit organization (any financial host organization with which you may collaborate to handle the grant-making process will require it). A
- Registration to Solicit for Funding: Also, if the
State in which your Circle resides requires that an organization must be
registered in order to solicit funds, make
sure that the grant applicant provides a copy of that document as well.
3) performance history that your Circle may expect or
desire in its grantees.
If your Circle is targeting start-up organizations, you might want to
check out GrantCraft, which offers a guide
for grantmakers called "Working with Startups").
For established applicants, your Circle may want to
identify organizations that either are known publicly for their work or who
can offer or demonstrate some kind of reliable or performance record or
reference. It may take various forms and may again depend on the
grant-making requirements of your host organization:
- Informal Performance Expectations: Your
Circle's performance expectations may simply be an organization that is
known and trusted by the Circle members locally.
- Board of Directors List: Your Circle might
require a list of the grantee's Board or Directors. Some Circles
may prefer that those directors be known and reliable or at least to
have the list on hand for contact should issues arise.
- Program/Project List: Your Circle may like to
see a list of programs and/or projects that the grantee applicant has
completed or in which it is presently engaged.
- Organizational Reference: Lastly, the
performance record could take a a more rigorous form (not commonly
requested) of a list of organizational
references (e.g., a short list of grantmakers who can speak to the
organizations' effectiveness, reliability, financial ability, etc.) This
is a more common practice in the private sector, but it could be
beneficial in the non-profit sector as well to help ensure project
success.
