It sounds contradictory, but grants aren't just given away. In working with non-profit soccer organizations across the country seeking new sources of funding, we've learned that foundation grants aren't for everyone. While ideal for growing the reach of your organization, the foundations and companies who make these grants available are often hard to come by and typically require significant preparation to meet their guidelines. Simply stated, clubs have to "put in the time to get the dime".
For those brave souls willing to commit themselves, let's take a look at some of the steps involved with the acquisition of grants for soccer clubs:
* As always, DO YOUR HOMEWORK: In a perfect world there would be hundreds of organizations and foundations begging soccer clubs to take their grants. Not the case. Instead, it is the soccer organization's job to do the grunt work. The first step is to find that needle in the haystack. Locate and identify companies, organizations, and foundations within the club's community who either have a history of providing grant funds or have the potential to. Two great resources to research potential foundation grant options are the Foundation Center (www.foundationcenter.org), and Foundation Search (www.foundationsearch.com).
Furthermore, youth soccer club leaders must take the initiative to join local chapters of nonprofit professional associations. These are great resources not only for learning more about securing grants, but also for networking with other nonprofits to learn about best practices.
* Get to know the organization or foundation: Let's face it, corporations and foundations are nothing more then groups of individuals…individuals who may be willing to provide your club with money. Wouldn't it seem important to develop a relationship with a prospective foundation in order to convince them that their money is worth donating to a particular club? While it would be difficult to attempt to develop a one-on-one relationship with all 70,000 private foundations in the United States, once a club has geographically narrowed its focus the relationship building process seems a little less lofty.
* Break out the grant writing skills: Now that the hard work of research is in the past, it's time to put the writing skills to the test. Rather than dust-off that old thesis outline, its important to remember these simple keys to writing a grant proposal:
1. Be precise when discussing the club's mission.
2. Show more than just potential; show success.
3. The club must align itself with the foundation or organization in ideals, focus, and interests.
4. Honesty is always the best policy.
* Take a note from "The Little Engine that Could": Not too many things come easy in life and securing foundation funding and grants is no different. Demand vastly outpaces supply in the world of nonprofits and chances are slim a particular club will be successful in its first try. Don't give up! As long as the club is truly passionate about growing and is willing to do the work, there may eventually be a successful grant for you.
Jon Rydarowski is Director of Marketing for Blue Sombrero (www.bluesombrero.com), provider of online registration and club management technology for youth soccer organizations in more than 30 states across the country. Jon is also editor of The Administrator (www.bluesombrero.typepad.com), a weekly e-newsletter and blog focused on the business of running a youth soccer club.