About Foundation Relations & Grant Development
Michelle Whiting & Associates’ philosophy on Foundation Relations and Grant Development is simple: whenever possible, know your funder. For over 20 years, MW&A has cultivated relationships and worked closely with foundations and grant making personnel throughout the country.
Many consulting firms simply mail out grant requests without establishing a relationship with the funder, which unfortunately, makes an application “just another proposal” in the pile. By building relationships, funders are more inclined to recognize — or expect — an organization’s proposal and understand the rationale behind the request. This is what sets MW&A apart, our ongoing relationships with some of the top funders in the nation, and diligent preparation of each specific grant.
MW&A offers two independent or integrated ways to grow your Foundation revenue:
Potential Funders Outreach
- MW&A quickly works with clients to assess the greatest programmatic or operational funding needs.
- We reach out to our contacts — the potential institutional funders whose funding focus intersects with the client’s funding need (including general and unrestricted operating support, initiative based and traditional capital campaigns, and program support.)
- The result is a comprehensive report of what funders want to see from your organization, how much they are considering for funding, and when they want to receive your proposal.
This process becomes a blueprint for successfully engaging new institutional funders — locally, regionally, and nationally. Statistically, MW&A clients have between a 22-38 percent funding rate based on our Potential Funders Outreach projects.
Proposal Development
- Together, MW&A’s team has a combined 35 years of Foundation grant writing experience. This includes developing a wide range of concept papers, letters of introduction, full proposals and complex grant applications.
- Please visit the Grants Awarded page to see our history of successful grants and our clients.
When a client elects to integrate these strategies MW&A will establish a mutually agreed upon number of new Foundation funding sources, then, with great attention to detail, develop the proposals tailored to meet each funder’s specific proposal requirements.