Not the End of the Road

It is a problem to think that submitting a grant application and then getting a no means the end of the road. You invest your resources, align your team, and put your heart into the process, only to come up short. And when that happens, it is frustrating.

We had a client whose funder had supported them for over five years. Year after year, they received funding, and then this year, after submitting their application, they did not get it. They were perplexed. It is hard not to take that personally.

At Guide on the Side, we often talk about the 60/40 perspective. Sixty percent of your success comes from getting the application right and forty percent comes from trying something new through the conversations you have. A no can open the door to powerful conversations with funders. These conversations let you understand why a funder or their board said no and give insights that can shape your organization in unexpected ways.

One example comes from a client who submitted a grant to a funder who seemed genuinely moved by their work. After reading the application, the funder said no. We facilitated a conversation to understand why. The funder explained they had grown up in an entrepreneurial system and valued a clear framework for measuring impact. They felt our client’s application did not communicate that.

This was an opportunity to level up a social impact nonprofit by learning from a funder’s perspective and striking the right balance between evaluating programs in a humanistic way and demonstrating measurable impact. After revising the application based on that feedback, our client applied again and successfully closed the grant.

Foundations do surprising things like this all the time. We have seen clients receive more funding than they requested or secure multi-year grants when they initially applied for just one. These opportunities often emerge when your outreach is grounded in curiosity, intent, and a desire to create real impact together.

A grant no is not a dead end. It is a doorway. Especially in this moment in history, the organizations that will win the hearts of their future funders are those that engage in conversations leading to deeper insights and greater impact.