An ENGO’s grants strategy should not rely on winning one big grant—and I have a number to prove it.
In 2016, 41% of environmental grants in Canada were for under $5,000.
The Canadian Environmental Grantmakers’ Network has been tracking the distribution of grant sizes over the years, and it’s been a relatively consistent spread. In 2014, 46% of grants awarded to environmental initiatives were valued at $5,000 or less, and in 2016 it was 41%. Meanwhile, only 6% were for over $100,000.
This means it’s far more likely that your organization will need to piece together multiple smaller grants and report out to multiple funders.
No one said that this system is particularly efficient. In fact, it can be especially onerous for smaller organizations to apply for and report on multiple grants (but you can ask for help from folks like me!)
But knowing this will help your organization develop a realistic grants strategy, with a mix of grants and grant sizes, putting you in a better position to use your grant writing resources most efficiently.
Tiffany Hilman 