What we wish funders knew
I’m taking a break from my series (“Are grants even worth my time?”) to vent a little.
Do you remember that skit on Family Guy where Peter Griffin is invited to do a segment on the local news? It’s called “What really grinds my gears,” which supposedly allows Peter to “rant about petty, nonsensical irritants.” (My favorite in this series is when Peter says he can’t find the droids he’s looking for, and the cartoon cuts to two stormtroopers. One says, “Yeah, me, too. What gives with that?!”)
You know what really grinds my gears? When funders send a budget form in Word format instead of Excel. Which means I’ll have to have an Excel version of the budget form to be sure my math adds correctly… and I’ll have to import that information back into Word. What could go wrong?
How about requiring the middle name of a development staffer? What, do you plan to apply for a credit card in her name?
Ooh, here’s a favorite: you’ll submit this grant application form by email, but all the really lengthy attachments need to be printed and hand-delivered. Oh, and make sure you make one copy set for each of the 10 trustees, collated and with a table of contents.
And don’t even get me started on the 200+ pages of the federal government’s Uniform Guidance, which you need to read and understand to be sure you’re complying with all the laws and regulations for your federal funds (and, very likely, your state and regional funds, since federal funding gets funneled down).
The thing is, these issues aren’t petty and nonsensical, like Peter Griffin’s. Nor are they even the tip of the iceberg.
The time spent by grant professionals and development teams on these minor (but time-consuming) details means using real resources (time, money) that could be going instead to serve organizations’ missions. And since funders often go out of their way not to fund general operating expenses (a whole. other. post.), the requirements funders put in place around their applications and reports mean that organizations have less time to work on the funded projects and programs. This also speaks directly to equity: under-resourced organizations can’t afford to spend time and money on these cumbersome opportunities, so they continue to bootstrap their way to funding.
I stumbled on Fix the Form recently, which is an effort by GrantAdvisor.org to reduce the mind-numbing paperwork required by funders. As I read through their list of priorities, it opened my eyes: it’s not just me out here complaining about this! And folks are doing something about it!
If you had the ears of your funders, what would you say?
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Cover photo by Cut in a Moment on Unsplash