An Easy New Way to Connect with Grantmakers…

Spokes Members can now connect grant research and personal relationships through LinkedIn

The most successful grants are always the ones that come as the result of a personal connection with the granting organization. But, making a personal connection can be much more challenging than writing a compelling narrative. What’s a grantwriter to do?

Never fear! Foundation Directory Online has the perfect solution for you!

Foundation Directory Online just announced a partnership with LinkedIn that will allow you to quickly and easily identify personal connections between your board members and key staff members of granting organizations. Spokes Members can simply log onto Foundation Directory Online, select a foundation, view its profile, and look for the LinkedIn logo to see who in your network knows someone at the foundation.

In order to take full advantage of this new system, be sure to establish an organization profile on LinkedIn and connect each of your board members with it. That way, you’ll be able to immediately see any connections between your team and the grantmaker’s team.

Once you do find a connection, ask the connected board member to send an outreach letter to introduce your organization to the foundation. (This is a great strategy for reaching out to foundations that don’t accept uninvited grant applications, as well.) Find a sample outreach letter here.

Don’t know what Foundation Directory Online is? It’s THE premiere grants research database with more than 140,000 grant makers profiled, including many that don’t have websites and are challenging to find. Foundation Directory Online now also includes government grants, too! A one-year subscription to Foundation Directory Online costs $1,500, but Spokes members receive free access. Call our office to reserve one of our Foundation Directory Online computer terminals in San Luis Obispo and Santa Maria or see if you qualify for a remote pass and start securing new grants today!