At the Root: Grant Writing As a Tool For Change
Amplifying the voices of women of color in fundraising and philanthropy, as they share their personal thoughts on relevant topics.
By: Arti Sharma, Founder of Bespoke Writing Firm, LLC and WOC Member
Grant writing can disrupt the conventions of philanthropy—and that is a good thing.
Foundation grantmaking tends to be esoteric for many in the fundraising space. Yet, grant writing is paramount to the overall success of a nonprofit. Even more notably, grant writing is a powerful tool for exposing toxic roots in our society that create the problems philanthropy serves to solve. This is a bold statement, and it comes from someone who is a woman of color and who has spent the majority of her career in this sector of nonprofit fundraising.
To start, grant writing is important because, point blank, there is money on the table.
There are approximately 100,000 private foundations in the United States as of 2020,⑴ and billions of dollars are given away by these entities annually⑵. Foundations must give out 5 percent of their assets⑶, and top foundations have very recently shown their willingness to give more than the established 5 percent,⑷ with data indicating that foundation giving continues on a trajectory of further increase.⑸ As such, there is already funding available; but in order to get a slice from this sector’s philanthropic-giving pie, grant submissions—and ipso facto grant writing—are required.
However, there is something more potent in the grant writing process than the dollars it brings: grant writing – with its advocacy-centered, data-driven, research-based approach – is a vital tool in the movement to humanize fundraising, shedding light on systemic issues within our communities and helping to institute change at the root.
Currently, the environment of philanthropy is ripe for understanding the importance of comprehensive context and dynamics, especially when it comes to disparities stemming from the effects of colonization and racism. As such, there is no better time than now to embrace the art of grant writing, which can empower the stakeholders of a mission – donors, nonprofits, and those impacted – to not only identify the deep seated issues causing the problems that the sector is trying to address, but to also cultivate an outcome that delivers actual systemic change.
While it would be an egregious distortion to say that grant writing will obliterate inequities in our society, the process of grant writing is structured to serve as a tool to illuminate a path forward.
Yet, grant writing’s potential is grossly under-utilized. Rather, organizations seem to cling to outdated, decontextualized messages of impact that reduce those they serve to numbers and do not confront underlying issues, causing unintended harm⑹. Caliopy Glaros, for example, elaborates on these harms and how oversimplified service-delivery impact stories can further marginalize communities in her Philanthropy Without Borders article, “Exploitation in Fundraising Communications: 5 Critiques.”
Throughout my own experiences, I’ve encountered donor-centric content captured with a narrow lens. This may look, in a very exaggerated form, something like this:
Your support fed 100 hungry minority families in the impoverished section of the community.
The result is, at its best, a reminder that a mission is at work and donors make that possible. At its worst, this stands as a statement glaringly devoid of context, thus suppressing stories of those being served and the vitally relevant dynamics and perspectives. But, what if it was communicated that the 100 hungry families are in impoverished communities because a pandemic forced them to close their minority-owned small businesses, which made up the bulk of their assets as they do not have generational wealth? What if we knew that the local grocery store shut down due to prolonged winter-storm outages for which electrical agencies and companies did not prepare, and the lack of influential representation led instead to prioritization of resources to bordering gentrified communities, turning the neighborhood into a food desert?⑺ These are relevant details that provide insight on what caused the need; there is more at play than poverty impacting minority families.⑻ Skilled grant writers understand the importance of this kind of context. And, if organizations utilize it, they can help dismantle the structures that keep systemic issues in place.
It’s important to note that we are at a critical point in philanthropy: we must ensure that a moment of awakening transitions into a movement of lasting change. While it would be an egregious distortion to say that grant writing will obliterate inequities in our society, the process of grant writing is structured to serve as a tool to illuminate a path forward. Therefore, I urge organizations to invest in grant writing with a deeper intention: to look beyond the number of grant submissions and cultivate its power to disrupt the cycle of imbalance and move the narrative of philanthropy beyond the surface level—for the betterment of humanity.
⑴ Candid. (2020, April). Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations.
⑵ Candid. (2020, April). Key Facts on U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations.
⑶ Mindell, R. (2021, February 25). Grantmaking Trends & Insight from 8 Experts [Innovative Giving Part 1]. Submittable Blog.
⑷ Mindell, R. (2021, February 25). Grantmaking Trends & Insight from 8 Experts [Innovative Giving Part 1]. Submittable Blog.
⑸ Giving USA 2020: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2019, a publication of Giving USA Foundation, 2020, researched and written by the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.
⑹ Glaros, C. (2020, September 22). Exploitation in Fundraising Communications: 5 Critiques. Philanthropy without Borders.
⑺ Glaros, C. (2020, September 22). Exploitation in Fundraising Communications: 5 Critiques. Philanthropy without Borders.
⑻ Glaros, C. (2020, September 22). Exploitation in Fundraising Communications: 5 Critiques. Philanthropy without Borders.
Arti Sharma, Founder of Bespoke Writing Firm, LLC
Arti Sharma is a WOC member and the Founder of Bespoke Writing Firm, LLC, which combines her eight-plus years of successful private foundation grant writing with her knack for persuasive narrative and creative writing. Bespoke provides strategic guidance regarding foundation nonprofit fundraising and develops comprehensive donor-cycle plans tailor-made to each foundation donor. Arti is a recent graduate of WOC’s inaugural Radiant Leadership Institute cohort.
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