136: Nonprofit ROI: 5 Tips to Stay Relevant to Funders and Win More Grants - by Teresa Huff

<h2 dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Join me on the Fast Track to Grant Writer: <a href= "https://www.teresahuff.com/vip">www.teresahuff.com/vip</a></span></h2> <h2 dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The ROI of Grant Writing</span></h2> <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">In my recent TEDx Talk, I talked about the <a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYrEdgN2LwM">Real ROI of Grant Writing</a>. In the business world, ROI means Return on Investment, but it’s a different mindset in the world of grants. We’re talking about a Return on Impact. In today’s podcast episode, I’ll tell you more about the R in the ROI of grant writing and how knowing this can save you frustration and time so you can write more proposals. </span></p> <h2 dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">What is the ROI Framework?</span></h2> <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Funders need to know they will get a Return on Impact for investing in your nonprofit. This means you need to convince the funder that your nonprofit is Relevant, Optimized, and Interacting in meaningful ways. </span></p> <p dir="ltr"><strong><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ROI of Grant Writing: </span></strong></p> <ul> <li dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12pt;" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style= "font-size: 12pt;">Relevant</span></p> </li> <li dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12pt;" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style= "font-size: 12pt;">Optimized</span></p> </li> <li dir="ltr" style="font-size: 12pt;" aria-level="1"> <p dir="ltr" role="presentation"><span style= "font-size: 12pt;">Interacting</span></p> </li> </ul> <h2 dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">5 Steps to Evaluate Relevance</span></h2> <p dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">One question I wish more nonprofits would consider is, “How do I know if my organization is relevant?” I recommend the following five steps to determine if and how  your organization is relevant to the community, the funders, and the grants you are applying fo