Most rejected proposals are decided before anyone reads the narrative. The funder already has a pattern of what it gives, how much, to whom, and in which neighborhoods. A small nonprofit that ignores that pattern ends up writing a strong case for a program the funder was never going to support. That pattern is usually public. Reading it takes a few hours, and those hours cost far less than a 20-hour application with no chance of success.
The worksheet below is built for small shops: a one- or two-person development team in Broward or Alameda County, or an executive director in Miami-Dade or Marin who also writes the grants. Work through it one funder at a time. Keep your notes in a single document so the next prospect takes half as long.
Step 1: Copy the Funder's Own Language
Open the funder's guidelines, strategic plan, or grantmaking page. Then write down, word for word, the phrases it uses to describe what it funds. Don't paraphrase. The exact vocabulary matters because reviewers score against it.
First 5 Contra Costa is a clean example. Its Building Blocks Mini Grants support services and programs for children and families during the first five years of life. Applicants also have to align with the agency's Strategic Plan. That second requirement is the real filter. Most proposals can say the program helps young children. A competitive one shows exactly which Strategic Plan goal it advances.
Worksheet entries: - Three to five phrases the funder uses about its priorities, copied verbatim - The planning document it points to (strategic plan, impact framework, community needs report) - One sentence explaining which of those priorities your program serves. If you can't write that sentence honestly, stop here.
Step 2: Pull at Least Three Years of Actual Grants
Stated priorities tell you what a funder wants to fund. Past grants tell you what it actually funds, and the two don't always match. For private foundations, the grants list appears on the IRS Form 990-PF, in the section listing grants paid during the year. Community foundations and corporate charities often publish grantee lists in annual reports or on their websites. Public agencies typically post award lists after a cycle closes.
Build a simple spreadsheet with one row per grant and these columns:
- Grantee name and city or county
- Grant amount
- Purpose line (program support, general operating, capital, event)
- Year
- Repeat grantee? (yes/no)
Then run four quick calculations:
- Median grant size. Use the median, not the average. One large capital gift can distort the average badly.
- Share of grants inside your county. A funder whose grants list skews heavily toward Palm Beach County is telling you something if you're based in Miami-Dade, even if its guidelines say "South Florida."
- Share of first-time grantees. If almost every grantee repeats year after year, new applicants face a relationship barrier. Plan a longer runway: a site visit, a smaller first request, or an introduction from a current grantee.
- Share by purpose. If general operating support barely appears, don't write a general operating request.
To skip some of the manual 990 work, you can analyze past awardees and award trends for regional funders and check your spreadsheet against them.
Step 3: Read the Eligibility Fine Print Line by Line
Giving patterns include rules as well as dollars. Small nonprofits often miss the rules that quietly disqualify them.
Marin County's funding opportunities for nonprofits and community organizations show how much a short eligibility paragraph can contain. Our data lists the following:
- An advertised range of $1,000 to $50,000. This is a listing limit, not a typical award.
- Eligibility for 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) organizations, tax-exempt community-based organizations, or groups with a tax-exempt fiscal agent or sponsor
- A requirement to serve Marin County residents fairly and inclusively
- A preference for locally based organizations
- One request per organization
Each line changes your strategy. The fiscal sponsor option opens the door to a grassroots group that doesn't yet have its own determination letter. The local preference means a Bay Area organization headquartered outside Marin needs to document its Marin presence: staff, sites, and residents served. The one-request rule forces a decision. If you have three programs, you submit your strongest, not all three. No deadline is listed in our data, so confirm timing directly with the county.
Worksheet entries: - Legal structures accepted, and whether yours qualifies today - Geographic requirement or preference, plus your evidence of local presence - Request limits (number of applications, amount ceiling) - Any documents you would need to produce, such as an audit, board list, or fiscal sponsor agreement
This is the point where readiness gaps show up. If you find a missing document, it's worth knowing now rather than the week of the deadline, and you can check your eligibility against a funder's requirements before you commit time to a draft.
Step 4: Map Every Door, Not Just the Grant Application
A funder's giving pattern often includes support that never appears on a grants list. For a small organization, these side doors can be the best way to start a relationship.
Marin Community Foundation runs two programs that fit this description:
- A Catchafire partnership matches nonprofits with skilled volunteer professionals in marketing, fundraising, strategic planning, graphic design, and IT. Projects range from one-hour consultations to longer engagements.
- A sponsorship request form for Marin County nonprofits seeking sponsorship of fundraising events.
In South Florida, the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties publishes its grantmaking for nonprofits page alongside FAQs and guidance on publicizing a grant once it's awarded. Read the FAQs before anything else. Funders write them to answer the questions they're tired of fielding, so the answers reveal what trips up applicants most often.
Publix Super Markets Charities' Request Support page appears in our Miami-Dade data. We've tagged it under food security, housing, youth development, education, and community development. That spread of categories is a starting point. To understand the giving pattern, check which of those areas actually show up among recent grantees in your county. Neither the Palm Beach nor the Publix listing has a deadline in our data, so confirm timing with each funder.
Worksheet entries: - Non-grant support offered (capacity building, sponsorships, convenings, technical assistance) - FAQ items that apply to your organization - Post-award expectations, such as publicity, reporting, and recognition
Step 5: Score the Fit Before You Write a Word
Now turn your notes into a decision. Score each item from 0 to 2:
- Priority match: Does your program advance a stated priority in the funder's own words?
- Size match: Is your request close to the funder's median grant, not its maximum?
- Geography match: Does the funder actually give in your county, based on its grants list rather than its guidelines alone?
- Purpose match: Does it fund the type of support you're requesting?
- Openness: Does it regularly fund first-time grantees, or do you have a warm introduction?
- Eligibility: Do you meet every hard requirement today?
A total of 10 to 12 means write the proposal. A score of 6 to 9 means build the relationship first: ask for a call, use a non-grant door, or make a smaller first request. Anything under 6 means move on, however tempting the dollar figure.
Apply one rule without exception. A zero on eligibility ends the evaluation, whatever the total.
Fill In One Worksheet Before Your Next Proposal
Pick the funder you were planning to approach next, and complete Steps 1 through 5 before you open a proposal template. Most small nonprofits that try this find at least one prospect they should drop and one they should approach differently. Both findings save real hours. When you're ready to build the next row of your prospect list, search regional and county funding opportunities filtered to your county, and run the top result through the same five steps.