STEP 1: Finding Grants
Start local whenever possible and don’t be afraid to reach out to the grantor before you apply. Sharing a brief overview of your project and asking whether it aligns with their RFP (Request for Proposals) can save you significant time and effort. These early conversations can also help you refine your idea and strengthen your application so it better fits the funder’s priorities.
Candid Letter of Inquiry samples
To find grants:
- Use subscription-based services to access curated grant search databases (see Candid, Instrumentl, and National Council of Nonprofits)
- Search by:
- 1) Subject matter/purpose using Boolean search terms (e.g., disability, Down syndrome, medical outreach, transition, employment)
- 2) Geographic location, such as your city or state
- Search by:
- Partner with others (e.g., your local UCEDD/LEND networks) as a sub-awardee on their grant project
- Google your local area + “grants for non-profits,” looking for .org and .gov websites
- Check your local Council on Developmental Disabilities, which often lists relevant funding opportunities
- Research past awards by:
- Looking at grants received by organizations similar to yours
- Reviewing previous awardees of specific grants to see if they are similar to your organization
STEP 2: Creating Budgets
Once you’ve identified a grant and defined your project, the next step is building a budget that values your staff time and resources without exceeding the funding amount.
Start by identifying the type of grant:
- General operating grants: These typically require only your overall organizational budget
- Project-specific grants: These require a detailed, project-specific budget (see below for budget components, template, and samples)
Budget components:
- Staff costs:
- Base salary × percentage of effort dedicated to the project
- Be realistic about how much time staff will truly spend on grant-related work
- Fringe Benefit Rate:
- Covers costs your organization pays beyond salary (e.g., payroll taxes, health insurance, retirement, etc.)
- Fringe rates may range from 10–25%, depending on your organization
- Direct costs: Expenses directly tied to the project, such as:
- Consultants or subcontracts
- Training
- Printing and shipping
- Travel costs
- Indirect Costs: Expenses for operational costs/overhead such as administrative expenses, rent, utilities, and technology
- Federal minimum rate: In 2024, the federal minimum rate for non-profit indirect costs was raised to 15%. Some funders adopt this rate, while others cap indirect costs. Learn more:
- Consultant: Contractors typically do not receive indirect costs since they should include overhead expenses in their total fee (learn more)
- Subcontract: Sub-awardees may claim indirect costs because they are managing their own staff and operating expenses with a portion of the funds (learn more)
- Budget Justification: While the budget itself is just numbers, the budget justification explains how and why the money will be spent, for example:
- Staff: What each staff member will do with their funded time
- Travel: Transportation, hotels, meals
Candid Proposal Budget samples
STEP 3: Finding Medical Ally Partners & Getting Letters of Support
Having a medical ally (especially one within a hospital system connected to the grant funder) can make an enormous difference. Try to have multiple medical allies across different disciplines, such as a genetic counselor, OB/GYN, pediatrician, or primary care provider, to demonstrate interdisciplinary support.
Letters of support from medical allies can show both the value of your work and your capacity to carry it out successfully. The key is to make the process as easy as possible for your partners. Best practices include:
- Write the letter for them so that it clearly says exactly what you want it to, and let them know they are welcome to edit or personalize it as they see fit.
- Include a few highlighted areas where they can add details about their background, role, or experience working with your organization.
- Make sure that each letter is written differently. To save time, you can instruct AI tools like ChatGPT to rewrite letters in their style by referencing their website or prior writing.
STEP 4: Writing Your Grant Application
Once you’ve identified a grant opportunity, defined your project, and outlined your budget and medical allies, it’s time to bring everything together in the grant proposal!
- Reflect their RFP: Break down exactly what the funder is asking for and explicitly spell out how your project aligns with their stated priorities, using the funder’s own language whenever possible.
- Present data: Provide background context that defines the problem (e.g., the number of babies born with Down syndrome compared to the number of families referred for support) using credible data.
- Lettercase has a list of publications on the need for medical outreach and disability support
- Create templates and boilerplate language: Create a shared document with standard organizational language (e.g., mission, description of programs, relevant data, outcomes, sustainability, staff bios, etc.) so that you aren’t starting from scratch with every application.
- Track grants: Create a dedicated folder for each funder with your grant narrative, budget, letters of support, etc. to stay organized and reapply (or apply to similar grants!) in the future.
- Utilize AI tools (*thoughtfully!): AI can help improve efficiency and reduce grant-writing burden. For example:
- You can input the grant prompts and your core content and ask for a draft narrative
- You can input writing that is over the word limit and ask to trim the word count
- *Make sure to carefully review, fact-check, and edit anything created with AI assistance!
