The best relationships between a foundation and nonprofit are long lasting. This involves years of sharing in the success and accomplishment of the nonprofit’s mission with the foundation’s goals. Many times, this is a challenge to achieve.

Foundation members want to tell their stakeholders how they helped the nonprofit. Staff on the nonprofit want to tell board members how they got money. Both organizations may have a shared belief in the mission, but the goal becomes to promote themselves.

While foundations and nonprofits should use the grant process to self-promote, the mission can become a lower priority. Egos get involved.

People want credit for their efforts. They want others to know they accomplished something positive. While self-promotion provides motivation, the mission should not be lost in the bragging.

Of course, there can be success with only egos. I experienced this while working in the Pentagon. This type of self-relationship assumes a strong level of cruelty and coldness. There can be some level of limited success, yet it is never long lasting.

When egos and self-promotion become too important, the relationship becomes strained and can end. It is a benefit for two organizations to know and understand each other with the intent that both will be around for many years.

A good, long lasting relationship is the most important asset of any organization.

When I worked for the U.S. Defense Department, each fall I helped build the defense budget for the next fiscal year. Me and thousands of others. The process we used was identical to writing and submitting grants.

It began with military organizations (like a nonprofit) identifying their unfunded needs. I summarized the unfundeds in issue papers, which had almost the same format as a grant request. I submitted the issue papers to the comptroller organization who considered funding the request (like a foundation would).

After many years, I learned to marry the unfunded needs with current politics and projected Defense Department requirements. In the issue papers, I put in key words the comptroller organization and politicians were looking for and addressed the new priorities of the administration. I altered the unfunded needs only enough to be acceptable to the comptroller organization. Yet, not enough to change the submitting organization’s ability to complete the mission. I use this process today.

The most important thing I learned in the Defense Department, which I apply to writing grants, is that the process is not about numbers and words. It is all about people and relationships. Whenever there is money involved, there are a lot of competition. The perfect issue paper or grant request may not be enough.

A nonprofit should communicate with a foundation with more than some pieces of paper. Like it was for me in the Defense Department, many times personal contact can determine success or not.

Let me know how you, as a grant writer, started your career or livelihood writing grants.