A Practical Guide for Nonprofits
Grants can be an important ingredient in your nonprofit’s funding mix, but sustainable funding takes more than throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. Submitting a few applications here and there might land you a win once in a while, but real, long-term success comes from building a system: a grant pipeline.
A strong pipeline helps you plan ahead, pace your workload, and stay focused on the funders most likely to support your work. It keeps your opportunities simmering at different stages, so you’re not constantly starting from scratch or rushing to meet a deadline at the last minute.
Here’s a simple step-by-step approach to help you start building your grant pipeline.
What Is a Grant Pipeline?
Think of your grant pipeline as your recipe for managing potential funding opportunities. Instead of scrambling every time you hear about a new grant, you’re working from a plan that tracks:
New grant prospects
Priority funders you’re building relationships with
Deadlines and submission dates
Proposal status and follow-up
Renewals, reporting, and future opportunities
With a pipeline, you stay proactive year-round, balancing what’s cooking now with what needs prep work for later.
Step 1: Start with Research
Begin by identifying funders whose priorities match your mission, programs, and location. A few tools that can help:
Candid/Foundation Directory
Grants.gov
Instrumentl
State and local foundation directories
Corporate social responsibility pages
As you research, pay attention to things like giving history, eligibility, focus areas, deadlines, and typical grant sizes. The goal right now is to gather ingredients—you’ll sort through them in the next step.
Step 2: Prioritize Your List
Not every opportunity belongs in the pot. As you review your list, consider:
How closely your work aligns with the funder’s priorities
Grant size and whether it's worth the effort
How complicated the application process is
Timing and internal capacity
Whether you have any existing connections
You can group prospects by timeline:
Short-term (1-3 months): Needs immediate attention
Mid-term (4-6 months): Time to prep and plan
Long-term (6+ months or recurring): Time to build relationships
Use whatever tool works best for your team—many organizations start with a simple spreadsheet and adjust as they grow.
Step 3: Build a Grant Calendar
Your calendar helps keep things from boiling over. For each opportunity, track:
LOI (Letter of Inquiry) deadlines
Full proposal due dates
Site visits or interviews
Reporting and renewal dates (if awarded)
Be sure to include time for internal prep, board approvals, and document gathering! These steps often take longer than expected.
Step 4: Prep Your Core Materials
When a great opportunity comes along, you want to be ready to move. Start gathering key documents and information that you’ll use repeatedly, including:
Organizational boilerplate (mission, programs, leadership)
Budget templates
Staff bios
Program outcomes and impact data
Letters of support or partnership
Think of this as your grant pantry. Having the essentials on hand makes it much easier to put together a strong proposal quickly.
Step 5: Track Results and Follow Up
The pipeline doesn’t end when you hit submit. Make sure to track:
Award or rejection notifications
Any feedback you receive
Reporting deadlines
Notes from funder conversations or site visits
Renewal opportunities
Many funder relationships develop over time. Staying organized helps you keep those relationships warm, even if the first application doesn’t lead to funding right away.
Why You Need a Full Pipeline
You can think of your pipeline like preparing a good meal:
Research = gathering ingredients
Prioritizing = choosing your recipe
Short-term = dishes that are ready to serve
Mid-term = simmering on the stove
Long-term = slow-cooking for future results
Keeping opportunities at different stages helps you avoid the feast-or-famine cycle, and ensures you’re always working toward steady, reliable funding.
Final Thoughts: Start Where You Are
Building a grant pipeline takes some upfront work, but it makes the grantwriting process more manageable and more effective in the long run. Whether your organization is brand new or well-established, having a pipeline allows your team to stay focused, avoid burnout, and make better use of limited time and energy.
At The Greater Sum, we help nonprofits like yours build realistic, sustainable grant pipelines so you can spend more time doing the work that matters. Tap into our resources by subscribing to our newsletter.
Anna Taylor is Executive Director of The Greater Sum Foundation. Under her leadership, Greater Sum has supported over 100 organizations through strategic funding, capacity-building tools, and a virtual incubator model focused on long-term impact and sustainability.
