Beyond the big names: How to identify and support underfunded communities

Well-established organisations have clear advantages in grantmaking: dedicated grant writers, extensive track records and the capacity to navigate complex requirements. Grassroots organisations often lack these resources, contributing to a stark disparity where these nonprofits, and those run by or representing minority groups and interests, receive less funding and sometimes more oversight.

While funding grassroots and chronically underfunded nonprofits has always been paramount, it’s become increasingly more important as the industry calls for more equitable and trust-based philanthropy—and generally, for grantmaking foundations to expand their reach beyond the usual suspects.

In this article, we’ll cover exactly how foundations can approach grantmaking with an equity lens and identify and support underfunded communities, starting today.

Understanding the funding gap

Unfortunately, there are several barriers that small grassroots nonprofits face when it comes to winning grants. Typically, small or chronically underfunded nonprofits don’t receive grants because of factors like:

• Application complexity and administrative burden
• Lack of established track records or formal evaluation systems:
• Limited capacity for grant writing and compliance reporting
• Implicit biases around geography, network and institutional credibility
• The “overhead myth,” which disadvantages grassroots groups

Top 4 strategies for creating equity in grantmaking

The good news is that there are plenty of ways that grantmakers can make their grantmaking more inclusive, equitable and impactful—and support underfunded grassroots initiatives that need funding.

1. Redefine metrics of success

One of the biggest factors that holds grantmakers back from funding small nonprofits is the lack of traditional, quantitative metrics (persons served, funds raised, etc). In a grassroots context, success might be more qualitative, like strong community ties, community endorsement and leadership continuity.

In order to fund grassroots initiatives, grantmakers have to make this mindset shift and accept less traditional forms of success.

2. Look beyond your existing network

Often, smaller nonprofits and grassroots initiatives aren’t as visible as big-name organisations. So, in order to aid them, grantmakers should take an active role in identifying them by expanding their networks.

This might look like partnering with major community hubs, attending community events or town halls to understand exactly who is making a difference. Or, it might mean using social media or non-traditional channels like community radio or local bulletins to identify organisations doing meaningful work.

3. Use participatory and community-driven approaches

While identifying underfunded committees is the first step, supporting these organisations throughout the entirety of the grant process is equally important. That’s where participatory grantmaking comes in.

Because many grassroots initiatives are intimately tied to the communities they serve, grantmakers should invite these charities to help determine grant application and reporting requirements and even funding amounts. This not only empowers the organisation but can also create more impact.

4. Reduce barriers to entry

One of the best ways to support underfunded charities is by making access to your grant program as accessible as possible. To do that, be sure that the application process is:

Simple: Ensure your application is short, user-friendly and only shows relevant questions.

Flexible: Allow nonprofits to submit multimedia like video, images and audio so applicants aren’t bogged down by writing lengthy text-only responses.

Collaborative: Enable multiple people to work on an application together, so nonprofits can rely on volunteers or multiple staff members to help.

Support underfunded communities with Good Grants

Funding grassroots initiatives is essential to making meaningful, long-term impact in the communities that need it most. And with the above guide to grantmaking with a racial equity lens, grantmakers can do just that—all without overhauling their entire program

That’s where Good Grants comes in. With Good Grants, grantmakers that support equity, diversity and inclusion development can reach and support grassroots charities more effectively than ever with multilingual, accessible and customisable grant applications, flexible reporting methods and so much more.