Advancement · Grants & Funding

Write proposals
only where they can win.

A grant writer’s scarcest resource is time, and the most common waste is a proposal to a funder that was never a fit. Score each prospect on six questions before writing a word. The scorecard gives a verdict, ranks the list and flags asks far above what the funder usually gives.

Score a funderWhat you get
$12one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $12

Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Grant writer’s desk, $49 for 55 items.

Prospects

The worked example is made up, with invented funders: a community foundation that fits well, a family foundation that only invites proposals and a corporate fund the school is not eligible for. Saved on this device only.

Loading the funder form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Advancement · Grants & Funding$12 · included with Classroom and Whole-school licenses

What you finish with
A record per funder: name, kind, eligibility, openness to proposals, four fit ratings from 1 to 4, typical award, planned ask, next deadline and sources. Works out a fit score out of 16 and a verdict; ranks prospects and totals asks to pursue now; flags ineligible funders, unclear eligibility, invitation-only funders with no relationship, oversized asks and close deadlines.
Who it is for
Grant writers, development directors and school leaders who look for foundation, corporate and government funding.
Format
Browser scorecard with a saved record per funder. Prints one funder, the ranked list in a table or a blank scorecard; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$12 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with Caveat Classroom and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Grant writer’s desk ($49) and the Advancement Suite pass ($99), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Grants & Funding space in Caveat Advancement.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Read the funder’s guidelines and recent grants.
  2. Answer eligibility and openness first.
  3. Rate fit from their actual grants.
  4. Set the ask near their typical award.
  5. Write only for the funders marked pursue.

Score a funder

Qualifying funders

Qualifying a funder in order1Eligible?Read who they fund. If not us,stop here.2Open door?Unsolicited, letter first, orinvitation only.3Mission fitTheir recent grants, not theirslogan.4Place and sizeWhere they give, and theirmedian grant.5RelationshipWho knows someone there.6VerdictPursue, cultivate first, ordrop.Qualifying a funder in order1Eligible?Read who they fund. If not us, stophere.2Open door?Unsolicited, letter first, or invitationonly.3Mission fitTheir recent grants, not their slogan.4Place and sizeWhere they give, and their median grant.5RelationshipWho knows someone there.6VerdictPursue, cultivate first, or drop.
Most wasted proposals fail the first two questions. They take five minutes to answer.

Typical, not largest

A foundation’s headline grant is usually its biggest. The number to plan around is the median of its recent grants to organizations like yours, which a private foundation’s Form 990-PF lists grant by grant.

Invitation only

Funders that do not accept unsolicited proposals still fund new organizations; they find them through people they trust. Cultivate first: an introduction from a board member, an invitation to visit, a short update with results.

Sources

  1. Candid (Foundation Center). Researching funders and reading a 990-PF (candid.org).
  2. Internal Revenue Service. Form 990-PF, Return of Private Foundation, and public disclosure rules (irs.gov).
  3. Council on Foundations. How foundations make grants (cof.org).
  4. Grant Professionals Association. Grant professional code of ethics and practice standards (grantprofessionals.org).

The worked example is made up and the funder names are invented. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.