Grant data – get into it!

This is a conversation I have a lot, and honestly I feel like I’m screaming into a void. Here is the darkest, dirty secret: You love data, you just don’t know it yet.

Does this sound like you? You use your smart watch to track your daily steps, you track your water intake in your bullet journal, Strava knows all your 5k PRs, your eReader tells you your reading speed and your precise location in your book, you calculate to the gram the yarn you’re going to need to finish you socks, but when it comes to spreadsheets it’s a hard pass.

If you’re anything like me, you hate losing grants. Yes, we know it’s part of the gig, but it’s still bitter every time, especially on the ones that we pour our heart and soul into. So what if you just had one stat that let you know if you were losing better or worse than normal? Even better, what if you had a number that let you know if you were ahead or behind an accurate fundraising goal?

I love data, and I would like you to have all of it, but if you’re only going to take two things from today, here’s what I want you to leave with:

Understand your win rate so you can win more.

If you’ve worked with me in any capacity, it is likely that you’ve heard me say “there’s no bad data, only good data and helpful data.”

If you know that your win rate is 30%, you can set a goal of getting to 31%, then 32% and those losses don’t feel so personal. This information is helpful. It allows you to start A/B testing for improved results. There is no “good” win rate, there’s just where you are and steps to improve it. If you understand your win rate, you can increase your efficacy and decrease your effort.

If you understand your award rate, you can accurately predict your budget.

I have been able to predict grant revenue within 5% of accuracy for the last 3 years. To me, this is a critical skill that can transform your development department from floundering to thriving. You may (or may not) be surprised to hear how few Executive Directors care. I want you to care.

If you know your award rate, and you know what repeating opportunities are coming up, and you have a sense about new funding streams, you can calculate a dang good grant revenue number. Once you’ve calculated that, you’ll know through every part of the year weather you’re on target or not. And if you’re not, you simply move back to step 1) A/B test ways to increase your win rate, and 2) strategically source replacement funds – because you’ll know exactly how much you’re down.

Imagine a world, in fact imagine your world if you knew you were on target every quarter. That instead of finding new grants, you could spend time focusing on donor development, imagine telling your team you’re ahead of schedule, imagine a scenario where you can proactively move through economic disruptions. This is all possible.