Occasionally grant opportunities become available to nonprofit organizations on short notice. It’s not unheard of to need to submit a request by weeks end. Developing a set of grant attachment files will help you spend your limited time crafting an application rather than collecting attachments. At other times, grant attachment files speed up your submissions, reduce last minute panic, and allow you to delegate  attachments preparations.

The next time you complete a grant, take a few minutes to collect and label one file for each of the following:

1.Your 501(c)(3) IRS tax exempt letter.
2.A list of your board members with addresses, affiliations and terms. Add an effective date on bottom so you know when it was updated last.
3.Your last audit, unbound, printed on one side.
4.Your accountant’s opinion letter and any response to it.
5.An organizational chart, again with an effective date.
6. Your current budget.
7. Recent newspaper clippings, press releases, or other evidence of your achievements.
8. Any co-agency agreements or a list with a contact person for them.
9. Demographic information on the community you serve.
10. A copy of your strategic plan and effective date,

Dedicate half a file drawer for these common attachments. Then make copies, label the original, and after you use the last copies pull the file and create more copies at your leisure. With these files, when a grant opportunity arrives, you can invest your time shaping a super response to it.

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For more answers, check out this Nonprofit  CEO Library.

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