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What's Your Problem? Presenting Your Needs to Potential Funders

By Susan Howlett and Renee Bourque

Defining the Need

Grantseekers are so eager to share what they want to do that sometimes they neglect to explain why they’re doing it. It’s easy to assume that everyone understands the problem and agrees that it needs attention. But the clearer you are about precisely what is at stake, the clearer you can be about every other element of your proposal.  Here are some concepts to consider as you articulate the need for your work.

Clarify Who Is Affected

There are layers of people or things that are affected by any need or opportunity. First list the groups that are affected separately and then show how they are interrelated. Take for example a community whose historic downtown is full of rundown empty buildings. A revitalization organization could list the following layers of people and groups affected by the problem:

• The owners of the buildings, who can’t attract good tenants

• The surrounding businesses, who have trouble attracting customers

• The city, which is not getting optimal tax revenue from the downtown core

• Community members, who have to do business farther away, which may be inconvenient or inaccessible

• Unemployed community members, who have fewer opportunities for employment because there are fewer businesses in those buildings

• Children, who grow up in an uninspiring downtown with no natural gathering place and a less-than-robust sense of community

• Parents, whose children may leave town as soon as they can

• Law enforcement officers, who may need to handle an increase in crime in the area of the rundown or vacant buildings

• Public health officials, who deal with increased problems with garbage, pests, and other sanitation issues

Seek Out the Root Cause

You must also be able to explain what factors led to the current situation, as those factors will inform how you define and approach the problem.  A first draft of a need statement about low income housing might say, “There’s not enough housing for low-income people.” But people could be without housing because:

• Laws affecting minimum wage were relaxed, so breadwinners are earning less.

• Banks tightened their lending practices in particular neighborhoods.

• Developers were given more enticing incentives to create high-end housing.

• Governments, to save money, released from jails or mental health institutions
people whose housing was formerly covered by the state, increasing demand.

• Housing vouchers for people with disabilities were cut from the state budget.

• The homes of older adults who have difficulty performing maintenance tasks
are deteriorating beyond repair, which reduces affordable housing stock.

• Low-income housing is being destroyed because the land it’s on is worth more
if developed as commercial or upscale residential property.

The way you characterize the problem will dictate your response to it. One description might direct you to mobilize volunteers to fix up older adults’ homes, while another might send you to the state capitol to change laws. Make sure your description of the need illustrates your sophisticated understanding of a complex problem in a larger context.

Measure the Scope of the Problem

Think about the situation you hope to affect as existing on a continuum from the global level down to the tiniest manifestation. For example,  hunger exists around  the world, and some organizations work on a global basis to address it. But there are also national or regional issues of hunger that might stem from a geographic barrier, a political conflict, a transportation issue, or an environmental situation such as toxic waste or land mines near farmland. On a more local level, there may be hunger in a particular community because a major employer closed, leaving thousands of breadwinners unemployed. And within that community, there may be pockets of people who are suffering more than others, such as new immigrants or people experiencing mental health challenges.

As you define the problem, visualize a funnel: begin with statistics on a macro basis, then offer some data about the national or regional situation, then describe the larger local picture, until you have narrowed the scope of the problem to the level where you could actually affect it with a funder’s support.  

Explore Who Else Is Doing Similar Work

Many grantseekers are quick to claim they are the only ones working on a particular issue, but this is seldom the case. If there is truly a problem, someone else must be concerned as well. Perhaps there’s a church that has a less formal program than yours, or perhaps a statewide advocacy organization does work that touches on your topic tangentially. Maybe another organization is dealing with the same topic but with a different constituency. It’s essential that you identify these other parties and illustrate how they all fit into the larger description of the problem. You will look more appealing if, instead of saying you are the only organization working on the problem, you say, “This problem is so big that it requires the attention of many parties. This is the aspect of it we think we can affect.”

Explain the Long-Term Implications

As you assess the need, consider the implications of not addressing it, as well as how the situation may change if not addressed soon. If the problem will grow and affect more people, affect the same people more deeply, or lead to other associated problems, this information can help you provide a more complete, compelling picture of the situation. If other aspects of the community will be affected or the results of doing nothing are serious, funders will see the urgency of your project.

Attribute the Need to Others

Finally, never say the need is your own.  No one will give you money because you need it.  Funders give you money because they have their own goals.  And if what you propose will further their goals, they might consider supporting your work.  But they really don’t care if your organization has needs.  Funders view your role as meeting needs, not having them.  The need belongs to those you benefit directly, and ultimately to the community at large.

This article is adapted from the just published 5th edition of Getting Funded: The Complete Guide to Writing Grant Proposals, by Susan Howlett and Renee Bourque. For more information, visit www.wordandraby.com.

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