Grant Readiness and Insights Training

Two women sitting on counter-height stools, discussing a project outline on a large wall-sized whiteboard.

The nonprofit sector is vital to delivering human services, and is essential to our city’s economy. Robin Hood’s Grant Readiness and Insights Training initiative (GRIT) provides workshops and individual support to help rising directors of local community-based organizations to improve and refine their proposal presentations in order to secure robust philanthropic funding.

Launched as a pilot by Bloomberg Philanthropies in 2016 and with ongoing underwriting,  GRIT aims to help leaders at middle-stage nonprofits with limited philanthropic funding to secure support from evidence based funders seeking robust indicators of good governance, cost-effective budgeting and strong measurement of progress and results.    

GRIT is a cohort-based initiative; applications will be accepted in Spring 2024.

Our Impact

90

%

Of GRIT alumni survey respondents successfully received new corporate and/or philanthropic support and/or increased board engagement

25

%

Of GRIT groups successfully addressed a real estate challenge including renegotiating a lease, finding a broker and implementing a relocation or expansion and developing a building renovation budget to launch a capital campaign

67

%

Of GRIT groups made changes to fiscal presentations or protocols including refining overhead rates, adjusting revenue allocations, retaining new auditors or adding fiscal staff.

Our Strategy

We provide strategic capacity-building services in the areas of:

  • Leadership: We help GRIT participants improve their organizational structure and  governance protocols, as well as board and staff performance.
  • Program Design: We help GRIT participants better articulate their mission and purpose, determine their target audience and activities, and achieve anticipated results.
  • Reporting: We help GRIT participants communicate their costs and the rationale for various expenses, and to better message their successes  and demonstrate their progress and results.