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| Re: Application Process
Posted by Linda Procopio   on 1/22/2008, 6:18 pm, in reply to "Application Process"
VIP Poster
Were there no phone numbers in these foundation's individual Foundation Center listings? If a phone number is published in the Foundation Center database, then you can always feel comfortable following up with a phone call. If the foundation chooses to NOT list their phone number with the Foundation Center, although you could probably find their phone number elsewhere online, I wouldn't follow up those LOIs with a phone call. There are many small family foundations who simply do not have the staff or resources to take phone calls.
So many nonprofits send out LOIs to a long list of foundations that are only a marginal match. (I'm not accusing you of that, but that trend contributes to your problem.) These little foundations receive so many many LOIs requesting combined amounts of 10 to 100 times more money than the foundation has to give out that year. Overwhelmed, the foundation's response often is to decide NOT to continue to accept unsolicited proposals and to instead give to preselected organizations. It hurts the whole sector when we persistently over-solicit small foundations. Therefore, I also strongly advise against sending an uninvited full proposal if the stated process is to first send a Letter of Inquiry.
Please be aware that often you must get in line behind other organizations that have been requesting funds from this foundation for two or three years. Sometime you have to wait your turn. If 6 months have gone by and you have not received a reply to your LOI, I would send another letter that states something like "Although you were unable to respond positively when we sent you a Letter of Inquiry in December 2006, we would like to thank you for the time you spent reviewing and considering our request for support." (and then write a couple more paragraphs about the worthiness of your organization and the needs your mission addresses, and close with something like "Please keep the door open for us to reapproach you later this year.") Then a few months after that, send another LOI with a fresh twist on your initial appeal. Others posting here may argue against my "non-aggressive" approach. But my experience is that the cultivation of a foundation that does not publish their phone number is a long and elaborate dance towards the eventual gift.
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