I got an interesting phone call the other day from outside the Puget Sound region. The caller wanted to know if her organization could submit a request letter longer than three pages because she was having a hard time fitting all she had to say into that space. While her organization was outside the foundation's usual granting area, she assured me that the project had an impact on an area where we make grants.

This situation was one that makes me appreciate the flexibility I have working for a private foundation. When I worked for United Way or were I working for a government funder, I may not have the ability to do what I did. I agreed to read over the nine page letter that was this grant writer could't seem to trim down. Since it was highly likely that the project would fall outside our geographic interest, it made little sense to make her struggle with editing the document to three pages.

When I read the letter I had two reactions. First, in its current state the concept of the project would touch the geographic where we make grants, but there was no information about how important that effort would be.

My other thought was that while there could be a good case to be made, my feedback may simply lead to a letter that told us what we wanted to hear rather than truly represent the commitment of this organization.

This conundrum is faced by grant makers every day. While we need to ask questions, and sometimes challenge assumptions, we must guard against going too far. It's easy to fall into the trap of steering a conversation. And in the end, you find that a proposal looks like something you'd want to support, but fail to see that it really no longer represents the commitments the grantee truly wants to make.

I have to admit that we may have passed on a project that will very much affect the geographic area where we make grants. I can't be sure whether what I read in the nine page general letter reflected the true intent of the project or simply poor presentation skills on the part of the grant writer.

My experience tells me it was a bit of both. For example, here's a tip on presentation skills. The grant writer confessed to having a hard time condensing her nine page letter to three pages. One thing that jumped off the page to me was that she failed to consider a key question: what was the purpose of the proposal letter to that specific funder?

In short, the key task was to convince a funder who makes grants in area A to fund a project located in area B because those services would benefit area A. The organization had a track record, it should have data on the impact it would have on area A, both historically and the potential for the future.

This letter spent more time talking about a wide region, most of which was outside area A, and not enough about the specific impacts on area A.

This example illustrates a maxim that some of you have heard me articulate before.

If you want to convince a funder to stretch a giving guideline, make sure the rest of your request falls within its normal scope of work. Or to put it another way, only break one rule at a time.

Funders generally have rules, or practices, about geographic giving areas, amounts of giving, types of giving (e.g., capital vs. operating), length of grants, and multi-year commitments among others. So if you want a funder to stretch one of those practices, as in this case where the geographic location of the facility was outside the giving area, you need to make sure all the other criteria fit well. In this case it would have been as simple as saying, "While the building will be in area B, the impact of services on area A will be significant. The new building will allow us to serve area A with..." You can couple that approach with some basic data about the number of people in area A who would be touched by these services now and in the future.  The result is a more compelling appeal because it shows 1) that the organization has thought through the impact of this project on area A, and 2) the organization will, in its own words, be making a commitment to how it will serve area A.

When you sit down to reveiw your first draft of an appeal, take a moment to think about what you are really asking the funder to do. Once you are clear about that, use that as your guide in focusing your letter or grant appeal.