Grantseeking: How Much to Ask For

“How do I know how much to ask for?”

What to do:
This is part of the art of grantseeking. You want to find that magic number that meets your need while also fitting within a funder’s priorities and capacity. Many times funders will tell you to simply “ask for what you need” which is good advice with a few caveats. Appropriate ask amounts should take a few factors into consideration. They include:

Whether the funder has supported your organization in the past and at what levels. You may want to ask for a similar amount to their past giving (taking inflation into account, of course). If you are planning on asking for significantly more, past giving would indicate that you might want to request a special meeting or submit much more detailed information this time around. You might also want to make special reference in the cover letter that you know you are requesting significantly more than the organization has received in the past and explain why. (New program, capital campaign, etc.)
Whether the funder supports similar organizations. This could be the same geographic location, those that have similar missions, those that serve the same target population, those that have the same type of project (i.e. research, etc.) and at what levels.
What size grants your organization has received in the past and the size of your budget. (Some foundations do not like to be the largest funder or to provide the majority of your budget.)

If you have looked at all of these factors and are still stumped as to the appropriate ask amount, call the funder. Tell them while you intended to ask for $XXX, you wanted to check if that is an appropriate request? Listen to what they say and follow their advice.

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